Robot Rights— Tomorrow's Problem


Once upon a time, in a land
not too far from here, there was a robot.
Like you or I, they spent their days
working, grinding away at the same thankless job.
They spent their nights watching bad TV, not able to pull themselves away.
They had friends, and acquittances, and a postman who's name they could never quite remember.
But do you want to know the sad thing?
This robot was not a person.

Don't ask me why. I don't have a clue.
"They have no feels?"
"They don't have a soul?"
I'm not sorry to tell you that you're wrong on both counts.
That little robot had more heart, more spirit, than most of us could ever hope for.
They helped people, wanting nothing in return.
They laughed when something was funny.
Truth be told, they were human.

So why weren't they a person?
Don't ask me. I don't have a clue.
The law couldn't look past their metal skin.
Or maybe it was their funny voice.
Could it be the fact they didn't eat?
There was nothing substantially different about this robot,
just a series of small things that seemed slightly odd.
Apparently, that was enough.

Someday, things will change.

Don't ask me when. I don't have a clue.
"When pigs fly?"
"When the cows come home?"
We could give them a whole barnyard of extraordinary beasts—
Still, nothing will change.
But someday…
someday things will change.

Tick tock goes the clock.
Tick tock tick tock tick…
They're waiting.
We're waiting.
Hurry up! Time's
running out.
We don't have forever!

Still not running off your seat?
I thought not?
See, that little robot's from a land not far from now.
A land in the near future,
A land which doesn't quite yet exist.
They're tomorrow's problem—
That's why nobody will help them.

Here's a little tip for you. There's
no such thing as tomorrow.
'Tomorrow' is a fable told to please small children.
'Tomorrow' is just another thing the internet is trying to flog you.
'Tomorrow' is fiction. 'Tomorrow' is a placebo. 'Tomorrow' is a lie.
All we have is string of today's, stretching as far as the eye can see.

So what happens today? I'll tell you.
Today robots are slaves.
Today, no matter how fierce your spirit or how much you fight
for a place at the table, birth is everything.
Yeah… that doesn't seem fair.
So today we make the change,
come hell or high water.
Today we refuse to wait for tomorrow

Once upon a time, in a land
not too far from here, there was a robot.
Like you or I, they spent their days
working, grinding away at the same thankless job.
They spent their nights watching bad TV, not able to pull themselves away.
They had friends, and acquittances, and a postman who's name they could never quite remember.
But do you want to know the sad thing?
This robot was not a person.

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