Scene: A secret interview room, looking a bit like a talk-show set.

Time: someday in the future.

" Hello, Madame President-- may I call you that?"

" Actually, we prefer just a simple 'Honored president' -- the 'Madame' and 'Mister' thing sounds rather discriminatory, don't you think? In fact, we are thinking of mandating the use of just plain names for now, freeing the people from the 'Mr. Mrs. Ms' titles. We estimate it will save a lot time and ink, for those still using snail mail . Ha ha."

"OK, since we are talking about mandates, Mad- er.. Honorable President, I'd like to ask a few questions about the recent directives regarding news reporting and so forth... "

"Well as you know, we have made a lot of improvements in the past several years or so. One is, Ha ha, that people stopped listening to Fox News..."

"Well, some people say they were forced off the..."

"As I said,  people stopped listening, and once it became apparent that the network stations were also just putting in a lot of negative opinion, untruth  and gossip..."

"But they sometimes are only  reporting on what a lot of people are thinking and feeling  ..."
 
"Mr. Reporter, or perhaps I should say 'Honorable Reporter', Ha ha. Please stop interrupting me while I explain one simple fact: We are giving people freedom from the old fashioned and perplexing news sources. As everyone knows, they dish out lots of differing opinions as well as reporting controversial views. This has been confusing the people badly for way too long. No one knows what to believe. Ha ha.

 "Our simple solution is to establish a new National News site as the one single source to simplify the news and avoid conflicting ideas and the horrendous information overload which has been distressing people for decades.

"There will now be only one true outlet and source for the news.  It will be simple, objective and to the point with only two half-hour transmissions per day. The approved scripts will be expertly and meticulously edited and the  video feeds  will be available to TVs or computers. The editing, of course, is only to save time and promote clarity.

"Everything will be distilled down to only the  important news --  news that people really need to know. There will be no entertainment, or opinion, only reports on what directly affects the people, like new laws and regulations, stories about product recalls and other things that might be harmful to them.

"There will still be pollution alerts, so people know  when to cut  their usage of fuel and power consumption below regular allotments. There will be updates of some subjects with only basic statistical details such as: daily mass shootings with the number of dead and injured, and the daily number of arrests for anti-patriotic actions. There is no need to get people all emotional about these things, since we are gradually making progress in getting incidents  like this under control. Soon we won't be hearing about these events at all."

"Well, I'm sure that is true, but what about  world news  like and political and economic developments that might affect us?"

"These will no longer be covered unless it is something resulting in actual war, when we need to call more people into service. Most international events are not something ordinary citizens can do anything about anyway, so the population should not be overly stressed or worried about things they have no control over. The government will take care of these things.

"But some people might still want to know . . ."

"I am surprised that you don't  realize how much easier it is for  everyone, now that government is looking out for ALL the best interests of all of the people. There are just so many things you don't really need to know or worry about. Ha ha.

" You may have heard from older people, about how they once had to do so many things for themselves that the government now covers for them. We now have so much more free time to be productive citizens without having to make hard decisions about where to live, what to eat, what to wear, etc."

"Well, I heard that some people didn't mind those choices so much. . .  Some people, if they were not working in government-assigned jobs, might even choose to live closer to their friends and families . . ."

"Families are a thing of the past, man.  Don't you know that a lot of murders and other violent crimes used to be mostly committed by family members and friends?  Now we only have random workplace, street  and school attacks. Even these have decreased since the gun bans have cleared up so many of the firearms that used to be available to anyone.

" The government-assigned jobs are now freeing more than 85% of our population from having to make educational and career choices, which relieves an enormous amount of stress. I'm sure that percentage will continue to grow."

"Some people think that family closeness and social ties used to help check some of the violent tendencies that result in all the random mass murders...."

"That just doesn't make sense. Ha ha. People used to have all of the worries and concerns of caring for their elderly parents as well as the pressures of child care before the standardized government eldercare and childcare systems were established. They are now freed from all of that, and able to concentrate on being productive citizens which helps everyone.

"In addition, we are making a few changes to the old universal healthcare system which will solve some of the problems which have started to come up.  To avoid wasting  medical resources, a painless and peaceful release from what may otherwise  be prolonged suffering will be provided. Of course this will only happen when it it determined that modern medicine will be ineffective or prohibitively costly. It is going to free up a lot of medical workers who are now wasting their time, as well as medicines, on hopeless cases."

"Something doesn't sound quite right about that . . ."

"It's just a practical fact of life, son.  Like other things we have done, it won't happen all at once. People will get used to it over time and realize that everything we do benefits our whole population.   Those born in the last few decades  can't remember earlier days before the requirement to participate in a  compatibility data base which is used to insure only the best marriage matches are allowed.

" They don't even remember when we didn't have universal free downloads from the government lists of approved music, art and entertainment.  And we would all hate to go back to the time when we actually had to choose what clothes to wear. The multi-standard uniforms are practical and comfortable.

"Did you know that people once actually even had to choose what they ate and drank? A lot of citizens made awful choices which resulted in poor health -- a real strain on the healthcare system. Not only that, but  people used to have to select uncooked food products from a large confusing market, prepare the foods at home -- with various means of preparation for various kinds of food--  and clean up dishes and cooking appliances afterward. What a waste of time and effort -- and for what? For bad health?

"Thank goodness our nutritionally balanced food-sticks and vitamin beverages have eliminated the need for all of that bother. Too bad the French and Italians are still clinging to some of their old ways, but I'm sure they will come around soon. Have you ever seen a plateful of spaghetti? What a mess!"

"Yeah, I guess that is all good, but going back to the idea of 'peaceful release from suffering' you mentioned ..."

"As I said, it is not something to be concerned about. How many of us still keep in touch with our older relatives or the disabled and chronically ill anymore, anyway?

"The government care centers do all of the work with those people now, anyway. If any family members wish to communicate with any of those people, when their care is coming to an end, they will be given a special permit which will allow them to e-mail the caregiver of their relative. The message, most assuredly, will be passed along. It's the least we can do."

"Yeah, I guess that IS the least..."

"OK, I've got to bring this little chat to a close now, there's always something to do when you're the Honorable President. Ha ha.

"By the way, we will need to see the final draft of your story before it is submitted, and since all of the independent news sources will be soon be absorbed into the National News , you will probably be reassigned to the new food-stick processing plant. As usual, we will pay for your move. Thanks. Nice to meet you, though I probably won't be speaking with you again."

[Two large guards escort the reporter out.]