My regime would consist of all fertile women becoming what I like to call a ‘Handmaid’. We will give these handmaids a very privileged life, living in the house of a rich gentlemen and his infertile wife. This gentleman will in effect be their commander. They will be housed, fed and looked after, all at a very small cost. This cost will be absolutely nothing in terms of money and they will be given free upkeep. The only provision would be that once a month, the Handmaid would have to sexually commit themselves to their Commander in the aim of pregnancy. This way, our population will not die out and this small sacrifice once monthly should result in high enough numbers to keep our society running.
So, onto rules and regulations. In a society like the one I am proposing, extreme protection would be needed. I intend to protect every member of society and give him or her as much freedom as possible. One thing you must remember, is that control would be necessary. This is why I am proposing such strict leadership – without it, our society will decay.
As part of my control, I intend to set up a protection scheme for every member of society. These will be societies own guards and I intend to set up forces such as The Angels and Guardians of The Faith. No longer will people suffer in silence. No longer will crimes be tolerated and no longer will women roam freely among men. These things will not be tolerated. In my society, I need a strict regime, it is necessary if you all want to maintain our survival. I will also set up The Eyes Of God, who will be all seeing, all knowing and will see to anyone who disobeys the laws of Gilead.
Gilead will be run in accordance with the Bible. We will be a religious patriarchal society, and anything that goes against Gilead is therefore sinful. If you remember, St Paul once said ‘’from each according to her ability, to each according to his needs’’. We are not treading on any new ground here, or shattering any religious morals. The evidence is here, in The Bible itself.
I admit, that enforcing this society will cause initial problems and I do expect some teething difficulties. It is well known that people fear change; people are comfortable with their ordinary lives, living from day-to-day. But that is no longer good enough; living from day-to-day will result in failure, we must consider the future. As part of the change, it is imperative that individuality is strictly controlled. Society will run a whole lot better if people surrender their pasts and focus on our future. Dwelling or living in the past is no good – the past is gone, the future is on it’s way.
To help surrender individuality, I propose an equal society for each type of person. All Handmaids will live in similar conditions, carry out the same job and have the same goals to achieve. All Commanders will behave in a similar manner and will only ever use the Handmaids once a month for the specific duty. I also propose to employ other members of household such as Martha’s. These will take part in the everyday running of the household. Obviously, they will be infertile and being so, this job will be a privilege, not a chore.
Communication should be strictly limited. As mentioned previously, this society will crumble if individuality takes over. We need to remember that this is a time of crisis, where we all need to pull together, think about the future and make sacrifices. There should be a strict hierarchy, which will be enforced, and this should limit communication. Handmaids should respect their Commander, but if any Commander treats a Handmaid in any way other than state law, The Eyes shall see to this matter.
Freedom shall be granted. I will not stand up here and make out as though we are depriving everyone of everything. I grant freedom to all. Handmaids will have plenty of spare time around the household and Commander’s Wives can tend to the garden just like they enjoy doing now. Everyone will have something to occupy themselves with, and some amount of freedom also. Limited it may be, but something is better than nothing.
Take a look at society now; we have become a world of criminals through too much freedom. I question anyone who challenges harsher laws, for those are probably the rebels who intend to break rules anyway. I make no secret of my intended methods of persecution, infact the opposite; I wish to share them with you. Anyone caught rebelling against Gilead and what we stand for, should be severely punished. This will not be done undercover, don’t worry I shall do it in front of your eyes. If each public persecution deters just one person from rebelling, then it has been a success. I need to cleanse society. Your impurities need to be wiped, and this is your chance. As part of cleansing society, I need us to all be one body. This seems impossible, however, when we still have the Son’s of Jacob present in our world. This is an issue that I am still debating over, but I feel it is best if they are irradiated from our lives. This is a state of emergency, and I cannot deal with secondary bug-bearers who are only making things worse. They are no use to us now whatsoever. Following Gilead’s rules would be a mere joke to them, one that was not obeyed, and I am sure the intelligent ones amongst you realise this.
Thank you for your time, it is much appreciated, and I hope you’ve gained something from today. Sitting back and doing nothing will bring about nothing. Standing up and doing something will bring about something. It is this something that is needed; change and order. We are all in the same boat; we just need organization, determination and a skilled leadership team. Then and only then will we be sailing in the same direction.
