Whatever will be, will be.
Except, you know, whatever we change so it becomes what we want.
I am a strong believer in change and in our ability to make change happen.
Sometimes, we use that power for bad things, but ever the optimist that I am, I advocate for us to use our powers wisely.
BeninSC wrote the Top Comments diary last night, and asked what changes we'd like to see happen in our future.
I answered late and briefly, and I'd like to expand on the topic here, with changes I think we are capable of accomplishing not just in the distant future of maybe, but as early as this afternoon (some of it, anyway), and certainly by the end of 2013, many of these things could be far along their implementation.
I'd like to see a strong emphasis on real food, gardening in waste spaces, an emphasis on small farms and greater diversity in foods grown, and an elimination of food deserts both through the gardening efforts and corner greengrocers selling foods grown in those waste spaces and rooftops and medians and and vertical gardens growing where graffiti once scrawled as well as among the flowers in the parks.
I'd like to see vertical farming become popular in each urban area, not necessarily as envisioned, as a single mega-tower of crops, but as every apartment or office building with the side that gets the most sunlight per day under cultivation - every building would be crop-bearing. Every public park, median, and vacant lot would be planted over with edibles.
In the ravaged parts of the world, crops would be planted that could survive under the harsh conditions and would (hopefully) restore the fertility of the land. Of course, war and violence damage a lot of the land as people battle over resources. Maybe, with greater resources and less fear of being deprived of them, there will be less violence. Maybe.
This would be the start towards elimination of hunger, not just in the US, but worldwide.
I'd like to see a return to manners and civility, whereby people automatically respect others without them having to "prove" themselves first. I'm not saying you have to keep on respecting them, but we should at least start with a basis of respect instead of automatic disdain and distrust.
Commensurate with that, I'd like to see people less willing to dig into other people's closets, trying to find whatever dirt they can on them, just to prove they aren't worthy of respect. Or of holding a youthful indiscretion over their heads their entire life long. People do grow up and learn from their mistakes. Those about them should recognize this and allow it to happen. Or of widely publicizing moments of embarrassment, especially of people deemed celebrities. Do we really need to be subjected, over and over, to the flash of someone's panties (or lack thereof) as they were getting out of a car? Really?
I'd like to see people more accepting of those with assorted handicaps and challenges. All buildings should be handicap accessible, but more importantly, the able-bodied and -minded should accept the fact that those less able-bodied, and differently minded have the same human rights they do and the same accessibility to the things they enjoy. They have a right to go shopping, to eat in restaurants, to visit theaters, to wander the parks, and to visit museums and other places of beauty and interest. And they have the right to do so without mean-spirited comments directed at them, or being treated as stupid because their body doesn't function the same way, or having the able-bodied deliberately obstructing their way.
I'd like to see a stronger emphasis on "green" building, energy, and business practices, and an expansion of technology into other countries so we no longer have "Third World" countries. This includes the food concept, too. People need food, then shelter, then jobs so they can get better food and better shelter and toys.
I'd love to see the DiPietro engine commercially available. This engine runs on 1 psi of compressed air and has fewer parts to break. It's less polluting and best off, doesn't depend too much on oil and oil-based products. Why are they not getting the funding they need to make it commercially available?
I'd like to see universal health care and adequate health education for all. We are advanced enough that none of us needs to suffer choosing between food and shelter or getting a health issue (and that includes dental and vision care, people, being able to eat and see are also a vital part of good health) resolved. People need to know when they need to see a doctor and when seeing a doctor is a waste of everyone's time, and they shouldn't be afraid that seeing a doctor will bankrupt them and their family.
I'd like to see more acceptance of people's eccentricities and differences. People are diverse and wonderful, and far too many people hide their brilliance because that makes them "different". I say "viva la difference!"
real food
elimination of food deserts worldwide
manners and civility
differently abled acceptance
elimination of Third World lack of technology and assistance
the DiPietro engine
universal health care
greater human diversity
All of this is achievable within what's left of my lifetime.