Editor, Times-Union: In the ’60s when I thought about the 21st century, I imagined an incredible time of vacations in space, a lot of problems we faced during the 20th century being solved, living to 100 is becoming common, and this planet is becoming a global neighborhood. Desiring Christ to return to establish his millennial kingdom by now gave me hope. Others thought a global nuclear war would have happened by now and survivors would be struggling to rebuild civilization. Cooler heads prevailed to prevent that grim future. But with the way things are going, the scenario is possible; just delayed. Do you like the future we are experiencing? As a child, did you think things would be like they are now? I thought terrorism would only take place in other countries and not here, too. I thought our government might become a version of “Big Brother” and would keep an eye on all those who hated America. The 9/11 attacks, Oklahoma City and other acts of terrorism indicate that the eye is often blind. I never thought voters would be stupid enough to elect someone as inept yet devious as Obama as president. He might be blamed for many of the problems we experience in the future. When I was a child, doctors thought many terrible diseases would be conquered by now. They never thought some preventable diseases would become plagues. Over 50,000 people do what it takes to become infected with HIV annually. It’s as if people are told there is a tank of acid in front of them that can dissolve them, but they jump in anyways. We used to call those type of people idiots. Today we are supposed to be concerned about people who willfully destroy their lives and often excuse their self-destructive behavior. The future we are experiencing exists for many reasons. Too many fear changed and have exchanged a possible bright future for the status quo. High costs have kept many big dreams from becoming reality. Limits to progress have been imposed. The impossible dreams of futurists have proven to be truly impossible. For my future I wanted to be a successful writer, composer and inventor. But reality got in the way of my dreams. But if enough people want a bright future, maybe we can obtain a better existence ahead. It won’t be exactly what we want it to be. We’ll just have to endure what reality throws at us. Rick Badman Warsaw
