In the community, the most-valued thing is "sameness".
Thus, everyone strives to be the same - to not stick out. In the process of working
toward "sameness", the elders at some point or another decided to give up the ability to
see color (all colors are the same now) as well as most emotions, including "love", and
any fluctuations in weather or climate.
In order to keep
the community running smoothly, families are placed together by the powers-that-be.
Marriages don't occur for love - they are arranged. Children are assigned to adoptive
families, with one girl and one boy in each family. Adolescents and adults take "pills"
to prevent any romantic feelings. Medication is also used to dull pain, which is seems
the community hasn't figured out how to completely
eradicate.
Children are raised with an emphasis on this
"sameness" that is so important. They are born to women whose job it is to have children
and raised in batches. Once they are assigned to families, they are given numbers and
move through school with their classes. Each year, some new marker happens at
graduation. Once they reach adolescence, a job is chosen for them and assigned, and
they train for that job. This is the first time anything has been different between
them. Prior to this, every child is treated exactly the
same.
The concept of a "career" is unknown, since no one
gets ahead or advances. With the exception of the leaders, no one is more important
than another, and money doesn't exist. Anyone who is deemed to be "different" is
"released", or killed.
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