One Decision

It's been so long since Dwight last updated this blog. I can't blame him, I can't blame me - we're both busy fellows (to see what's happening with my life, visit www.vado-torva.blogspot.com).

One decision can change your life forever, or it can change every single corner of the universe as we know it. Read on, this is a pretty long post.

Get into character - as the president of the world. The year 2084, and the nations of the world, in an effort to forever quell international disputes, have united to form one single nation called the world. The leaders of state of each nation have convened in the world's capital city, Peace Point, to elect the leader of the newly-formed state.

The convention is declared a success, that a new leader of the world has been elected by unanimous decision. But it is decided to keep him faceless, unknown. The only marks of his leadership will be the decisions he (or she) makes.

And so we have a president of the world, disembodied but damn powerful nonetheless.


Fast forward twenty-six months later, when the two hundred ten-member World Senate has passed fifty new laws and the five hundred-member World Congress has helped build a new world. The skyscrapers of Peace Point scrape the sky - the tallest being the government center, New Babel Building.

You're in a suburban home just outside of Peace Point, which by the way lies in an enormous artifical island. You pick up the newspaper on your doorstep, and you're greeted by a surprising frontpage headline:

"PRESIDENT FALLS ILL"
President of the world rushed to infirmary; world temporarily leaderless

Just then, the phone rings. You rush to the living room and pick it up.

"Is this the home of [your name here]?" the female voice asks.
"This is me. May I help you?"
"I'm Jane Doe, public affairs spokesperson for the Office of the President. Have you read today's news?"
"Yeah. What's with the faceless president?"
"He's sick, in his private infirmary. Further details cannot be disclosed."
"What do you want from me?"
"The National Name Database contains seventy-eight billion names. The president said to install a temporary leader in his absence, a RANDOM person. So, I accessed the database and set a randomized selection process, telling the servers to only provide me with a random person between 18 and 60 years old.
Interesting, huh? Seventy-seven billion, nine hundred ninety-nine million, nine hundred ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred ninety-nine other names were not selected. Instead, you were."
A moment of silence passes. "Yeah, right. Go fool someone else."
"In this time of adversity, do you really think there is time to joke around? I am serious. Come to the New Babel NOW." the line goes dead.

So you jump into your 2086 Picanto and gun the engine. The Picanto hovers fifty feet in the air, and you set autopilot to the New Babel. In ten seconds flat you're transported thirty miles away to the New Babel's parking pad. You head straight for the office of the spokesperson.

You enter the lavish office, where on an oak wood table on the far end there is a woman sitting. "Are you Jane Doe?" you ask.

She stands up, not bothering to answer your question. "You're [your name here]. Sit down."
You take a seat on a divan in front of the table. "You really aren't kidding."
"You're high above the clouds, sitting on a divan inside the Office of the Spokesperson of the President. Now, we have no choice but to install you as temporary leader, as the president demands."
You don't object, and she administers three oaths. After it is done, she declares, "you are the temporary leader."
"Alright, get me to my office! Let's start!" you say, excitedly.
"Hold on. Did I forget to mention? The president said you only get to make one decision, after which your term as temporary leader ends."
"ONE DECISION ONLY?"
"Yes."

Here it is. If you had the power to make one decision as temporary president of the entire world, what would it be?