The treatment handed out to inanimate objects over the centuries has been appalling. Humanity has consistently taken up objects, used them, changed them, broken them up, created new ones, and discarded them without so much as holiday pay. And it is something we are all guilty of. For who among us does not possess at least a few objects? And in fact they are our very slaves. We did not consider their rights as autonomous individuals when we rudely possessed them.

	^ Click on cover to see bigger version	False Head, And Other Parts Anthony Riddelll [extract] Miranda, "Ichthyopod" and maimed "Ichthyopod" gasped when Wilbur clumped into view. He had been partially coated in a pale fluid, but was blithely unaware of this until he sat down and a droplet struck his face. A large door had been felled and served as a rude table. More wood was found. It was left in a container of water with the intention of eventually boiling and eating it. As minutes turned to hours and sporadic globs of saliva turned into a trickle, fragments of wood prepared to enter mouths " munching seemed imminent. All present seemed somehow reluctant to eat wood. They tried for many minutes, throwing about such phrases as "even borers eat wood" and "it is fibre". So it came as something of a relief when an unknown quantity of dried fruit walked past. Why was food virtually being provided? Was this a trap? Who was going to win? A muffled growl came from somewhere within the head. It was sufficiently menacing to induce those present to hurriedly begin to munch the dried fruit, even though legs were involved. "ICHTHYOPOD": Broken sand MAIMED "ICHTHYOPOD": On your forehead MIRANDA: Given to books "I": Fear of items M "I": Gnawing spheres M: Bouncng into soft saucepans WILBUR: Partially severed wishes "I": Saveloys in huts M "I": Hats in huts M: Nasty things in huts W: I'm not sure Everyone present expected to mutate over the next twenty years. Maybe Wilbur would have grown arms. This would not have been the first time, although he would not say how he lost his first set. Something thudded in the passage adjacent to the room. Hungrily expecting a carrot, maimed "Ichthyopod" and Wilbur rushed to look. They found no carrots but a small person (three or four cubits in height) with transparent skin, a Hessian suit and a lack of visible hair. It wore sunglasses - the left was black with a white X while the right sunglass was white with a black X. "I am Chewn Eye," it announced in a dull voice, "Have you seen my pet dried fruit?" A guilty Wilbur and maimed "Ichthyopod" tried not to belch. For minute after desperately flatulent minute, nobody moved. "I say, persons," announced "Ichthyopod", poking its head through the door, "Let's explore this construction further, shall we? Oo, who do we have here?" "My dear organism," pleasantly stated the little one, "I am Chewn Eye. As I was attempting to explain to your assistants here, I seek my pet dried fruit. I am certain that they came this way." "Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes." At that moment, Miranda arrived from somewhere else. She blithely munched upon a dried avocado. "FIFI! WHAT? YOU HAVE EATEN THEM!" A distraught Chewn Eye did not move for a while, then fell to the floor. Nobody else moved at all. They felt unpleasant. They had eaten pets and had been caught eating them. Chewn Eye's feet were sinking. This was not happening to anybody else's feet. Attempts were made to acquaint Chewn Eye with awareness of this, with little success. Chewn Eye was still talking about the pets. The others still felt guilty but were shifting uneasily. Finally Chewn Eye, now ankle-deep in the floor, became aware of the predicament. Wilbur closed his eyes. "You all right mate" He opened his eyes. Now "Ichthyopod", maimed "Ichthyopod" and Chewn Eye were all knee-deep in the floor. Although a revolting and terrifying prospect at first (someone compared it to munching upon a roll containing sewage), it became more bearable with time. One knew that one's thinking had progressed when one enjoyed sinking into the floor. The sinking ones mouthed words of pity towards those who were unaffected. Their expressions betrayed pure pleasure. £4.00 118pp, 22 x 15 cm ISBN: 978-0-9757380-3-0
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In our enlightened times we no longer feel constrained to discriminate against each other. We have also extended this courtesy to animals, to a degree. Even plants have their needs tended. For we accept that all living things have their value (in public anyway). We even show concern about our environment, and only dump toxic waste when no one is looking. As a consequence of our concern, it has come to be noticed that inanimate objects are often neglected. For they do not come under any blanket concern for the environment. We are talking individual rights for individual objects here. Indeed, individual objects receive more than their fair share of discrimination. And just because they are not alive, it does not mean they should not have the same rights as the rest of us. For how can objects speak out for themselves if they are inanimate? They are not merely being shy either. They require some rights enshrined in law, even if they are too embarrassed to come forward. The treatment handed out to inanimate objects over the centuries has been appalling. Humanity has consistently taken up objects, used them, changed them, broken them up, created new ones, and discarded them without so much as holiday pay. And it is something we are all guilty of. For who among us does not possess at least a few objects. And in fact they are our very slaves. We did not consider their rights as autonomous individuals when we rudely possessed them. And we claim to own them. Even if that were true, and there is some argument to show, no matter how much you pay for an object, if you do not respect it as an individual, then you have no right to dictate the course of its existence, objects did not ask to be manipulated by us. In fact we have never asked whether they like being asked. And even if they cannot answer, or communicate in any way, this does not assume they have no rights. By any democratic standard, mistreatment of an object represents a fundamental denial of an object's right to exist as an object, for and by itself, for its own purposes. And if the object just sits there doing nothing, then that may be considered an expression of its own autonomous existence, and that should not be tampered with. The fact that objects will never complain of injustice means we must protect them all the more, as we would always protect the vulnerable in any society. And perhaps there are more reasons now to treat objects with respect. For, in our modern era, objects outnumber us a thousandfold. If they were ever to become critically aware, and to organise themselves along political lines, then we may have some problems. Objects might go on strike, they might decide on sanctions, or even declare war. It would be a conflict we could not win. There have already been several instances of objects hurting humans without provocation. How these instances would increase if objects became resentful at their situation. For these instances are increasing already, if slowly. We should not have to live in potential fear of objects. We should begin educating them now. So they can take their place on the world stage as equal players rather than props. We should find out what the hopes and aspirations of objects are. Once we work up an appreciation of them, then maybe we can have a dialogue with them. Then we can have partnerships with objects, establish their rights as equal entities, rather than merely possessing them.For the bulk of the population, reality will continue to be dominated by work, all-encompassing, all-powerful work. Those already in employment will be compelled to work at least fifteen hours a day. That way their only reality can, and will, be work. Lots of deductions can be made from their salaries to pay those companies who sponsor reality. They will also help in sponsoring leisure realities, which will only be available at exorbitant cost, because of the high demand. These leisure realities will remain totally escapist in nature. They may contain such genres as travel, sport, art, etc etc. They will contain no controversial content. Controversial realities will only be allowed to the most highly qualified, and then under strict supervision. The reality provided by bad habits - such as gambling and drug abuse, will be available on subscription, at a high price. Moreover, the population will have to work exceedingly hard to pay for these expensive pleasures, for the reality of leisure is often the high cost of its maintenance. Some domestic realities, at present known as quality time, will continue to exist in their present form. Familial contact, person to person communication, street life, community life, have all been sold off in large amounts in recent times. It is felt some token prescience must be maintained with regard to domestic reality. Otherwise people may forget it exists. (Some argue this has already happened in a number of cases.)