A friend of mine commiserated the other day that we as humans (and especially Americans) are fated to forever arm ourselves to the teeth, and to maintain warlike superiority over whatever competition presents itself. That “we are who we are”, and there’s no use resisting our essential nature.
I will begrudgingly agree that our generation is, in the main, beyond redemption or alteration, regardless of the hope and naive promises we made to each other in the heyday of the Hippie Revolution. On the other hand, I have great faith in the so-called”Indigo Children”. I know personally that my own children have, for all their lives, been more aware and involved and active than I ever was at their age(s). And I believe that such awareness and activism is a wide spread phenomenon.
If you have not come across the book, I urge you to read Generations: The History of America’s Future, written by William Straus and Neil Howe, two historians/sociologists. It is a fascinating look at the cycles of history in general, and America in particular, and provides some very hopeful predictive viewpoints. Specifically with regard to the generation that is poised to take the reins of power. That would be the afore-mentioned Indigos (for lack of any better nomenclature; “Millenials” seems too empty).
And I must also mention one of Arthur C. Clarke’s ideas that has remained a potent metaphor for me (and judging by a fair number of movies, etc, for many others as well). I speak of Childhood’s End, which is his tale of the Next Evolutionary Phase. In Clarke’s thought-provoking myth, it is our childhood that is ending, to be replaced by a species that resembles us, but which wields an infinitely broader world view, coupled with powers that obsolete homo sapiens. In this story, perhaps the best we can say is that we at least begat them.
The arc of history bends not only towards justice, but also inevitably towards more freedom, enlightenment and globalism. I know the current situation is dark and gloomy. But I believe it represents the “one step backward” before the “two steps forward” that is bound to come. The Trumps and Cheneys and Putins of the world carry within them the seeds of their own destruction. When one is motivated only by greed and power and self-aggrandizement and hatred and fear, there is nothing solid to build upon, only a rotten core that inevitably collapses upon itself.
So prepare for 2018. And 2020. Stay aware. Stay informed. Don’t succumb to what seems to be an overwhelming tidal wave of bad tidings. Instead, keep our eyes on the prize. And hold on.
© 2018 Chuck Puckett