Friday, January 20, 2012

SEX BY LOTTERY

Imagine it's the year 2100 and all human reproduction is controlled by a

lottery. That's part of the premise of a new sci-fi book by Jim

Laughter, and it's scary.


But as with all good

writers, he wants to end up with a happy ending, and surely will do so

in the final chapter.



"I’ve put my heart into this new book,” Laughter says. “It’s for my

four grandkids. I hope it helps to wake the world up, too!'



His novel a book about climate change, mass migrations

north, polar cities, and, dare one say it, reproduction by lottery.



Laughter says his novel is just a good old-fashioned yarn for

the average lay person, but adds: “Hollywood screenwriters might want

to take a peek, too. I think a

visionary film director could have a field day with this. As for theme

of human reproduction by lottery, you'll have

to read the book to find out.”



A short excerpt from the novel is printed below to whet your appetite:



"Explain, Dr. Moore?” Romanov asked. “Explain what?”



This wasn’t the first time someone new had questioned the city’s lottery. He

could see in the doctor’s eyes that she held reservations

and apparently didn’t see the viability of the system.



"The lottery is the simple way we ensure survival of the city,” he said.



Lou Ellen Moore didn’t respond to

Romanov’s simple statement. She just stared at the man, prompting him

with her eyes that he was going to have to do better than that. Romanov

leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table. What did this

woman want? Did she expect him to justify a system that had been in

place for over thirty years? Was there some moral high ground she

thought she could take that would diffuse their way of life?



"I don’t understand what is you want me to say, Dr. Moore,” Romanov said.

"Lottery is system to keep city alive.”



Again, Lou Ellen Moore didn’t answer. She could see that Romanov had

no reservations about the moral

consequences of the lottery. Was this really the best idea the city

fathers could come up with to ensure their survival? Did they really

believe that prostituting the women of the city, using them

as child-bearing livestock was worth the indignity suffered by these

women?





"So you take the young women of the city and you prostitute them to six

men?” she asked.



Romanov was shocked at the doctor’s question. “Prostitute,

Doctor?” he asked. “What you mean, prostitute?"



"Is he kidding?" Lou Ellen

thought. "Does he see this as anything else?"



"Yes, prostitute,” she

answered. “What else would you call forcing a woman to have sex

with six different men?”



Again, Romanov was stunned by the question. “Doctor Moore, I assure you…”



"You assure me?" she

interrupted. “You assure me of what? That these girls just

reaching womanhood aren’t forced to take on multiple partners so they

can produce babies? Is that what you’re trying to assure me of? That

when one of them has a baby, they don’t have to consult a lottery

schedule to determine who the father is? Is that what you’re trying to

assure me of?”



Romanov shook his head in disbelief. Lou Ellen placed a

hand on the stack of medical records on the table.



"There are two,

maybe three generations of women’s records in this stack, Dr.

Romanov. This isn’t a simple experiment. It’s a way of life,” she said.



So imagine it's the year 2100 and all human reproduction is controlled by a


lottery. Jim Laughter's book is packing a punch!

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