2062: To the New Graduates

Here we are fifty years later. Time always seems to sneak up on you and all of a sudden your in a crossroads in your life. Many of you read this with a degree that used to mean a lot more than it does today. Others of you still value the larger idea of furthering your knowledge in hopes to better the world somehow and you don't care if your degree becomes useless. As I go back and read the entries that I made when I was in your shoes, I sense the hopefulness in my words. Unfortunately now, I feel my generation has let you down and moved too slowly in the fight for our planet. Although great strides have been made, I wonder if not enough "shamanic personalities" have come forth in the last fifty years to "journey into the far reaches of the cosmic mystery and [bring] back the vision and the power needed by the human community at the most elementary level" (Berry, Dreamer of the Earth). I hope that the majority of you graduating from Wofford and all of your peers across the country continue and increase the progress my generation started. We have begun to live in rhythm with the rest of the living world in some areas but this kind of connection with the planet must be more widespread. I hope that in the next fifty years you will see the explosion of creativity in the midst of a bleak time. Just as the cell evolved to live in a poisonous oxygen atmosphere, I hope your generation can continue to evolve to live in a poisonous cultural and limited natural world. Or, maybe it is time for us to become integrated back in to the stars of the universe and hope some other organism will live better than we did.

"We must go back to the genetic imperative from which human cultures emerge originally and from which they can never be separated without losing their integrity and their survival capacity. None of our existing cultures can deal with this situation out of its own resources. We must invent, or reinvent, a sustainable human culture by a descent into our pre-rational, our instinctive resources" --Thomas Berry

2052: The War on Resources

Many believe that this decade will mark the beginning of World War III. This war, unlike the WWII, will not have anything to do about religion or an elite race. Instead, this war is the fight for the basic resources necessary for human survival. Over the last few decades, what we had feared in the early 2000's has been coming true. The pools in the Las Vegas desert have dried, grocery stores clear their shelves each day, the price of gas is at $8/gallon, and the students at Wofford are only allowed to shower once a week. Many parts of the west look like McCarthy's apocalyptic setting; the sun sets on gray, burnt, ashen landscapes day after day. As riots have been erupting across the country, the government is being pressured to invade our neighbors in hopes to obtain more water and food. China and India began using force to get resources for their combined 4 billion people five years ago. 

 

Americans were hopeful that the massive Eco Rights movement of 2040 would have been enough to keep our country from entering a resources war. The ecoists demanded a cap of five children for each family which has helped to decrease our population growth; but, because of the leap in medical technology our mortality rate is coming to a creep. The only people who are dying are the poorest of inner-city seniors who suffer from malnutrition. Also, the taxes placed on over-consumption of water, energy, and precious metals finally forced the last 50% of US companies to switch to Green Working. Although the majority of the country has left our glutenous ways behind us, many fear that it was too little too late. The group to be hardest hit by the decrease in resources has been the middle class. This group was too use to the modern way of living and relied on gas, water, and food the most. Studies have shown the lower income class were more used to saving and cutting back and using public transportation as a means to get to work. It has been the middle class who has pushed for a war on resources. The lower class doesn't have much of a voice and the upper class doesn't mind seeing the middle class dwindle in the years to come.

2042: The Age of Biomedicine

Time magazine has called the last decade the “Age of Biomedicine”. In the last ten years, we have seen enormous strides in medical technology and health. With the increase in genetics and stem cell research, there is finally a market for transplant organs. Genes within pigs have been altered so that they can grow human organs that can be successfully transplanted into patients. Although this sort of technology could have been available ten years ago, it took years of political and ethical babbling to allow large projects for consumers. Animal rights activists declared the projects unethical and torture for the animals. Many claimed that harvesting them for organs was no different from harvesting them for meat. Also, many religious groups believed that creating these “humanpig monsters” was against God’s plans and beyond our authority. Then, there were the loved ones of those dying from liver, heart, and lung failure. Knowing that some were choosing the life of a pig over their mom, brother, or grandfather was enraging. In the end, it was the race we have with China for the best medical technology that ultimately allowed the mass production of Organ Pigs.

