Living through the best of times


This one from a very good American friend of mine, who is probably the most multi-faceted person I've ever come across in my life!


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In many ways, I consider myself to be among the most fortunate, not because of any particular achievement or accummulation, but because I lived through a unique era, partly because of the circumstances of the times, and partly because of an era of my own choosing -- neither of which will be available to subsequent generations.

The US population in the year of my birth, 1926, was about 112 million. Last Tuesday, the US population passed 300 million. By the time my oldest great granddaughter reaches middle age, the US population will have increased by another 25%, much of it concentrated in the already over crowded coastal areas of major economic activity.

I survived the greatest war in history. It is unlikely that there will be many survivors from any future war of equal scope. I homesteaded in Alaska under the Homestead Act of 1862 when open land was free for the taking. Free land is no longer available. I participated in valuable open access commercial fisheries. Such access is now sharply restricted. I attended the university when tuition was within the reach of almost any student. In the past 40 years (since my graduation) university tuition has incresed from $450/year to nearly #20,000/year, effectively dividing the US population between two permanent economic classes.

The global outlook is even less alluring. The resolution of Bush's foolish Iraqi adventure is all too clear. We are caught in the gears of a global energy quagmire that is, for all practical purposes, insoluable. We can neither leave Iraq, nor can we stay.

The global consequences, should we withdraw, could be almost incalcuable. It is quite possible that when we leave, the sectarian conflict now gaining strength in Iraq will quickly involve Iranian Shia support, and just as quickly, Syrian and Saudi irregulars will provide a counterforce in support of the Sunni position.

It's not hard to imagine that the entire region might become embroiled in a conflict that could lead the world into a major energy crisis resulting in an international economic collapse!

That's the reality of the 21st century. Not a place I want to be.That's why I think I lived during the best of times.