Continuing in my quest to talk about anything remotely interesting, I found http://www.johntitor.com and http://johntitor.strategicbrains.com
These web sites and the story may be familiar to some web surfers, but
Ill explain a little anyway for those who need it. Keep in mind there
are many people who believe in this story and many who think it is a
complete waste of time; I, myself, am keeping an open mind. John Titor (a.k.a. Timetravel_0)
was
a message poster in a few forums some years ago, and he had many
different discussions about the future time he came from, being 2036.
To put his story in a nutshell, the future he came from was a United
States of America, post nuclear holocaust. Yeah, I know, it sounds
crazy and impossible that anyone could have written that (including a
local mental patient, sorry gramps). Just bear with me.
Like a
modern-day Nostradamus, Titor gave cryptic descriptions of this future
but some of what he had to say was downright explicit. The United
States would suffer from a civil war, not of the North vs. South
variety, but of those who wanted security against those who wanted
freedom. so it was pretty much a city vs. country, government vs.
militia, civil libertarian vs. oppressive regime, war that would rage
for years. If that is not enough death and destruction for you, than
wait until you hear what happened next! Russia sided with the American
rebels and released its nuclear arsenal (drop the n-a-l off the back
and you have the Australian version of ass, sorry I just had to), upon
Europe, China and the USA. This was seen as a great thing by the rebels
in America as the nukes targeted the cities, the location of their
enemies, giving them the opportunity to take back their country, which
they did. [BB]
Thats all well and good I suppose, for Titors
good guys, but what about the rest of the world? Canada is supposed to
be full of bad arse psychos, presumably because of the fighting for
scarce resources, either that or theyre just sick of being so cold
(dont worry guys, some Australians are sick of being so hot). South
America gets off relatively unscathed, but there is still a substantial
amount of gun-fighting going around. Europe sounds like a big
radioactive crater. China fires her nukes at Australian cities, and Im
not sure of where else, Russia, US, I suppose. China tries to invade
Australia but gets repelled (it is possible, remember World War II,
with Japan?). Im not sure about any other countries, but if anyone
knows about them, please let me know. Let me just say that I hope none
of this really does happen, but I would not be madly surprised either.
From any of this, can we see any patterns that may indicate Titor was
for real? Recent human rights violations, in the name of security (not
just in the United States), have been occurring more frequently.
Guantanamo Bay detention, Abu Ghraib prison, most of the war in Iraq,
refugees detained in Australia and Europe, and an Afghan beaten by
contractor are part of the showcase of humiliation and throw the key
away initiatives that are linked with governments who are more
concerned with security than dignity. With all that has happened in the
last few years, is it really that strange to imagine the world being
messed up as described in Titors words? Yes, it is obviously possible.
Maybe we should accept it as a warning of what is to come if people
dont demand change, and NOW. Get writing those letters to your local
representative about what you value, the kind of environment you want
to live in, how youd like to see other people treated (not like dogs, I
imagine- no offense Pluto). The time has come to end cycles of revenge
and violence, human beings are the only ones who can do it.
Whether Titor was real or not is no longer the issue, the real message
is simple. Learn from the past and plan for the future, or it is going
to look nasty. Titor said something to the effect, why are people in
this time so worried about time travellers messing up the future, when
they make it worse every day? Ill leave you with that to consider.
For further musings with Matt, see: http://lightofthequasar.blogspot.com/
Copyright Matt Holt, 2004
Tags:
world america war time US government living Iraq 
