I did wonder when watching the Logans Run, and afterwards, about various things in the film. About how they ended up in a domed city with no knowledge of how it came to be. Of how there was one person outside, who grew old and was also completely unaware of how everything came to be as it was. And even unaware of the hidden city populated by many.
What was an interesting feature of the city, was that it revolved around a cap on the age limit of its population. 30 was the age you were allowed to get to, before a strange ritual which results in death, but is seen as an ascension of sorts by the population. No middle-aged people, no older people, no natural deaths it seems, or very few and a rather hedonistic and lazy society. Encouraged, monitored and controlled by a central computer system, keeping tabs on everything and eliminating curiosity when it did happen to appear.
Seems like a dream city to some, given what we have seen of 15-minute cities, restrictions, controls and various things of late. The idea that could give you an age limit for existing doesn’t seem so far off the beaten track anymore, does it? Because really, it’s got to be the holy grail of control in a way. While seeking eternal life, or the fountain of youth, I doubt it would be enough to just secure that for yourself. I expect anyone who gained that much knowledge and power, would definitely want to limit others access to it, or even chances of knowing it existed. But while you lived on for longer than would be expected, if others lived a long and fruitful life, they may see, or start to wonder why those in certain position didn’t seem to change like everyone else, or get ill, or suffer from the disease they decided to call ageing. But if they had found a way to halt the progression of life at a certain age for others, to maintain their own status, control and continuation, would they do it?
Whether we have a silent assassin amongst the populations now is still under debate, and without seeing anything first hand, I too still don’t really know if it’s true or not and only have online information to go on. But if we are going on the general chit chat of ‘the people’, it seems something is working its way through. A myriad of different problems, distractions, illnesses and drama. Some people saying yay, some saying nay, journalists arguing, doctors can’t agree, scientists’ parrot whatever their paymaster instructs, people mocking each other. Politicians playing musical chairs and gambling with people’s lives and futures, when all the while securing their own.
None of that bit is up for debate as far as I can tell, it’s clear and out there for everyone to see. Yet, no-one really knows where it goes and why. We are given ideas, agendas and plans to talk about and focus on to keep it moving towards something, without any real information being given to the ones who seem to be pivotal to it all working. Us. But is that because the plans aren’t really for the future they are creating, they are for us to think about now. And what comes later is something entirely different, and possibly will be dictated by whether the assassin is real, and whether it actually completes its mission. Because as they say ‘the best laid plans of mice and men’ and all that…
