You Made it on the Bus!

"Welcome C A M I L L E"

The automated system said, indicating that she passed the security check. The bus is a fully self-driving vehicle, the adult “driver” is merely a legal formality and also to help ensure additional safety just in case there were to be some sort of accident or issue. Camille headed toward the back of the bus to find a seat and shoved her backpack underneath the seat in front of her.

After arriving to her classroom, she pulled out her laptop and logged onto her school information portal on the federally created education network, EDUNET. This system served as a great equalizer for all public schools in America, with students in every state and county having access to the same technology and learning information via the same network. Using the same technology as the foundational National Science Foundational Network, it was powerful enough to connect the entire country.

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Her teacher, Mr. Evans, always started the day with current news and events, which now was almost always related to the 2060 election. While she appreciated the idea of high schools ensuring that students had an understanding of our legal system, current policies, and how our democratic process works, she always lamented about how boring American politics were. There was absolutely no drama, no conspiracies, no slandering of opponents to be exciting. While an occasional burst of passion in a political debate can happen, these televised events are strictly regulated by the Internet Regulation Commission. This vast organization is responsible for fact checking and ensuring accuracy both online and in televised events as well. Political debates always stayed strictly professional, and if any false claim is made, within about 30 seconds, a flashing message rolls across the screen declaring that “False Statement” was uttered. Thus, politicians typically don’t venture into gathering “dirt'' on their opponent’s personal lives, as any accusations will be heavily scrutinized by the IRC and the humiliation of being shown to have lied publicly is a big deterrent for politicians

FALSE STATEMENT................................................................................. FALSE STATEMENT......................................................FALSE STATEMENT...................................... FALSE STATEMENT.................................FALSE STATEMENT...................................FALSESTATEMENT

Internet Regulation Commission

Even in general public online platforms, the IRC is able and they are able to fact check things with great ease and speed. All disputes in regards to what is “fact” are resolved quickly by the IRC who are swift to denounce and take down false claims made by individuals. Repeat offenders who are found to have ulterior motives can be punished quite severely, so generally people are quite reluctant. Although she appreciated the prevention of misinformation, she sometimes wished to experience the chaotic days of internet conspiracy that pervaded the earlier 21st century. Her grandma would jokingly refer to this time as the “good old days,” where people were free to say whatever they wanted online with minimal consequences.

After zoning out while learning about the most recent healthcare initiative, Camille headed to history, one of her favorite classes. Her main takeaways were that America has a very unique sense of being patriotic, and that regulation in any form is a constant battle with never an easy solution. Under her desk, she pulled out her phone to order her Halloween costume, something she meant to do earlier. She had decided to do a group costume with her friends as an iconic old group of celebrities: the Kardashians. She logged online into the central commercial buying service where all local and national stores were listed. Camille purchased her costume directly from her local store, where it would be delivered by drone to her house at the end of the day.

After a very tiring soccer practice, she took the bus back home, avoided conversation with her mom again, and crashed on her bed. She opened up her phone and logged into her local, community owned network, called SRNGFLDNET, a modified version of her town’s name, Springfield. In these local networks, there was still some oversight present. Each large community operated their own version of the IRC, but on a much less intense level. Currently, people were discussing the transition to these self-driving buses for schools, which some people loved, while others claimed it “took the joy away from driving kids to school.” Camille really didn’t care which way. She texted her friend Lily and they decided to host a virtual watch party for themselves to watch the Bachelorette, breaking records as one the longest running shows on television at 66 seasons. Using her clear, glass headset, she was able to project the image of the screen on her wall while synching up with Lily’s headset so it looked like Lily was right next to her. Camille was perfectly content watching TV with her best friend. A peaceful end to a boring day. As she feel asleep, she looked forward with excitement to wake up to the arrival of her Kardashian costume.

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