"Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings ..."
A hundred million years ago, there was the Earth. It was not the Earth we know now. And we weren't on it, as we didn't exist yet.
A couple million years ago, there was no Us. There might have been some kind of Them, but they probably weren't much like Us. So they weren't Us.
A hundred thousand years ago, We were eking out a kind of primitive life, focusing on the complex acts of not dying, and not being eaten by anything. If we managed that trick, we might live long enough to reproduce for some reason we weren't entirely clear on.
Ten thousand years ago, we had established a temporary foothold on the world. We had towns, even cities. Life was, as Hobbes once said: "Nasty, brutish, and short." But it was life, and it had cities in it.
Two thousand years ago, a very nice man with a number of good ideas was executed for subversion. This happened a lot at the time.
One thousand years ago, the western world was dominated by religious and political subjugation, under which the common people found themselves dying for causes they didn't understand, being tortured or killed for having thoughts and eating dung for dinner.
Some people have suggested that this still happens.
One hundred years ago, there was no Penicillin, no commonly available automobiles, no plastic, no environmental protection laws, no gay rights, few women's rights, and we still had two fantastically devastating wars to look forward to.
Fifty years ago, there were no cellular phones, no Internet, no cable television and no AIDS. The battle for civil rights was still in full swing. The Soviet Union still existed, and was still more than a little interested in what to do about that pesky United States. Saddam Hussein had yet to take power.
Ten years ago, the World Trade Center was still standing, we thought there was only one George Bush (oh, blissful ignorance!), the Internet was still something other people used +â-óGé¼" and not a world theater for porn. Saying "Osama bin Laden" was not yet a form of swearing.
One year ago, you were younger, less knowledgeable. You hadn't heard that catchy commercial about the anti-spyware programs. You hadn't been exposed to these newspaper columns (oh, blissful ignorance!). All of the bad things that happened to you this year hadn't happened yet. Same with the good things. You were a different person.
One year from now, everything will be different. You will be someone else, I will be someone else, perhaps neither of us will be here. Terrible things will happen in that year. Terrible things are happening now. Across the world, people are dying ... and normally I'd go on about it.
But this is the holiday season.
I don't care if you're Christian, pagan, Buddhist or atheist. The falling out of years has created for us a time to go and be with the ones we care about. The world is falling to shambles, the world is a hideous mess, but for one week, we have a chance to step back and focus on what matters most: friends, family, spouses, partners, loved ones. And yes, everything else that will fit on the back of a Hallmark card.
The world is made up of people, and sometimes we forget that. So go find someone to care about, and remind them of who we are. We are people. All of us.
Tomorrow, everything will fall apart.
Tonight, you can be with those you love.
That's all.
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