New Edition: Creating a Super Free Society 9 - Conclusion

■New Edition: Creating a Super Free Society 9 - Conclusion

　Part of my recent work, "New Edition: Creating a Super Free Society After COVID-19 - The Age of Cats" is revealed below. 

“Conclusion”

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　I live with two cats.

　They are gold and silver. The gold one is male, and the silver one is female. Their names are Amber and Silver.

　When I lived in Boston, as a present for my young sons, I bought Amber and Silver, which were very popular stuffed animals among children called Beanie Babies, and they loved them. After my sons became independent, I ended up taking care of actual cats of my own.

　Working from home during COVID-19 does not force you to just stay at home. It gives you the freedom to be wherever you want, whenever you want. We are in an era where people can live anywhere. We live in a highly mobile society. We are an active nomadic society.

　 In such cases, I just take another good look at at the sunshine at home, and sit face to face with my cats. That twitzed, mischievious side of me comes out. But they, who have been calmly settled at home since before COVID-19, are the masters of the house. I am their subordinate. It is the beginning of their era.

　”Good morning”. When I wake up, they follow me sluggishly. They don't frolic around, and they don't cry out. Sometimes they come as close as 5cm from me as if they are interested, and other times they look at me from a distance of about 5m.

　When I am typing on the computer, they slowly cross over the keyboard on purpose.

  " " : . Oh, 7 tsu tsu  c t x r ze w q 

Such characters end up getting typed in. I say "Hey hey", but they don't move out of the way. That being said, when they are away from me and I call them over in a friendly manner, they turn away more.

They neither respect me, nor look down on me. Whenever I get drunk and play around with Amber, he always bites down on me. I am a cat, he insists. I am usually drunk at night, and my arms are covered in scratches. 

　Silver runs away when I try to hold her. However, when I am being lazy, she asks me to play with her with sticks and balls. When she gets hungry, she will put her face slowly in front of my eyes and groan "meow" at me.

　I can't see them either under the bed or in the bathroom, and they don't come when I call them. However, when I talk in whispers about Amber and Silver with my family, they always appear calm and composed, as if they had heard.

　They are cute, but whenever a small bird comes up to the balcony, they run up to it as if they had morphed into rabbits, open their eyes and screech "Kakakakaka". If they catch sight of a grasshopper or an ant, they attack it. They are wild animals. I like that dual nature in them.

As well as being family, you are friends who are on the same page as me. So, I talk to you as if I were talking to a friend. What do you think? Will Hanshin be okay this year? Will there ever be a Japanese Yokozuna? Which is more legitimate - stir-fried liver and Chinese chives or stir-fried Chinese chives and liver? What do you think?

　I know. Sometimes you listen intently with your eyes wide open, and sometimes you lie down with a sullen look. You just walk away in a huff, as if to tell me what I'm saying is boring. I know. 

　They are masters of communication. They get your hopes up, and when you approach they pull away. When I pull away, they make their presence known. It makes them happy, it makes them angry. The exquisite timing is very useful. I would like to make use of that kind of power of communication after COVID-19. Please teach me.

　When they were at home purring, a startling thing took place.

It was a big shakeup at the government office where I used to spend time, and at the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, that I created as the person in charge. Dinners with vendors caused a stir in the Diet and the media. The two top officials who resigned were allies of mine who I worked together with, and all of my junior colleagues who were connected are also close friends.

My life as a government official was a period of expanding the subjects of media policy. It was a small administration with a very small community, that is, the monopolies of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation and KDD, as well as NHK and commercial broadcasters. Liberalization and deregulation were movements to increase the number of new entrants in IT and content.

　My job was trading to increase the number of government office customers. I ran around. In terms of creating a culture of connection between the public and private sectors, I am not unrelated to this project, and I am partly responsible for it.

　What do you think? My seniors did their best. Maybe they did too much. They fought a war with NTT, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, and the Ministry of Finance, and were broken up by Hashimoto's reforms. I took responsibility and quit, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications was formed.

　What do you think? My peers and juniors did their best. After I quit, its reputation improved, and a good digital infrastructure was established. Did I try too hard? The government offices that were broken up and reorganized are being rebuked again at the same time as losing the digital war.

　What shall we do? Amber, Silver, please think together with me.

　If people could be like cats, we would be less stressed. As long as you have food and a bed, you can go to sleep and wake up whenever you want, and move closer or further away as you please, without having to pay attention to the mood of those around you. That would be nice. In a super free society where there is AI and robots, living like a cat will be the model.

　Amber, Silver, what do you think?