Better Drugs For A Better Tomorrow
Society thrived on drugs. Jim thought that was natural–he thrived on drugs himself. When younger, he drank, and it helped him get through. Drugs in the processed food he ate also affected him (but he was not sure how, except eventual cancer was probably involved.) As he aged, Jim took medical pills for his heart and arthritis and other conditions. As he further aged, not only alcohol but recreational drugs helped him thrive.
It was a rich, full life. Why not better drugs, Jim thought, for a better tomorrow?
Pills were the North American way (originally, now the way of much of the world.) Why, Jim wondered, could the pill solution not be applied to all human problems? To date, pills had been able to cure anything. Jim owned a large chemical company. He put it hard to work on developing pill solutions, encouraging other companies to do the same. As was the North American way, they received generous Government grants, each working in different areas.
It took only three months for the first products to roll out of the labs and factories and be sold to the public. The first products were free, again from Government grants. The first two were the poverty and drudgery pills. When taken, poor folks no longer cared about being poor, even if they were starving, and the drudgery pills kept folks happy who worked in warehouses and soulless factories. People worried about climate change took a pill, daily, and their concerns abated. People upset about air or water pollution took a pill and believed all was okay. People daunted by authoritarian Governments donated to Government after taking a pill each morning.
Everyone was used to taking pills anyway. While the pills cured no real problems, they relieved people of caring about them. It was like recreational drugs except without the desire for salty snacks. And when reality infringed and people worried more, there were pills for that.
Jim (you remember him) was proud. Better drugs for a better tomorrow.