John Kramer is a 22 years old University of Berkley student who was born in Denver, Colorado, in a middle class american family. His mother is a housewife and his father is the owner of a small newspaper in the city, Free America. He has a brother who is 5 years younger than him and is a student in one of the three government run schools in the city. The family is simple minded, has never indulged in any kind of immoral activity and has shown an unbreakable unity in all the crises that have shaken the nation in the last 15 years.
John is doing his graduation in political science. He is in the second year of the 4 years long course. He was one of the best students in his high school but in college, he became an average student. Although he aspires to become a senator of Colorado, he is not able to give as much time to his studies as is required in order to become a good student. This is because in addition to his studies, he also helps his mother with some of her household tasks, helps his father in his business and helps his brother in his school homework. Due to his "free help" giving nature, both his parents loved him more than their own life and continuously prayed to God for the realisation of his "american dream" and for his long life.
His teachers and his classmates know about his dream and they occasionally make fun of him and tell him to abandon his dream of being a senator. One day, one of his teachers called him into the faculty room of the department of political science and said "are you mad? You are dreaming of landing on the moon when you cannot even travel from Los Angeles to San Francisco? Stop your foolish thinking. Try to rescue the dying business of you father and if you still want to work inside the Capitol, try to apply for the job of a sweeper after your graduation. I am sure that you will get one."
John Kramer was an emotional man and was devastated when he heard this. He said to himself "that man has no right to say this to me because he has not created my brain. How can he know what I am capable of? Only God knows that." The following night when he repeated his belief to his father, in his bedroom, he said to him "my dear John, you are right but the teacher is also right. He is a man who knows how the world works and what is the real situation in the political world of this country. My advice to you is to consider his opinion as the truth. Complete your graduation and then come and work with me. I have made a plan to save my dying business and I will also get you married to a beautiful girl. Your mother wants to see your baby."
John again received a devastating blow to his ego. He said "dad, I thought that you would motivate me to study harder and increase my self respect, but you turned out to be a friend of that evil teacher. Becoming a senator is as important to me as keeping myself alive. I want to make the lives of millions of people in this country far better than what it currently is. I want to create new laws in the field of gun control, illegal immigration, drug trade and education. Unregulated gun sales, the entry of people from Mexico, the Latin American Nations and from the Asian nations are tearing apart the foundation that the creators of the constitution worked very hard to create. The black men have formed gangs and are selling drugs to young people of all ages and educational backgrounds on the streets of all the big cities and the authorities in the educational institutions are taking great quantities of money from the students and are giving them little in return. All of this is going on and you want me to work in your small business and marry for the sake of making mother happy?" I don't feel like staying in this house anymore. I will go and live in a hostel and pursue my dream from there. I would get more time to study there because I would not be helping you, mother and Stephen (his brother).
John's father listened to everything that his son said with the mind of a wise man. When John was a child, his father told him "fools love to talk too much and do nothing, cowards love to stay silent for a long time and do nothing even if they are going to die, but the wise man listens to all the opinions of his friends and his enemies and then acts when the right moment arrived and according to rationality." Then he got up from his chair and came to John. He embraced him and put both his hands on his head. Then he started to cry and when John looked up at his face, he immediately removed his hands from his head and kissed them. John said "father, I am extremely sorry for speaking like this to you I know that it is my duty to serve my country but it is also my duty to serve you. Since you are more important to me than the country, I choose to serve you. I will do whatever you tell me to do and will get married after my graduation and take care of your business.
John's father said "no my son, do not give up your dream because it is a noble one. All the people in the Capitol are nothing but womanisers, swindlers, gamblers and robbers. Along with the illegal immigrants and the drug peddlers, they are also tearing apart this great country. I am 52 years old and I have not yet seen a single honest and moral man in the Capitol. I want you to be that man. If you become a senator and change the environment of this country, I would die peacefully. I don't want you to become a part of my business and become a bag of trash like me. Go ahead son, work hard and achieve your dream. I will give you whatever help you ask from me."
John's father said goodnight and went into his bedroom. A few minutes later, his mother came into his room and said "my dear John is everything all right?" John said "yes mom, I am absolutely fine and do is dad. Please do not worry." His mother came to him, gave him a kiss on his forehead, caressed his head for a minute, said goodnight and went to sleep with her husband. After 15 minutes, John shut off the lights in his room and went to sleep.
The next morning, John had a good breakfast with his parents and his brother on the family table in the biggest room of the house. It was a Sunday, so there was no college. However, John still had two tasks to complete before he could go into his room and study for the exams that were 4 months away. These were, going into his dad's office and helping him distribute the salaries to his employees and coming back to his home and helping his brother with his homework. He was in a state of high anxiety and the effect of his father's emotional outburst last night was still fresh on his mind.
