Copyright © 1999 Ed Ladeur,

Monthly "Eddie-Torial"

Opinions expressed are not those of my internet provider
but are approved by Mikey and Minnie 2Dogs

To carry on from February's Eddie-Torial, the rest of 1999 will focus on the year 2000, where we've been, the high points and low points of the century/millennium just passing, the optimistic/pessimistic look at the next. Most of the world's population will be prognosticating the future, and most of it will be for sale. The whole psychic phenomenon, the new age cults, the doomsday religions, and the apocalyptic writings all point to the turn of the numbers. Please save your money, for millennium fever will rise, the scams will heat up, and the gullible will be taken for all they are worth.

To understand where we are heading, we should gain an understanding of where we've been. This time we'll just concern ourselves with the immediate history, one which most of us older people will remember and the youngsters should at least have some knowledge of. A list, however limited, of our accomplishments...

Not to bore anyone with actual dates and accounting, moments of national pride or self-indulgent pats on the back...Here are some moments which changed the 20th century.

The normalization of air travel and later space travel are perhaps the most crowning glory of mankind. With the ability to send satellites into geo-sync orbit the globe started shrinking, and with that came the ability to communicate instantaneously virtually anywhere on earth, and to the stars for that matter. It became commonplace to watch live feeds of real-action news. The Waco, Texas conflagration, Desert Storm, the LA riots, earthquakes, hurricanes, wild fires, congressional hearings. And after being able to play voyeur is it any wonder that are morals become jaded...when violence becomes an everyday experience. And so the nuts come out of the closet..(I know this doesn't fit the theme but I couldn't help myself...the woman who wont let her children sit on Santa's knee because he might get an erection..true...from Toronto Canada)..the cults moving to Israel to initiate the second coming and the apocalypse, pictures on the internet, as gruesome as possible, of Dianna's death, and the inevitable blood sport of extreme fighting. In some cases I think war was a lot tamer.
A national American shame when the soviets launched the first satellite, Sputnik into orbit, and the first man to orbit in weightlessness 3 times around the earth. But outside of the USA it was a great feat, and brought the soviets into the forefront of innovation. Prompted by this coup de grace president Kennedy fast-tracked the man to the moon program, which was completed with great national pride. The world watched as the first boot prints were imprinted on the moon's surface.
The first use of the atomic bomb, as far as I am concerned one of the greatest shames of this century. Used directly on a 'human' target with unknown consequences, (altho some people knew, which brings it into the realm of 'crimes against humanity'). The race from then on to bring to fruition ever larger weapons of mass destruction. We got used to living under this virtual mushroom cloud, and I remember the bomb drills in school, quite funny really, the 'duck and cover' exercise which led to the saying 'bend over, put your hands behind your head, and kiss your ass goodbye'.
The installation of the Hubble space telescope, albeit with an imperfect eye was touted as a supreme achievement. What was more remarkable was that space dudes could actually hop on the shuttle and fix the problem. Altho we haven't seen the ultimate positive effects, the next 20 years or so will open up the universe. We now have the ability to look back virtually to the beginning of time, (as we understand it). Realize by now that spaceflight will soon be available to the general public, for a price of course. What person in his right mind wouldn't want at least once to go into space before he dies?. Of course, space now also allows us to blow this globe up...*shudder*.
The influenza epidemic of 1918, which killed more people than during the first 'great war', not from influenza but from pneumonia which followed. A true pandemic, spreading worldwide within 2 years and brought back to North America by the soldiers coming home from the war.
The great cultural revolution of the 1960's, also known as 'the search for a new morality' brought about many an assassination. Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy, Jack Kennedy, Malcolm X, John Lennon, and some more I can't even remember. Many of the movements, whether for peace or emancipation cannot be exaggerated, as they were all exaggerations in their own right. Royals have been assassinated, bringing about the world wars, civil wars, dictatorships. Looking at the list it is obvious to me that violence of this type is always at the point of a gun. I am of the opinion that perhaps we do have the right to defend ourselves, and have a weapon, but who in the world needs an ak47, anti-tank ordinance, or an arsenal. There is some insanity here, a real clue as to the mental fibre of this world. I propose a 'Kill Your Neighbour Day'...take all your weapons away, and once a year we all get issued with one gun and one bullet. And we are allowed in public to kill one person on the specified day. It is my belief that it will be the most peaceful day of the year, as most people will sit at home, keeping to themselves for fear of being shot.
Perhaps the greatest change in the ordinary sense came about in 1962. Four or five young lads played some music, eventually coalescing into the Beatles. Altho not particularly outstanding, they set the world on it's ear by their looks, attitude, and comedy. About 1965 they met up with a young Zimmerman aka Bob Dylan who mentioned to John and Paul that their music was ok, but they weren't saying anything. Well...John/Paul, being intellectual type dudes suddenly clued in. The Vietnam war was for most of the young people morally wrong, and needing some spokes people, it fell to the musical underground to lead the charge. So the music that changed the 20th century was contained on a disk, with homage paid via images to all that influenced the world up to then. Sergeant Peppers' Lonely Hearts Club Band stands forever as the penultimate studio album, and the world has never been the same. And the comment from John that the Beatles were just as or even more popular than Jesus Christ was a tongue in cheek comment on the real situation. Millions of Christian bumbled and guffawed, and back to the old book burnings, record burnings, and endless debates. A half hearted attempt at an apology got them off the hook, but the damage was done. And that damage made them even more popular in light that most Christians who were so outraged only ever went to church on Easter, Christmas, and funerals, proving themselves once again 'self-righteous nits'.
It seems to me now, looking over the few preceding paragraphs, that all what went before was rooted in beliefs and its systems. Makes one wonder whether the true root of all evil is religion, or more precisely, the misunderstanding of our own beliefs. At all times we must adjust what we believe in, come to terms with them as we can relate them to the times in which we live. We all have our doubts, as Billy Graham so aptly put it, and we must always question whether we have the right end of the proverbial stick.
Required Reading
for a better understanding of the 20th century...
From Beirut to Jerusalem (Thomas Friedman)..
A detailed vision from a novelist's viewpoint. A must guidebook on the middle east, lets you in on some of the complexities of the region and its peoples.
The Short Life of Anne Frank (the Diary of Anne Frank)..
Mrs Eleanor Roosevelt's pick as the ultimate commentary of the Second World War, as only a teenager could tell it.
The Satanic Verses (Salman Rushdie)..
by most readers around the world considered a masterpiece of storytelling. Find out why Salman has a price on his head from the Islamic lunetic fringe. (this was one of my all-time favorites).
Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)..
A futuristic novel, scifi, of the coming millennium and its morality, and baby factories and genetic engineering, originally thought too outlandish, but these days much closer to the truth...A truly pneumatic book.

