2030_ The Real Story of What Happens to America - Albert Brooks [64]
Shen Li was the first person in the world to perfect this mobile system, and he was still the best at it. And even though he had a few doctors he partnered with in the United States who would sometimes act as the remote surgeon, the idea itself had not yet cracked the American market.
The American Medical Association was against it in principle, saying that Americans didn’t live in small villages, that everyone in the USA was close enough to a working hospital where they could be seen in person and given personal contact. The AMA’s real fear was that the mobile system would put doctors out of business. It was feared that one surgeon in South Africa, for example, could do seven or eight operations a day, taking business away from American hospitals.
The AMA spent a fortune on advertising trying to convince people that a physician in attendance was better. One ad that was especially effective showed a doctor on one side of the bed, soothing an older woman, and a robot on the other side, just making machine noises. The voice-over said, “Which one would you choose?” But worldwide results of robotic surgery proved that the robots were no better or worse than having the doctor there. Surgery was only about who was doing the procedure, and whether they were in the room or in Greenland, the result was the same.
As for America, Li needed a way in. So when he got his thank-you letter from the governor of California, he framed it, sensing it might be the start of something.
* * *
Max and Kathy stood at the north shore of Lake Michigan and opened her father’s urn. “I’ve never done this before,” Kathy said. “Do you say a prayer?”
“Only if you believe in God.”
“Well, I believe in something, so whatever it all is I hope my dad becomes one with the universe and finds peace, along with adventure.”
“That’s great,” Max said. “Peace along with adventure. What a great wish.”
With that, Kathy raised her arms as high as she could, and spun around, flinging the ashes into the lake. Some of them fell by her feet, and she kicked those into the water, but most made their way onto the surface, where they eventually either sank or were blown away from the shore.
“Did your dad like to fish?”
“No.”
“Did he like boating?”
“Not really.”
“What did he like about the water?”
“He wasn’t a big water person.”
“So how come you chose the lake?”
“It was your idea.”
“I thought you wanted it.”
“I did want it. It’s beautiful here.”
“He must have liked something about the water.”
“He liked fried clams.”
“There you go. Soon he might be a part of what he loved to eat.”
Now Kathy was having second thoughts. Maybe this wasn’t the best place. Maybe a bowling alley would have been better. But it was a beautiful day, the sun was setting over the lake, and the idea of coming back as anything anyway was so remote, she felt she had given her father a proper send-off.
As they were driving home, Kathy sat quietly, looking out the window.
“What are you thinking about right now?” Max asked her.
“I was thinking about all those old people at the lecture. How happy they looked. Like they had crossed a barrier where worry and fear don’t seem as important.”
“Goddamn right. Because they’re taken care of. I’d feel worry-free, too, if I had millions of young slaves attending to my every need.”
“I keep thinking how unfair it was that my dad didn’t get to enjoy any peace. He was always worried.”
“Of course he was. He was the first generation that wasn’t being coddled. And I’m telling you, and you mark my words: When we get to your dad’s age it’s going to be ten times worse. Those old fuckers will still be alive. We’ll be paying for one-hundred-and-twenty-year-old people to be carried to the toilet.”
“So what can we do?”
“We can kill them all.”
Kathy stared at him and then smiled. “That’s a joke, right?”
“I guess. I guess that would be impractical. But we certainly can present the