I’ve always had a profound understanding that I was on this planet, during this time period, for a reason. Nothing so grandeuse as I am destined for greatness; I don’t feel that I would be well suited for the rigors of greatness. Nor do will I ever contribute something of astronomical importance to society. No, I am here to witness something.
I’ve known this since I can remember – that I choose this life for a reason. I believe that we choose our lives, as one chooses a new car or a significant other. I choose this life for something, and my job is to witness something.
But what is it? The answer to this question is something I was not endowed with prior to the beginning of my journey.
Am I to witness the downfall of society? The birth of the War on Terrorism? (Make no mistake, this is not a small conflict – this is a war that will be with us until the bitter end of our society...we are, collectively, witnessing the birth of something that will not end). The beginning of the end of our industrial society?
Look to our use of technology; cellular phones in elementary school, internet connected computers in Vietnam and North Korea, Palm Pilots in Ethiopia, GPS navigation in more then half of all new cars; technology has never reached the masses on such a massive scale before in the history of the world. Never before has the world been so small, yet so big at the same time. I can email someone in China (think about that for a minute) and get a reply in as much time as it takes them to type it. Yet for all I can learn of there country online, when I get there I will find it to be a wholly different place – most likely completely opposite of my expectations.
No, I think my mission is to witness, to record, the beginning of the end. Terrorism. Not a new phenomenon, by any measure of the word, but it has grown out of it’s infancy and is now full grown. However, despite it’s change, we will never be rid of it; it will never get a job and move on with it’s left, bereft of us. This one is here to stay, and for good.
Just think about it people. What started on 9/11 (or really in the eighties) is the beginning of something that will continue on until time forgets about you and I, until the records of our existence are no longer “in the system”, as it were, and then this beast called terrorism will still be going strong. When we move out into space, if our species survives that long, terrorism will follow. When we colonize other planets, again if we survive long enough, terrorism will follow. Wherever our race goes, terrorism will follow. We have created a monster we can never defeat; a monster we can never calm; a beast we can never quell.
If that doesn’t get you thinking, consider this; at least three ancient civilizations (most notably the Incas – whose knowledge of the stars and time and so much more was extraordinary...by comparison, it took us centuries to catch up to them) held a belief that the world would end during our life times. This is no speculative theory or what have you; it has clearly been written by the most mystifying civilizations around that our world will end on a very specific date. I believe the Incas put it at September or October in 2018. That’s fourteen years away – I’ll barely be thirty-five years old when this date rolls around.
I’ve known this since I can remember – that I choose this life for a reason. I believe that we choose our lives, as one chooses a new car or a significant other. I choose this life for something, and my job is to witness something.
But what is it? The answer to this question is something I was not endowed with prior to the beginning of my journey.
Am I to witness the downfall of society? The birth of the War on Terrorism? (Make no mistake, this is not a small conflict – this is a war that will be with us until the bitter end of our society...we are, collectively, witnessing the birth of something that will not end). The beginning of the end of our industrial society?
Look to our use of technology; cellular phones in elementary school, internet connected computers in Vietnam and North Korea, Palm Pilots in Ethiopia, GPS navigation in more then half of all new cars; technology has never reached the masses on such a massive scale before in the history of the world. Never before has the world been so small, yet so big at the same time. I can email someone in China (think about that for a minute) and get a reply in as much time as it takes them to type it. Yet for all I can learn of there country online, when I get there I will find it to be a wholly different place – most likely completely opposite of my expectations.
No, I think my mission is to witness, to record, the beginning of the end. Terrorism. Not a new phenomenon, by any measure of the word, but it has grown out of it’s infancy and is now full grown. However, despite it’s change, we will never be rid of it; it will never get a job and move on with it’s left, bereft of us. This one is here to stay, and for good.
Just think about it people. What started on 9/11 (or really in the eighties) is the beginning of something that will continue on until time forgets about you and I, until the records of our existence are no longer “in the system”, as it were, and then this beast called terrorism will still be going strong. When we move out into space, if our species survives that long, terrorism will follow. When we colonize other planets, again if we survive long enough, terrorism will follow. Wherever our race goes, terrorism will follow. We have created a monster we can never defeat; a monster we can never calm; a beast we can never quell.
If that doesn’t get you thinking, consider this; at least three ancient civilizations (most notably the Incas – whose knowledge of the stars and time and so much more was extraordinary...by comparison, it took us centuries to catch up to them) held a belief that the world would end during our life times. This is no speculative theory or what have you; it has clearly been written by the most mystifying civilizations around that our world will end on a very specific date. I believe the Incas put it at September or October in 2018. That’s fourteen years away – I’ll barely be thirty-five years old when this date rolls around.