fri 26 aug 2011 14:28:46 — witte de withstraat
i've time-travelled to the wrong future
i took the slow road of time travel, just by growing up and getting older. even so, i often feel i've ended up in the wrong future. the one i was aiming for was a lot cooler.
in my future, being a bohemian nonconformist isn't a passing fashion that we grew out of. it's a lifestyle chosen and respected, with its own surprise economy. the zillion differences between the people on earth are useful, drawing them together, splashing and creating even more difference, instead of making them afraid and driving them back from each other into corners. people know that territory is nonsense, that nobody 'owns' land or resources, and our old petty squabbles are forgotten. in my future we still have a lot of problems, but we're more honest about what causes them. we don't just follow the leader, we ask why he's trying to lead us, and where to. we have recognized the antiqueness and irrelevance of nations, but this knowledge doesn't lead to a world government where the ruling class oppresses the poor through subterfuge and violence. in business, we offer a good product for a good price, and we do our best and try to be useful to each other. economic growth isn't essential, it's okay if things keep bumbling along at about the same level. we've taken seriously the people who warned us decades ago about bad technology and wrong urbanization. we've learned to capture the boundless energy of the world cleanly, and we use it carefully. we've learned to build cities in such a way as to leave more countryside free. in my future there are millions of tigers, not a few thousand, and we've still got lots of bees.
moving along i thought i made all the correct turns, but somehow i ended up in this future instead. now the question is, where's my wormhole?