(Last updated: November 27, 2021)
The Rock Creek Plan
by DR Wolfe
{From “The Dirty Little Secret About Transparensee” Series}
Preface:
I was inspired to write this short fiction by an interview I heard on the local public radio station, “Think Out Loud”, on February 4th, 2015. My story, loosely based on the polyamorous lifestyle of the residents of Rock Creek, Oregon, is about a future society in which there are no formal marriages, but rather, any adult can have any type of relationship with any other adult as long as this is what they both wanted. Any type of fling or friendship could be easily started or terminated, with no consequences, or hard feelings, or broken hearts.
As I listened to the polyamorous couples describe how the three of them would regularly swap bodily fluids, and wondered why Tracy,one of the wives chose to not participate, I imagined a society where people could pursue any relationship they wanted, without having to live the lie of pretending to be faithfully married. It seemed dishonest to me, and maybe it did to Tracy too, who said she PREFERRED to spend her free time in the library instead–
Introduction
I thought, one way people could be re-trained to better accept the reality of not being with the one you wanted most, is to have many other options available, as soon as the relationship ended.
Would if before a person even knows they have been “dumped”, an automated computerized system has instantly sent out a few million notices to all of the people on the appropriate lists. As a result, dozens of other people are already trying to hook up, sending private notices and pics to the featured “single”.
Rather than grabbing some sort of weapon to get even with the one they can’t have, a discarded lover would hopefully instead pick up their preferred device to quickly discover there are already many, many others who know about their newly available status and are very interested in them, and want to spend time with them, as soon as possible.
The Rock Creek Plan
Apparently, she had just moved him to level 2. It was kind of hard to believe… He wanted to send her an angry message, but decided to follow the group’s advice and wait until he calmed down.
As expected, he began to feel this odd feeling, it was a feeling of rage that was coming over him. Learning to quickly recognize our bad emotions, while openly celebrating our positive feelings was essential to the continued evolution of the human race, he reminded himself. Being a healthy member of the group meant knowing and understanding that his brief loss of personal control came from an instinctive desire to control the status of their relationship, which he had no right to do. It was an uncomfortable feeling, this feeling of unjustified anger toward another.
He thought of his teachings on emotional leveling and self-control. Needing to be in control was a natural response among most humans for thousands and thousands of years. This was especially true among human males. men had held positions of authority throughout most of history. Subconsciously perhaps, men, more than women, had this deep desire, which they usually viewed as being a responsibility, to be in control over the “family”, the women folk and children, and anyone with a “handicap”, as people with impairments were often called back then.
Before the Plan, there was this sense of ownership over a person, simply because of their willingness to have sex. Some even felt because of this they owned the other person, their body, mind, spirit, and every thing they did. This was suffocating, and these relationships usually ended in some kind of violence.
It varied among couples, but on average studies showed most people sought out other partners after seven years. Sometimes it meant having a discreet affair or quick fling, but often it resulted in divorce, a destructive process that rarely ended well for the individuals in the family unit.
So the Rock Creek Plan offered both monogamy to those who wanted it, and what Most people wanted, variety, with no strings or stigma attached. Besides, usually you didn’t know who the other person was seeing, and in most cases weren’t allowed to ask.
Just as quickly as he recognized and understood the primitive nature of this dark emotion, wanting dominance and control over a partner, the feeling quickly passed. He continued reading, calmly.
She was honest in saying level 2 didn’t mean it was over between them, just that she felt that they may have moved to quickly and that she needed to re-think things. She said she was taking a step back to re-evaluate her own needs and that he had done nothing wrong, and was a wonderful lover-
It was true their decision to move from level 2 to level 5 immediately, against the advice of most of their individual support groups, may have not been the wisest choice. The group leaders advised them that very often these sort of quick jumps to level 5 resulted in a shorter relationship. They were told, statistically, most relations that were dropped to 0 began with couples who chose to skip from level 2 to level 5, immediately, rather than moving incrementally, as recommended.
However, the freedom to choose was considered to be the most important right each of them had as adults and members of the community.
They would chant together, “To be, or not to be, with anyone you choose to be with, provided they wanted to be with you — with no shame or explanation!”
With this freedom to love and share, came a more peaceful, productive society.
It was several years before he was born when the Rock Creek Plan was first instituted. It was a clear, regulated process of defining relationships and was agreed to by an overwhelming majority of adults. And from that point forward, people agreed to always try to respond in a civil manner toward each other, professionally, casually, and intimately.
