An Open Letter to the Future

Greetings, future Earthlings! As i write, the last echoes of graduation ceremonies, funeral potatoes, and bagpipes playing “Amazing Grace” are fading. And so, looking forward, i turn my attention to a melancholic note. One that spurs a most peculiar thought: an apology is due. Yes, a grand, sweeping apology from us, the bumbling knuckle-draggers of the past, to you, the magnificent inheritors of our glorious mess.

Now, hold your horses, don’t get all misty-eyed just yet. As your Nana, bless her soul, would say, “Things could be worse! You could be fleeing a warzone with the Red Army on your tail!” Perspective, loopers! But even nestled here in the (relatively) stable heartland, the news wafting in from Europe and the Middle East leaves a bitter taste in the mouth – like burnt toast dipped in existential dread. It’s almost as if humanity forgot the whole “war is a racket” memo.

And wouldn’t you know it, the blame falls squarely on our generation, the Boomers. We just can’t seem to learn, can we? First, the Y2K fiasco – imagine the horror, computers bursting into flames! Then, the Neocon warhawks with their delusions of global domination. Then, the financial meltdown of ’07-’09 – a real doozy, that one. And as if that wasn’t enough, we had to throw in the culture wars, turning political disagreements into a grotesque vaudeville show with enough vitriol to power a small sun.

Oh, and don’t even get me started on Trump, the Rona, and the current crop of armchair generals itching for a Civil War 2.0 – a Facebook-fueled spectacle for the ages! You, my dear loopers, didn’t ask for any of this. Yet, the fallout from our relentless greed and short-sightedness lands squarely on your laps. First, you’ll have to survive the mess, then sift through the wreckage, salvaging what’s left to build something better.

Look, i know i’m adding to the cacophony with this rant. But my anger isn’t fueled by the 24/7 news cycle’s relentless negativity. No, it’s a white-hot rage at the sheer waste! We have the resources, the know-how, to create a world where everyone thrives. But that would require dismantling a system designed to reward the greediest, most acquisitive loopers in the room. Yeah, like that’ll ever happen.

So, are we, the supposed “Citizens of the Milky Way,” doomed? Or can we make the changes needed? Only time, and you, the future inheritors of our legacy, will tell.

In the meantime, accept my apologies, my heartfelt (and slightly tearful) apologies, for the world you’ve been handed. May you rise to the challenge and create a future worthy of your dreams, even if it means starting from scratch on a smoking pile of our mistakes.

Sincerely (and with a touch of trepidation),

A contrite boomer… R.H.

Enough with the Whiney Baby Crap (Election, 2016)

So… the election is over, and whining has become a bi-partisan activity. Before the outcome was known, some of The Donald’s supporters were openly threatening “Another Revolutionary War” if he lost the election to Hillary Clinton.
Meh…
And Johnny Depp predicted DOOM if The Donald was elected…
Double meh…
Lemmie tells ya folks … it’s all breathless, bogus, fear mongering bunk, and I’ve seen my share.
  • Brought into this world April 19th, 1959, and by the 22nd, my first dose of “the fear” was served up by the prophet of the Branch Davidians, Florence Houteff. Ms. Houteff declared the apocalypse foretold in the Book of Revelation would proceed on this date.
  • In 1963, my three-year-old old self took another dose, when Jeane Dixon and various Indian astrologers predicted a planetary alignment would bring destruction to the world.
  • In ’67, King hell doom-monger, Jim Jones was already at it, recounting (out loud) he had visions of a nuclear holocaust set to take place.
  • The same year, UFO prophet, George Van Tassel predicted of the southeastern US being destroyed by a Soviet nuclear attack.
  • In 1969, failed musician, deeply troubled waif with mommy issues, Ch-ch-ch-Charlie Manson predicted an apocalyptic race war, and we know what that got him.

In my lifetime more than a dozen stoned-on-Jesus ravers have tried to infect the rest of us with the fear by predicting grisly details of the book of Revelation, quite literally, as described, they still believe it. Who on earth still listens?

Anyhoo, my life, so far, has included a persistent pearl string of nasty doom predictions, all have turned out to be bunk. Let’s not even get started on the y2k crap… 😉 Friends… come what may, all of this will pass. HillaryThe Donald … we’ll survive it. We survived Nixon, we survived Clinton, we survived Bush the Jr. (barely), and we just did eight years with the nation’s first non-white president. Let’s cut the doomsday dreck and figure out a way to work together, shall we? Well… shall we??