My own Crusade It seems that knowledge which started as a trade secret in the end always becomes public. It is only a matter of time when some revolutionary or visionary twit uses a nuclear device to attain some end. Knowledge to commit this type of crime is readily available to those who look hard enough. Mark my words...this knowledge will be be employed. Timothy McVey, Charles Manson, Moamar Gaddafi, Pol Pot....It will happen. The Oklahoma City bombing was an act against humanity, an indiscriminate killing of a group of people who just happened to be in or near the site. The world trade center bombing was of the same ilk, so was the Lockarby plane bombing, so were the bombings throughout Northern Ireland and the middle east. Why should we reserve the classification of "crime against humanity" for wartime activities. I see real justice in making this a criminal act even in peacetime for the above mentioned acts. Ethnic cleansing is a crime against humanity, blowing up a MacDonals is a crime against humanity. Deliberate contagious infection of the population by individuals or governments is a crime against humanity. Write your congressman/woman, senator, your legislators, whatever country you live in, and lets get this on the books. How the verdict is dealt with is up to individual nations but we need the classification to at least be able to proceed on the gravity of the crime. If a criminal does not know who he/she is killing, it could be you or me, or our children. This indiscriminate killing must stop, and it must carry the consequences. Killing someone who we know is murder, killing people who are unknowns is more than murder, it is a CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY.

Well, don't know if you agree or disagree, or just find this a bunch of bunk, feel free to respond on the new The Eddie-Torial Message/Discussion Board
So until next month, play safe, surf wisely, and help yourself to a cookie
(make sure your dog gets one too).

*smiles*, Eddie

Previous Eddie-Torials
February, 1999
January, 1999
December, 1998
November, 1998
October, 1998
September, 1998
August, 1998

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Ed Ladeur
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