Despite the sun that shone above the people’s heads, not a single smile was to be found; not even that crinkle of joy that form around the eyes. They all exuded a dull and lifeless aura, had that not be the legally approved emotional state, people would have complained. The memory of a time before happiness had been outlawed was scarce, just as the law itself was oppressive. The government claimed that it was for the good of the people as a whole that happiness was banished, that too many envy related murders over someone else’s happiness was to blame and that to save the people they had to outlaw the very thing that they deemed poisonous.

Some had fought, but they were silenced; the government also kept a close eye on the people in their own homes, demanding that all happiness related things were to be purged. The world no longer has art, music, film, television or even books that weren’t non-fiction; now, all the people had was work, to be productive they couldn’t have anything else, 1984 has nothing on this world.

People couldn’t even pick their spouses, it was all done by lottery and careful genetic screening; it might as well be a giant cattle farm, and the government never addressed the rising suicide rates among the myriad of health problems that were also on the rise…

Day after day, it was wake up, school and work, which they all take home, some jobs have faded into obscurity, such as psychology and psychiatry, and the people have suffered for it.

But someday, perhaps someone will gather their courage to fight back.