The first company to begin producing these pigs has already made millions of dollars. Most of their money has come from people buying their future pig just in case they may need an organ one day. The top selling organs have been hearts, livers, and kidneys. Of course, this new technology comes at a steep price. Some non-profit organizations have sprung up to raise money to buy Organ Pigs for people who are in need but cannot afford them. It’s a classic tale of the haves and have-nots. As have-nots die on operating tables from lack of an organ donor, the haves are cultivating organs for their unknown future.

One upside for the have-nots is the discovery of a preventative measure against HIV/AIDS. Although the population of southern Africa has decreased by 50% over the last thirty years, we can finally begin to distribute vaccines to young children in Africa. It has taken three years to get the pharmaceutical companies to lower prices and begin to mass produce the vaccine. In this time, I’m sure millions of people died from AIDS related diseases and even more young people contracted the virus. Although there is great joy and triumph felt in the medical field around the world, some speculate what will happen to many of the third world countries that have been hit hardest by the virus. As populations and life expectancies begin to rise again, we can only wonder how the poorest countries will be able to find resources for all of the people. Many believe that as we save millions in Africa from HIV/AIDS millions will still die from starvation. The massive followers of Thomas Berry are calling for communal action to save all types of our human race not just the money makers. We’ll soon see the fate of these Others that we like to believe are so removed from us.

Hopefully, Swimme and Tucker's optimistic outlook on the future of the human race, our world, and the universe will ring true...

It is in the nature of the universe to move forward between great tensions, between dynamic opposing forces. If the creative energies in teh heart of the universe succeeded so brilliantly in the past, we have reason to hope that such creativity will inspire us and guide us into the future. 

2032: Another Tale of Chemicals Gone Bad

Something tragic has happened on Wofford’s campus since my last blog. When I was there, I remember one of my favorite things to do was watch the squirrels dart through grass, nibble on orange acorns, and scurry up trees. Many of my friends would talk to the squirrels as we passed them on the sidewalk and we would rate the bushiness of different tails. Well, the squirrels are no more. The unforeseen took place and the squirrels turned against the students. Normally, squirrels would hide behind trees or stay in a rigid state position as we passed but slowly last year the squirrels began to attack the students. At first, some thought it was rabies. When the first crazed squirrel was caught and killed, it was soon apparent that rabies was not the answer. What began as a few sporadic snips to the ankles became daily attacks on anything the squirrels could jump on. The college had no choice but to cancel classroom attendance and shift all instruction to web-based.

 

It took months to determine what had happened; although if we had only looked to the past, the answer would have been simple. The college maintenance crew had begun to use the new rave in fertilizer. This special chemical compound would both stimulate and inhibit the growth of our prized lawns on campus. If there were patches of substandard grass, the chemical “knew” to increase growth in these areas. On the other hand, it could also sense the growth rate of the grass and could inhibit the length of blade to the desired height. Because the college could no longer afford to pay the gas needed for lawn mowers, this new agent seemed to be the best solution because obviously learning could not go on while the grass was high.  Of course what everyone failed to consider was the effect of the chemical on other living things on campus. As we should know, every living thing is connected; altering one part of a food chain will invariably cause some change higher species.

The chemical seeped into the squirrels’ water sources and worked very similarly on the brains of squirrels as it did on the grass. Some areas of their brains experienced rapid growth while others were inhibited. It turns out, the chemical increased their fight and territorial responses and decreased reasoning and flight responses. Basically, the chemical created killer squirrels ready to protect Wofford’s abundance of nuts from the poor students. Needless to say, the college had to kill every squirrel on campus and any within a mile radius. Maintenance continues to use the fertilizer but explains that the lower potency will be just fine. It has yet to be seen how the loss of squirrels and the continual use of the product will shape Wofford’s ecosystem but I’m sure you can form your own futuristic conclusion.  

2022: Nature as the Number 1 Enemy

Half of the South is gone. Many are calling Hal Crowther some sort of prophet because of his futuristic insight in his piece Beyond the Horizon. Just as he wrote years ago, numerous hurricanes have devastated the South’s coast causing millions of dollars in damage and thousands of lost lives. He himself says that this outcome was inevitable and anyone could have predicted it. Still, some are holding on to a belief in a greater fate instead of accepting that humans may be at the root of such catastrophe. Category 5 Hurricane Pablo wreaked havoc on South Carolina’s coast last year and even damaged much of the upstate. While Old Main and Milliken suffered only some exterior damage, our Styrofoam Olin building didn’t make it out of the storm as well. Some thought the building would just float in the floods caused by the storm if it were detached from its base. There is talk of building a new Olin building in a couple years but no one is sure of where the finances will come from. First, the college must repair the building that made it through the storm. Also, funds have been tight since the increase in food cost and rebellion against the $60,000 dollar a year tuition. The college has also been limiting the amount of areas on campus that could be air conditioned because of soaring energy prices. South Carolina’s economy has also plummeted without any tourism to the beach and the massive damage that was caused throughout the state. 

