Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Look At It This Way


Humankind today lives longer than ever before. A lot longer. Many today can expect to live into their late 70s, some much longer than that. Still it's not long enough.

What if we could reasonably expect to live for 200 years? How would that change us, especially how we see our world?

Our outlook would be entirely different. Had I a reasonable expectation of living another 130 or 140 years, I'd be scared shitless about climate change. I, we, would be taking to the streets with pitchforks and torches, chasing down the fossil fuelers and their political collaborators for condemning us to endure a dystopian future.

Most of us, however, comfort ourselves in the knowledge that we'll be safely dead before the fit hits the shan, although the latest research suggests we might be a bit too optimistic about that. And so we're content to let the good times roll even if our ongoing excess ensures that those future generations pay for our indulgence.

And that's the kind of people we are which is the only reason we elect the leaders we have.

2 comments:

Toby said...

The only time the guy I voted for was elected was about 40 years ago. Now I don't want to suggest that our system is crooked (in spite of historical proof of ballot stuffing) but those who occupy high office rarely have the luxury of receiving majority vote. After a while of being ignored we tend to drift away and get on with life. That's probably a big mistake.

The Mound of Sound said...


Your resignation is understandable, Toby. Just know that they're counting on a good many of us giving up.