America: 10 Years From Now

I caught the tail end of a discussion panel on CNN on Saturday in which the participants, various American radio talk show hosts, were pondering what might be going on in their country ten years from now. The answers were mixed.

There was an optimistic outlook from the youngest member (I can't recall his name, but he looks and sounds like Tucker Carlson's younger brother) who predicted that there will be more general involvement in politics. Unlikely. I think that's the expectation of every crop of the younger generation through the ages - that their mates will soldier along with them and pull together to change their government and their country in some extended blitz. It doesn't happen. Voter apathy sinks in and people get on with their lives. That's just the way it is.

One of the other panel members made the point that 'America is burning' and that whatever occurs will rise out of those ashes like the phoenix. Well, America has been on a slow burn for a very long time and I certainly don't see any kind of societal revolution happening any time soon because too many people are just too comfortable living with the heat of the flame and, while some get scorched and try to douse the fire, others just enjoy the glow and carry on.

Ten years. That's not a very long time in the scheme of things and it's unlikely there will be any significant political change when it's all said and done. Just think - it's been five years since 9/11 - a period of time that's gone by very quickly in which things have only gotten worse. But, some will certainly say, if only the Democrats get some power the outlook will be so much more optimistic.

Maybe.

Once Bush leaves office, the cleanup required will take decades. He's already made it quite clear that his war in Iraq and the larger so-called war on terrorism will go on long beyond the end of his presidency. If the Dems don't regain some control of Congress this November - a position which will place them in a spot to vigorously fight this president's warmongering at every turn (if they choose to do so aggressively) - Bush and his cronies will just keep doing what they're most familiar with: 'staying the course' on the path to further destruction. And, another couple of years will have gone by in which the hell we're already living in in this world will only have gotten worse.

The Dems also have other interests to take into account if they do finally have the chance to oppose Bush's plans - the same corporate interests of the military industrial complex and other corporate lobbyists that have paid their way into congress and that is not conducive to storming the Oval office in any grand fashion.

In the absence of the political militancy of past generations, such as the revolutionary peace movement that flourished during the 60s and 70s, it's impossible to even imagine that the culture of American militarism will be altered in any way at all. Even that popular movement went by the wayside when people succumbed to being included in the "me", money-worshipping, conservative atmosphere of the 80s and it's waned ever since then. The current anger expressed by the American public over Bush's war in Iraq may be enough to cause a shift in congressional politics, but it's not enough to override a culture that prays at the altar of military might. It never has been.

Many have noted, of course, that dark times such as these we are currently living through - in which extremism of many stripes have taken hold of global affairs - must perpetuate some sort of breaking point at which time there will be another time of enlightenment; some semblance of more peaceful and rational thought. People become war-weary. They become tired of being preached to by false gods who lie to them at every turn. They demand more. But, the question is, how much more do they really want things to change and how quickly are they willing to attempt to actually achieve that goal? If history has taught us anything, it has shown us that revolutions take years and that what some of us may hope to see in our lifetimes is really the stuff of idealistic dreams. We're also keenly aware that we have to fight tooth and nail, metaphorically and sometimes literally (just ask today's peace activists), to gather people together to have any lasting impact.

So, where will America be ten years from now? No doubt, it will still be involved in military conflicts while a new crop of young people will again believe that theirs is the great generation that will finally cure all of America's ills. And, no doubt, America will still be burning. The clothes, hair and music will be different, but the struggle will still be the same. In the meantime, all we can do is put one foot in front of the other each day, knowing that those of us who truly desire a more peaceful and sensible world are at least making the best contributions we can because that is how change happens: slowly and deliberately.

Note: That picture is from the movie 'Beneath the Planet of the Apes' and is one I haven't forgotten since I saw the original movie way back when - a church scene in which the bomb was worshipped as the new God. It symbolized the danger of militarization and the cult of power that goes along with it in the most compelling way I had ever witnessed as a child until that time.