The year is coming to a close and we are entering a brand new decade. A decade of promise, change, and dilemma. We humans have always been interested in what the future may hold for us. We’ve shown that interest time and time again through artistic expression in films and media. The future is romanticized more so than the past. Why then, are there so many advocating to not be a part of it?
Most of you don’t remember the threat of annihilation that loomed over every dinner table that peaked in the early 80’s at the height of The Cold War. Folks sat gathered around their t.v’s waiting for Tom Brokaw to tell them that the doomsday clock had struck midnight. That the world was finally going to come to an end at the hands of the communists with itchy trigger fingers.
Some folks had even gone as far as to dig and build fallout shelters that they would take their family into in order to ride out the impending nuclear winter that would follow a strike. They stockpiled gas masks, Russian language books, non-perishables, and equipment for improvised farming to prepare for the bad days to come. Yes, things cleared up in 1991 with the signing of treaties and etc, but that’s an entirely different topic.
The Doomsday Clock
For those of you that don’t know, The Doomsday Clock is an actual thing. It has been adjusted based of geopolitical events and climate, exactly 22 times since it’s inception in the 40’s. The concept is that the closer it gets to midnight, the closer we are to the end of the world. According to the “Bulletin of Atomic Scientists”, it is still two minutes to midnight as of January 2019 because of the threat of climate change. Yes, that one. The one that no two people can agree upon. And no, that’s not where this is going.
Right now we are at a point in history where people are making the decision to cut themselves off from the future. More and more people are rallying behind the idea that it is unethical to have children and start families when the threat of a not so promising future sits just beyond the horizon and seconds tick by on the clock.
But lets go back a bit. When the world was perched upon the threat of a giant mushroom cloud, folks started preparing to ensure that they and their children would be able to survive in a post apocalyptic world. They didn’t subscribe to an “all is lost” mindset. They didn’t sit back and wait for the bombs to drop. However, people today are actually trying to ensure that they will not be a part of tomorrow and they think that by doing so the future will save itself.
Going Nuclear
At a time when the nuclear family is most threatened, an agenda to dissolve it further has sprouted. In the name of the future people believe that by removing themselves from it, they can save it.
The truth is that they cannot save anything if they aren’t around to actively take part in it. There is no self-righteous glory in sacrificing oneself in this instance. It’s counter productive.
Yes, I myself worry about what the future will hold for my children. Times are uncertain and nothing is guaranteed, but that has been true for ages. The ability to see past the veil into the unknown has plagued Man since the dawn of time, yet we have persevered. We created our legacies and sent them forth. We must continue to do so by teaching our children the values and ethics needed to right the wrongs of the world.
Only by having a stake in the future can we hope to change it. Removing ourselves from the equation isn’t going to solve it. If we want to fix the future then we have to first ensure that one will exist to fix.
By starting families and having children, we plant our flags in the tomorrow. We put forth agents of change that will have the power to make the necessary corrections.
Is there a threat? Absolutely. But that has always been the case. The answer however, is also unchanged. We must create those who will be willing and able to meet the threat on the field and strike it down.