Tomorrow

I spend most of the morning with my baby grandson, smiling at him, feeding him, reading to him, holding him while he sleeps. It is amazing to watch him as he learns about the world. And I vow never to let him know how terrible a place it is. He will not see me cry or hear me curse. Then I go home and get angrier and angrier as I think about what his world will be like. I cannot believe I was once again so foolish and naive and hopeful. I believed in the innate goodness of every person. Now I do not. My heart breaks for my children and all the citizens of the world, who will know less and less of the beauty of life in the future. It is unbearable to think that we could have saved it and we were too short-sided, too greedy, to do the little that it would take. As human beings, we have the brains to figure out solutions to the problems of the world, but we do not have the will. We cannot imagine that each of us working together could make the small changes that would add up to a better future for everyone. And now it is too late. Humanity will not die out right away. It will take many generations. We will try to adapt, living underground perhaps, wearing suits that protect us when we go above ground and masks that let us breathe the poisoned air. But all our solutions will require more of the Earth's resources, and we will dig ourselves deeper and deeper into an economy that is dependent on the things that are causing our ruin. Perhaps some think AI will save us, assuming it does not turn on us. AI, it turns out, needs huge amounts of electricity. Even though we know using fossil fuels will doom us, we feel we must have them to grow--and apparently growth is more important than life. Every society will have to make decisions on how to spend their dwindling resources. Perhaps one country will decide that they cannot afford to keep old people alive. Perhaps they will want to limit the population to fewer and fewer--only those with money? Will they be tested and only the most scientifically gifted will be allowed to live? Who can we do without? Health care workers, ministers? We need laborers to run the machines to harvest the Earth's dwindling bounty, and soldiers and policemen to make sure it gets to the "right" people.