2020. Sounds like all those ‘futuristic’ dates from the Sci-fi shows of the ’50’s and ’60’s that were projecting into the future about how things will look and be. George Orwell’s famous “Big Brother” dystopian novel ‘1984‘ about government over-reach and the repressive regimentation of people and behaviors within society was published in 1949.
’In the Year 2525‘ is a 1968 hit song by American pop-rock duo Zager and Evans. It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for six consecutive weeks in 1969 and peaked at number one in the UK Singles Chart for three weeks. It’s a severe statement about how the future would look based on the perceptions of the time enhanced by a rock ‘n’ roll theme and audience genre. The song runs about three minutes long but take a listen and look. It’s a tribute to imagination, and maybe not such a stretch of the imagination regarding current leadership. The lyrics are to the right of the video ...
Conversely, there was ‘The Jetsons’ created by Hanna Barbera in 1962, my personal preference for how the future should look ...
In 1938, Orson Welles’ radio broadcast of ‘War of the Worlds‘, in an adaptation of H.G Wells 1897 science fiction classic, caused mass hysteria convincing thousands of panicked listeners across North America that the Earth was being attacked by Mars. People believed it to be true and that it was actually happening as if Welles was a reporter broadcasting live. Welles was asked to apologize for causing the panic, which he did but with a hint of sarcasm at the gullibility of the listeners ...
Welles had a point. It seems like our obsession with the future and outer space is only surpassed by our passion for conflict and injustice, and an overactive imagination laced with a tendency to fantasize and gossip. IQ could be argued as well.
There is certainly no shortage of Sci-fi movies, TV shows, mini-series, books, magazines, comic books, and video games. It’s because we’ve always had a profound interest in extraterrestrials. In flying, steel-bending, web-spinning superheros, and in chaos, confusion, fear and rage. In nuclear holocaust and world annihilation. We’re always reaching for persuasive fantasies beyond ourselves. Sometimes even for truth, justice and the American way, but not often. Mostly we’re reaching for power and profits ...or merely for entertainment.
In reality, however, and to our credit, so far man has been to the moon, been to Mars, visited the planets and even asteroids in our solar system. We’ve looked far into the universe and into the face of God ... http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.2067822.1437505904!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_1200/nasa-hubble-space-telescope-captures-pillars-creation.jpg Not bad for mere mortals.
To some out there, We may appear as the invader extraterrestrials.
In addition to exploring the stars and the heavens man has examined the microbes within our own bodies. Our inner space. Advances in medicine have save millions of lives. Our unrelenting curiosity and mission to reach out and to survive is a credit to mankind. It must be our destiny.
“...one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Actually, it’s been argued that Neil Armstrong meant to say, “...one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind ...”, which actually makes more sense considering the circumstance. But we’ll let that one slide. He had more on his mind at the time than to remember his exact line.
On the other hand, man has produced two world wars, and now working on a third. Other combined wars both against credible, worthy adversaries and even against our weakest, most stubborn selves have resulted in the loss of millions of lives and in hardship, starvation and repression. We’ve polluted our air, our oceans, streams and rivers, and we’ve corrupted the minds of our young people with desire and greed led by example. We’ve chosen leaders who have deceived us. We’ve tolerated leaders who have done us grave injustices. We’ve created computers and new technologies to take us into the future, but also to make our everyday lives easier. Maybe too easy. Let’s hope we don’t overextend ourselves. This scene from Stanley Kubrick’s ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ always give me the chills ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDrDUmuUBTo
Is this our future? Or are We our future ...’We the People’? That’s how it was designed to be here in America. But that was then,1776, this is now, 2020. We’re really not our future are we? We’re just pawns controlled by the players ...our politicians, leaders, corporations, and most of all our media. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfdvSD6yRck (sorry about that one). We control nothing but our own desires and greed, our egos, and our preoccupation with power and profits. We control our obsession with entertainment and the future, and our extraterrestrial outer space fantasies and superheros. It’s an obsession that appears to be out of control.
We are out of control with things beyond us ...out of control with “our passion for conflict and injustice, with an overactive imagination laced with a tendency to fantasize and gossip.”
So, this is the future? Buck up!
Every day, every time you look into a mirror, you are looking at your future.
John Kushma is a communication consultant and lives in Logan, Utah
https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-george-kushma-379a5762
Some past articles and op-eds
https://muckrack.com/john-kushma/articles