Through the decade we have seen temperatures sore and storms become more sporadic and distructive as ever. To the future 2062 graduates, I wanted to insert an excerpt from Thomas Berry's The Great Work that might help to reveal some of the historical background to the cause of our climate change.

 New achievements in science, technology, industry, commerce, and finance had indeed brought the human community into a new age. Yet those who brought this new historical period into being saw only the bright side of these achievements. They had little comprehension of the devastation that finally led to an impasse in our relations with the natural world. Our commercial-industrial obsessions have disturbed the biosystems of this continent in a depth never known previously in the historical course of humans affairs.

I would like to apologize to you, future graduates, on behalf of my generation and all those before me, for our lack of care for the environment and our obsession with material objects. The race to be first in technology or any modern advancement meant that nature had to come in last. I hope that there are still sacred places left for you to enjoy. I hope that from seeing the devastation of recent natural disasters my generation has lead the way for a new kind of living. I hope that we will find a new "cultural coding" and sustainable way of living before your graduation. I hope that the "good guys" will outweigh the bad in the years to come. 

 

2012: Why Wofford?

I have come to love Wofford over the last four years. As a dreaded freshman, I came in scared and unsure if I would find friends and pass my classes. Now in the last week of my undergraduate career, I can’t help but to question how different my life would be at another school. Was me coming to Wofford fate? Why has Wofford been special? Would I have enjoyed another school just as much? If one event had changed in my life, would I have still ended up here? Some would say thinking about these questions is a waste of time because I can’t go back in time and test any of these scenarios. I have to argue that there are plenty of scientists who struggle to answer these kinds of questions all the time. Was the universe created for life? Have there been other universes that were just as successful as this one? If one event changed in the last 13.7 billion years, would life still be here? Whether it’s just with our choice of college or the construction of life, I believe it’s natural for us to question our past and wonder about how our present could be different

In my day to day life, I pack my time with work and play and hardly take time to consider where I have come from and where I am going. I could rewind 13.7 billion years ago and picture myself as one of those first atoms flaring forth into nothing forever perpetuating time and space. We could channel our inner Darwin and discuss how Homo sapiens evolved from earlier mammals or how the bones of our appendages match those of the ancient Acanthostega from 380 million years ago. Or, I could think more individually and consider how my parents, my friends, and where I have lived have all attributed to the person I am today. Maybe it would be best to consider my place in society or how I have contributed to our economic standing as a country. It is interesting to think about how different I could be if any of these characteristics were to change. It’s difficult for me to believe that everything in the past 13.7 billion years has occurred so that I could be sitting here typing this blog on my Dell computer. Maybe I don’t fully understand the uniqueness of our ability to think about life and the universe. I challenge you future readers to consider what has made you the individual you are today and how 2062 could be different.

Welcome Class of 2062 to My Blog!

As I approach my own graduation quickly, I am reflecting on my education; the things I have learned and the many questions I still have. I have decided to create this blog to document major shifts in the upcoming years in science, culture, education, and politics for future Wofford graduates. The class of 1962 from Wofford College had a much different experience than I have had in the class of 2012. I know that for you, the class of 2062, your four years will be just as different. My intention is for you future Wofford graduates (if there are any) to read this blog and see how my perception of the world, my understanding of life, and my biggest questions about life will evolve over the next fifty years. At the center of this fifty year story will be Wofford College. Because we can’t accurately choose a center of the universe, I am placing Wofford at the center. I hope that as you read this, you will appreciate the past and begin to think what you would like to see over your next fifty years.  

“We are, as it were, thrown into existence with a challenge and a role that is beyond any personal choice. The nobility of our lives, however, depends upon the manner in which we come to understand and fulfill our assigned role.” –Thomas Berry