Let’s take the long view. The 3rd millennium is 2.5% over.

What is the government planning beyond the next election? The partisans predict that the world won’t exist unless “our side” wins. This is a march into a future with no vision for that future. It is giving our children and grandchildren, our living inheritance, barely a copper penny when they need silver and gold.

At least the Russians and Chinese have 5-year plans to give them some focus. The US doesn’t even have a 1-month plan thanks to the government’s unpredictable and capricious secretaries and their managers!

Why can no one planning for the future when so much could be done to improve our world? No one suggests how I can make my neighbor’s lives better 2 years from now? 5 years from now? Beyond that? The future is more important than the pique, reprisal and animus that governs us now.

What vision can I expect from a gerontocracy filled with people that are going to be dead or dementia-bound soon enough? 17-year-olds have goals and a desire for a better world. What are they saying they need for a better life? Why can’t I give it to them? Even a 12- or 13-year-olds have a capacity to dream of futures where they could thrive. When they ask, “What can I do?”, why can’t I have an answer?

Unfortunately, it makes too much sense now for many youths to believe that they won’t live past 27. I know I did at one point. When my basic purpose is to give a life for my family, I can’t even tell them, honestly, that I can keep them safe.

Is there anything that our government has done this year that is honorable? Could I report something to my grand nephews and nieces that was praiseworthy? Is there anyone in government who has done something admirable this year? There is no justice when the top is filthy with corruption and truth is lost to grifters acting with impunity. Their motives are never pure nor lifting me up. Without any of these, how am I going to find peace?

I think a common mood today is anomie: nothing matters and there’s nothing to hope for. Anomie is one of the most dangerous emotions, leading to revolution and self-destruction. People’s vision is not directed towards anything to believe in nor that there is something to live for.

How can I plan for the future when world leaders are bickering over oat straw in a haybarn full of alfalfa and clover? How do I irrigate my crops when the rivers are being stolen and diverted away. Will I be able to sell my animals, grains and produce in a market that shifts by the day? No one can tell me.

I want to live on this new earth because the former earth has passed away. It could be a world of abundance. Jean-Luc Picard would say “Make it so!”