*Disclaimer: This is a speculative article, but it is also a warning.*
Dear Friends of the Past,
If you're reading this from the beginning of 2016, all is still well. The world is a dream and America is its dreamer. You are the greatest country in the world still, the envy of every nation beyond your borders, and for all that it counts for, you are a utopian society. In a few months, everything will go to hell, but not now. For now, you're in your happy place full of shiny, happy people.
I wish that I could say the same. After nearly 500 years, you'd think that we'd be better, wouldn't you? My ancestors probably dreamed of flying cars, clean air, fresh views, and exciting technology. We may have had some of that in the distant past, but sadly, there's nothing like that to report nowadays.
How did it all start? November 2016, so they say.
I'm not saying that Trump himself destroyed the world. He was only the beginning. He was the first domino, the catalyst, the rumbling of the test tube before everything went BOOM.
At first, they thought that America's new leader was a good idea. A man named Donald Trump served up a new take on government. Refreshing. The people felt like they had someone on their side for once. He was a showman above all things, a bit of fun, a man who they could laugh with over imported Mexican beers while he picked up the cheque. He knew everything and nothing all at once and the American people loved that. To be fair, part of me can see where they were coming from.
Not everyone shared this view though. When he was elected, there were riots. A few people even lost their lives in the chaos, and true to Trumpian fashion, the commander in chief waged yet another war on terror instead of offering up condolences. Soon after, other countries around the world joined in the fury and demanded that America's new president surrender his place in office. Of course, he didn't, so the threats continued.
But I'm not saying that Trump himself destroyed the world. He was only the beginning. He was the first domino, the catalyst, the rumbling of the test tube before everything went "BOOM". He represented a kind of fear that the world tried to forget when it was already too late. For what it was worth, that fear DID seem like a legitimate one, or so they say.
America was afraid of terrorists. They were so afraid that they believed everything Trump said. They agreed to let him fight more wars. Every time a shooting happened, they believed him when they said that they needed more guns.
When Donald Trump was elected, everyone lost their focus. Even Trump flip-flopped between policies, making promises and then promising the opposite days later, like a school boy who couldn't decide which little girl's hair he wanted to pull first. It might have been alright if that was all there was to it, but the fear was already there.
America was afraid of terrorists. They were so afraid that they believed everything Trump said. They agreed to let him fight more wars. Every time a shooting happened, they believed him when they said that they needed more guns. They were afraid to travel, and they were afraid to let people from far away into their country. They say that some people were even afraid to leave their own homes.
And that, friends in 2016, was around the time that we let the real threat slip in under our radars.
The planet started fighting against us. Wildfires in Canada, tsunamis in Thailand, the melting of the Arctic Circle happened one after the other, disaster upon disaster. Dominos. The natural climate of the world dissolved so gradually that by the time we noticed it, it seemed like it had happened overnight. A large percentage of wildlife around the world was extinct by 2200.
The Great North became a very popular spot. People were flooding towards countries like Canada, Greenland, Iceland, and northern Russia because they were the only places that could support natural life. Their water supply was good at first, but with so many people to support, that quickly changed. After a while, none of these countries could help anymore. They shut down the borders and built up walls.
We can't blame everything on Trump. We didn't pay attention.
America was so preoccupied with fear that it made the entire world afraid. We were all so terrified of each other that our silent killer slipped into our homes without protest. They say that there were some people who tried to warn us, and that there was even a man who sought the presidency in America who adamantly declared that THIS was the real threat. But we didn't listen, and we paid the price.
We can't blame everything on Trump. We didn't pay attention. And even though we can't blame all of what's happened on one man, we could have stopped that domino from falling down. We didn't have to buy into the fear he was selling. We could have realized that the thing we really should have been afraid of was the planet turning against us and that attacking each other was nothing but a distraction. If Trump hadn't have been elected, we still would have been paying attention. We all wish that our ancestors cared enough to do that.
We are still looking for more water. The earth is dried up. The days are too hot for travel and the nights are almost too cold for survival. So many people have died that the rest of us don't see the point in living. But we brought this on ourselves, didn't we?
I hope that you are paying attention now. I hope that by some miracle, you see what's really happening in the world and stop it from getting worse. You may not like the other choice of candidate in November, but believe me when I say that they're a far better option than what we ended up with. Please trust me. Almost anything is better than the first spark that started the brush fire.
And if you are reading this, there is still a chance. There are those of us that still believe that humanity is worth saving after all.
Or so they say, at least.
Your Future Friend,
Year 2500
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