When the divorce rate finally reached over 90%, and violence, especially, domestic violence, became rampant, people began to realized that these government contracts were a detriment to having a healthy society. The contracts required couples had to pay money to obtain a license from the government to formally verify their love for each other, which presumably made them legitimate members of the community, and thus, could be officially labeled as a “family unit”.
It was a fraud, he thought. It was just another form of control by the oligarchy over the people of the earth, since the wealthy had never themselves practiced monogamy or integrity, while instead always targeting the sexuality and morality of the other classes.
With the peaceful revolution, there was a transformation of the culture from a system based on greed, destruction, and sickness to a culture of peace, personal growth and equality. The tipping point came when the world learned that the government of many nations had spent trillions of dollars on an electro-nagnetic program that used the results of former-President Obama’s brain mapping technology to interfere with brain frequencies and thereby control the thoughts and behavior of its citizens. All at once, everything became nothing more than a professional wrestling match.
Dissolving the “contract on love”, as it was known, was one of the most significant changes the people made when the government was first reformed. Requiring a contract to love another person was eventually believed by most to be a severely destructive process mostly targeting those who were unable to afford “legal help” or counseling. The injustice was especially evident among the poorest members of the society and their kids, while most of the divorce lawyers kept getting a lot richer.
The accepted lie that obtaining these government issued contracts was beneficial to “children”, was also proven to be grossly untrue. It was firmly established, the impact of the process of dissolving these burdensome contracts was far, far more damaging to the children who were members of the “family unit”, regardless of any previous benefits they may have received for being members. The problem was that this membership into the “family”, was not permanent, and young people knew this, and always thought about it, especially when they heard the adult units arguing. The psychological result was that they always feared being removed from the “family” group, and would instinctively seek out what they believed to be other “more reliable groups”, often placing themselves at risk.
So, the Rock Creek Plan was adopted. Under this arrangement, all potential couples or personal friendships would be required to begin by having one person offer an enquire to the other, and then the other would respond electronically by assigning a rating to the future relationship. If the first person agreed, the relationship was immediately established, at level 1, or level 2. They could always negotiate by making an alternative suggestion. Usually, it only took seconds.
If you saw someone that interested you, you could first identify their tap location, then send them an electronic bud, with a formal enquire. Unless they wanted to give up all of their privileges to the grid, they were required to respond within 72 hours with their level of interest in establishing a relationship with you, or not. You were required to wait, and any further messages from you would be blocked.
While you were limited to six enquires every 24 hours, only one enquire could be made to any other specific person until they agreed to accept your invitation to establish a status with them. So this meant any future contact would depend on never being moved to level 0 by the person who interested you, or anyone else.
Under level 0 there was no contact permitted. Violating this rule, which was almost impossible, meant a substantial loss of freedom, which no one was willing to risk.
Participation was voluntary. You had to submit blood and DNA to participate, and this way, people with STD’s or some other contagious condition, that couldn’t be cured, could be directed to other people in the same situation. The idea of the Plan was that there was somebody for everybody.
While it wasn’t impossible for a person to change their mind and remove someone from having a 0 status with them, it did take a considerable amount of effort and time, and also required additional scrutiny from several of the couples individual groups, depending on the circumstances.
In cases where couples with level 0 status had legal bonds with the same children, their support groups would both facilitate a liberal visitation schedule and work to protect the interests of everyone involved in a way that did not vilify any party, ever.
Under level 1, you could exchange electronic text messages, but the number of texts permitted per day or per week, or per month, could be limited by either person.
Another condition was being limited to how far you could move a status level. For example, you could only jump a person’s status three above or below the current level. Of course, there was one sure way in which an immediate drop to level 0 would be made, but that was extremely rare in what had become an ‘age of mutual respect’.
The levels ran from 0 to 5. A least 72 hours had to pass before a higher level could be requested. If both people agreed, the change was instantly made. Lowering a relationship status could be made by either person at any time, requiring no consent from their partner.
Along with six different levels, there was also a null status, which is the relationship every person had with every other person until a formal enquire was made and a relationship level was set.
Friendships could be established at level 1 or level 2 status, that is if two people wanted to share text messages or establish a more special relationship beyond just being members of the same support group.
Every person belonged to several support groups and every member automatically had a level 1 status with every other member
Each group would focus on solving a different aspect of nature’s many challenges. And there were no limits as to how many groups one could belong to.
There were advantages to having a level 2 relationship with one or more special friends in the group, since it included offers to both travel and attend special events together.
Level 1 and level 2 relationships often had nothing to do with thoughts of intimacy.
On the other hand, once a couple entered a level 5 relationship, all of their other current level 3 or level 4 relationships were automatically dropped to level 2 status, or lower.
