Could this mean the end of crime fiction?

by Rick Blechta

I meant to write about this last week. In fact, I had started writing this post the day before, but last Tuesday sideswiped me, and all of a sudden it was eight in the evening. My posting day was irretrievably gone. I can take comfort that I seldom miss a week, and honest, my intentions were of the best, but, well, things happen sometimes…

So on to my explosive title for this week’s offering. It is definitely on the hyperbolic end of the spectrum (to get your attention), but indulge me for a moment.

The idea comes from a radio interview I heard on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s excellent daily current events show, amazingly called The Current. The interview was so arresting that I sat in my car in the driveway to finish listening to the end. Here’s the link: The Morality Pill. I’ll wait while you listen – and it is worth a listen.

Okay, so would you take a pill that could do this? Would you support giving it to people who are deemed to need it, say, prison inmates? What if a government forced you to take it – assuming this could be done by putting it in drinking water?

Certainly a more empathetic society would be less violent (and from violence comes the grist for the crime writer’s mill). Changing humanity into something more moral would be a huge step, though. As stated in the interview, there would be massive blow back to overcome if it were to be universally used. I doubt there’s anyone who would disagree that our planet would certainly benefit from less violence, but I’ll bet that everyone would already view themselves as being very moral. (Most would be wrong.)

In order to make our planet a better place, would you take a pill like this?