Sometimes I dream that civilization advances.
I dream that truth still lives and knowledge is respected, that Cronkite says "That's the way it is" and means it, and we believe him.
I dream that the hatred, ignorance, and unthinking cruelty that lurked beneath the surface of the society that produced the space program and the Peace Corps was dissipated by the naturally positive nature of Americans. In my dream, all of that, head and heart, has continued and expanded to this day.
In my dream, children are taught a growing breadth of truth. History books expand to include women and native Americans and African-Americans, and evolution is a given.
I dream that PTAs still hold bake sales and car washes only for band uniforms and field trips, not for school necessities.
I dream that medical science seeks the root of things and struggles to cure, not to maintain illness in order to sell palliatives to the suffering. Health is not presented as false beauty to the vain and false vitality to the fearful. Research is designed to heal, not to gain funding, and the fruits of medical arts and sciences are available to all who need them.
I dream that dignified conservatives debate dignified liberals fairly, cutting with wit instead of crude insults. In my dream, varying opinions are verifiable in their assumptions.
In my dream, senators and representatives work for the common good. Supermarkets sell food, not chemicals. People know what real food tastes like, instead of having only a fading memory of flavor and texture.
I dream that young people know this world. They live in it and fight to keep it, because they know it can disappear. They do not take it for granted.
But in my dream the Visigoths invade, and I struggle to wake up, and then I weep.
Crossposted from Blogistan Polytechnic Institute (BPICampus.com)