They said, the change was difficult for many in the beginning. Not only was it somewhat confusing, it meant that there were no more one night stands, as they were called. This was a sexual freedom that many adults were unwilling to surrender, until they understood the new freedom and benefits that the Rock Creek Plan offered by waiting a few days before consummating their mutual attraction.
And this restriction only applied to brand new relationships. After that, it only took a few seconds to arrange multiple rendezvous between any interested parties who had level 3 relationships or higher.
It was completely understood by everyone that, other than level 5 celebrations, all other relationships were considered to be absolutely private. And even level 5 ceremonies, which were commonplace, became uneventful. That is, for everyone other than family, which was an intentionally-vague term that, along with parents, brothers, and sisters, often included neighbors, second and third cousins, past lovers, and anyone else considered to be a friend-
So in the beginning, whenever a person received a enquire from someone new, the highest level that could be selected was a level two relationship, provided the other person agreed. Level 2 meant that both text and video could be exchanged between the couple, and both public and semi-private meetings could be arranged, but they were restricted from more intimate contact. Again, both persons would have to agree to any rise in the status of their relationships, but only one partner needed to decide to lower the status, and it was changed instantly. For this reason, people became more sensitive to how they treated others.
After three days of getting to know each other, the couple could both agree to raise their relationship to level 3, 4 or five, if they wanted. And either could lower it, or leave it right where it is, if that’s what they wanted.
Level 3 and level 4 would be similar to what was once thought of by most as “dating”. Along with temporary shelters and special events, these levels included both intimacy and opportunities for privacy, but also did not restrict either person from having other intimate relations. Under level 3, one was not even permitted to ask the question as to their partner’s other relationships. This right to privacy was understood and respected by all.
For this reason, some couples moved directly from level 2 to level 5, deciding that they wanted more security and commitment. And level 5 was specifically created to assure each person of having a more exclusive, long-term relationship with the other, with lots of benefits to improve their experience. For example, a level 5 status was always celebrated by a ceremony exactly seventy-two hours after their public announcement was made. And a public announcement simply meant one person made an electronic enquire to join them at level 5, and the other had accepted. Unless stated otherwise, every person who had a current relationship with the couple automatically received an invitation to the brief ceremony.
Along with receiving several gifts from the community during the ceremony, the couple would be provided a cohabitation shelter with certain special facilities intended to enhance their intimate experience. These shelters were located in a community with other level 5 couples, since most level 5 couples preferred more privacy then others.
He blinked on the icon labeled “2” and began reading the conditions. He could hardly remember way back when they first met and were briefly in a level two relationship. It was unbelievable! They never stopped smiling, and the way she looked in that strapless green gown during the ceremony was incredible!
He felt a brief moment of grief, thinking back about their countless trips together, walking along the beach at Newport. He forced himself to focus on creating a positive emotional energy flow.
“Level two doesn’t mean I won’t ever see her again”, he said aloud. Everything seemed perfect between them when they were together that morning, before she left. Her request to suddenly change their status still confused him.
He wheeled his cart up the walkway toward his primary group home on Shelby Road. A lot of his adult life had been spent here, and it had a lot of good feelings.
He felt a warm familiar breeze blow against his damp skin, and it made him smile.
“Hey!” He yelled, waving at his friend, Gabby, who was leaning out a third floor window, pouring a bag of seeds into a colorful bird house that he had help paint.
He always enjoyed being around his family, but even so, he still believed that her and him would work things out, in time. And hopefully, at least move back to a level 3 relationship in a few days, where they could remain intimate.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, he couldn’t help himself from wondering if maybe she had received a new enquire that interested her…
With a click of his eye lids, he saw he had four new enquires waiting. This instantly made him feel a little better about the situation, as was intended.
As soon as a person status dropped, even before they were notified, their profile was automatically posted on the top of all of the appropriate lists, based on his personal preferences. And having dropped three levels meant even more instant exposure among those who were searching for a possible new relationship, which was almost any adult who wasn’t in a level 5 status.
Most agreed, it was this one particular aspect of the Rock Creek Plan that reduced the level of domestic violence in the society. The conclusion was that it was the fear of loss which caused most people to lose hope and often over-react, violently. The knowledge that there really was someone for everyone! It was simply just a matter of finding that right person, changed how people reacted when they learned that their current relationship status had changed.
Over time, another significant outcome under the Rock Creek Plan was that after intimate relations under level 5, level 4, or level 3 had ended more and more couples remained in level 1 or level 2 relationships, rather than dropping directly to level 0. The creators of the Plan had predicted that a positive change in this particular statistic would indicate that a healthier society was beginning to emerge.