After finishing his breakfast, John went up into his room and started to clean it up. After 15 minutes of cleaning the floor, John arrived at his private bookshelf. He started to sort the books according to their size when suddenly a blue coloured "hardcover" book fell from his hands and onto the floor. John picked it up and saw that it was a collection of the 10 most famous philosophical sayings of the Greek philosopher, Socrates. His father brought it when he was 20 years old and then gave it to John when he was 5 years old. However, he had not read a single page of it so far. Looking at the book, he said to himself "how could the sayings of this prehistoric man be of any use to me now?" He was going to put the book back on the shelf when it again slipped from his hands and fell on the floor, but this time in an open state.
John picked it up and read the message that was on that page. It was "your character determines your destiny". The message struck John like a bolt of lightning. He had listened to the crude philosophical speeches of his teachers at his college, but he had never heard them say something that was equal to or even close to the "philosophical depth" of this message of Socrates. He stood like a statue with the book still in his hands and started to contemplate, forgetting everything that was happening around him.
When it came to character, there was no one like him in the whole of the United States. He was 22 years old but he had never smoked a single cigarette in his life, had never taken even a drop of alcohol in his life, had never taken any kind of pure or pharmaceutical drugs in his life, had never watched pornography on his phone and on his computer, had never made a girlfriend in school and in his college and had never deceived or robbed anyone. On the other hand, all his friends were completely immersed in the world of drugs, alcohol, girls and prostitutes and pornography. Several times, they had persuaded John to smoke with them and to come with them to one of the alcohol pubs in Denver. They had also persuaded him to come with them to the "red light" area of the city, but John refused them everytime. He said to them "I am a real christian and a follower of the 4 rules of Jesus Christ and the golden law of the bible; do not do those things to the others that you do not want to be done to yourself. By living your life according to your own ego, you are creating hell for yourselves in the future. You are laughing and dancing now but will cry and slap yourselves in the future and the only people who will come to help you will be the doctors who will stuff up your brain and body with so much drugs, that you will die." Hearing this, they said to him "here we have a bible rat and a pet dog of the dead man known as Jesus Christ. This asshole thinks that God will fulfill his dreams if he lives according to his teachings. You asshole, your destiny is to become a servant in our houses and clean our floors and wash our bathrooms."
After reading the message of Socrates, John said to himself "the destiny of a man is the product of his character. This means that if he has a beautiful character, then his destiny must also be beautiful. This means that in order to serve God, he must work as hard as he can in order to create a beautiful destiny. If he doesn't, then he is acting against the law of God. Thus, he would be declared a criminal by God and would be punished not only in his Earthly existence but also in his afterlife existence. My classmates have a low character and thus it is not obligatory for them to create a high destiny. If they remain at a low point in this world, God will not punish them but if I remain at a low point after my education, God's wrath will descend upon me." John took a scissor and cut off the page on which the message was written. He put the book back on the shelf and stuck the page on the top of his bed with a tape.
The message led to the "Rebirth" of John Kramer. He started to study as hard as he could and with immense planning and focus. He increased his interactions with his professors and also started to take notes from the lectures of the professors at Stanford and Harvard. He started to visit the library of his college and took a large number of notes from the great political scientists of the past. His friends, his professors and his parents were shocked at his new "avatar" and they frequently asked him for the cause of his transformation. He said "I am behaving like this because I have realised my duty and will never flinch from it even if the whole world threatens to kill me." Previously, his friends mocked him but now they were afraid of him. When they sat together to chat in the college canteen and in the malls, they said to each other "this man is going to become the next topper in our batch."
The attitude of his professors had also changed. Previously they had looked upon him as a maniac with a dark future, but now they saw a man who was going to change not only the political environment inside the Capitol, but also transform the nation.
John Kramer graduated 2 years later as the topper in his batch. In addition to this, he also broken the record that was held by the previous topper. In the graduation ceremony, he received a great ovation from all the faculty members of his department and from all his friends. The head of the department handed him a gold medal and a job proposal at the University after completing his masters. Then, one of the biggest capitalists in the United States, Bill Gates, came to him and handed him his scholarship check to Harvard University. Bill Gates told the crowd "John Kramer is the future of America. He would become it's light and lead it's people to a happy and secure life."
John got on the mike and said "I have done very little to achieve what I have achieved. This is because I could never have become the topper of my class were it not for the emotional and the financial support of my parents, my wonderful brother and the blessings of God. This medal and this check belong to them as much as they belong to me. Hearing this, both of John's parents started to cry and clap at the same time. His father cried more powerfully and longer than his mother and was comforted by his wife. The eyes of John's brother were also full of tears and reverence for his brother.
After the end of the ceremony, when John was going back to his home, one of the teacher's from his class came up to him. He was the same teacher who had said that John's destiny was to become a sweeper inside the Capitol. He walked upto John with great anxiety and said "John, I am extremely sorry for what I said to you at the beginning of your graduation. Will you forgive me? If you do, then we can become great and lifelong friends." John said "Mr McCarthy, please do not feel guilty. You did not commit a sin. You just told me what was appropriate to be said at that time. Beside's, your words were a reason for my passion to transform myself. I owe my success not only to God and my parents but also to you." What was the reaction of the teacher? He was full of relief when he heard this and both he and John hugged each other for 2 minutes.
John Kramer entered into Harvard University and just like at Berkeley, studied with the same magnitude of energy, focus and planning. He again became a topper in his batch and received his master's degree in political science. At the age of 27, he became a congressman and at the age of 31, he became the youngest senator in the Capitol. At his "State of the Union" speech, the president of America, called him upon the stage, and in front of all the members, told him to give him the reason for his success.
John Kramer said "success is not a product of your hard work, your planning, your cleverness and your connection with the right people. All of these things will not give you what you sim for unless you do not have the primary thing, "character". Yes, it is your character that determines what kinds of fruits you will get through your hard work, your planning, your cleverness and your connections. If your character is weak or is almost non-existent, then you can stop having any hopes for a good destiny. However, if your character is good or great, you must couple it up with honest hard work, rational planning, cleverness at the proper opportunities and making friendship with the right people. If you do not, then you would end up with the same destiny as the man of low character. 10 years ago, I read a message of Socrates to the young people of his time and to the future generations of young people all over the world. The message was in a book that most of the young american boys and girls would not even bother to open. They would treat the book like a piece of trash or like a paperweight."
The president said "Mr Kramer, what was the message?" John said "your character determines your destiny. The message implies two rational outcomes; if your character is beautiful, then you must work hard to create an equally beautiful destiny and if you have a low character, then you have no need to work hard. It also says that if you have a low character, your destiny will be beautiful but only for a short time period. Eventually, you will be put in the place, by God, that is "proper" according to your character. However, if you have a beautiful character, then you might have a bad destiny, but only for a short time period. Eventually, God will put you in the place that is "proper" according to your character. The story of Cinderella is the best example of this."
All the members were stunned and thoughtless when they heard the speech of senator John Kramer. They knew that this man was directly connected to God and was telling the truth. Since most of them had a "low character" they realised that God would doon put them in the place that was appropriate to their character. However, their fears were not a concern of John. He calmly got down from the podium, thanked the president for allowing him to speak and calmly sat down on his spot.
John Kramer did everything that he promised his father to do if he became a senator. He made new laws in the sale of handguns and semi-automatic rifles in all the states of the country. Then he made new laws in the regulation and the stoppage of illegal immigration and made new laws for the prevention of the sale of drugs and for the capture of gangs who sold drugs on the streets of the american cities. Then he made new laws in the education system of the nation. All his laws bore fruit because he was an intelligent, rational and a moral man and also because he had the support of the president and all the major capitalists of the nation. He transformed the country and became the subject of a "post dinner" discussion in every poor, middle class and upper class american household.
From a national icon, he eventually became a global icon and his face was shown on the front covers of the Time and the Forbes magazines. He became a "Warren Buffett" level champion on the stock market and became one of the richest men in the country at the age of 55. Leaders from the other nations, asked him for advice on the "art of legislation" and how to improve their own character for a better destiny of themselves and their families. All of his fellow senators repeatedly told him to run for the White House but he refused every time. He said "the White House was not my destination when I started my journey more than 30 years ago. My destination was to become a senator and a lawmaker and make sure that my laws get executed."
John's father died a very peaceful death at the age of 87. Just before he died, he said to John "you are the son that I dreamt about when I became a father. You have given me everything that I wanted from you. You have made me feel that I am the biggest man in the world. Now, I will go to God and say thank you to him for blessing you and taking care of me. Goodbye my son and keep doing what you are doing till the end of your life." John's mother died 4 years later and said the same things to him before her passing. John and his brother gave both of them a grand funeral.
What happened to the newspaper "Free America"? John's father handed over his business to his younger son. He imitated his brother and became a man with nearly as much character and intelligence. After John became a senator, he said and his brother became the co-owners of their father's business and soon "Free America" became one of the biggest newspapers in the country.
Did John Kramer have a family? Yes, he did. At the age of 32, he married the girl of his parents choice and became the father of two daughters and one son. His brother Stephen also married a christian girl from a rich family and had two sons. Both of them lived in the same house in Denver with their families. They sold the house of their parents and gave all the money to an orphanage.
One night, after having dinner with his family, his brother and his family, John sat on the terrace of his mansion. He looked up at the Milky Way and said "thank you, Socrates. You were a great man and if I were there with you, I would have prevented you from drinking the hemlock by fighting with the ones who had given it to you. The world needs people like you. Please come back and work with me or with my children when they grow up."
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