NOT IN MY LIFETIME...
I was a kid in the 1950s.
By the time Sputnik was launched, my father had taught me all about the US Space Program.
We were developing ICBMs that could withstand re-entry and deliver their nuclear payload around the globe.
Space was the High Ground.
Most people were smiling up at Sputnik’s blinking light and listening to the ‘beep’ on their plastic radios.
My father and I knew Sputnik meant the US was falling behind.
The first satellite was like planting your flag atop a newly conquered hill…The High Ground.
The Russkies had their flag on the highest hill there is, beeping at us in mockery.
1957 led directly to the Age of Don Boy and Elon.
Control the beeps, bells, and whistles coming to us from space and you will control the world.
I’ve started with this story because the launch of Sputnik in1957 is when I first became aware of ‘not in my lifetime’.
Guys hoped and prayed that Armageddon didn’t happen in their lifetime so they could bring their highest hopes and dreams to fruition before they passed on.
They sought to end war and come up with man-made solutions for everything, all in one 70 year span, with the threat of nuclear annihilation hanging in the air every second.
Talk about pressure.
The belief that America, when properly mobilized, could accomplish anything, was founded in a string of remarkable quality of life improvements.
The end of drudgery freed our minds to dream of bigger and better things.
My father moved on to further space development, construction of nuclear power plants, and modernization of public transportation.
All with the knowledge that none of his plans would deliver their full benefits in his lifetime.
Yet he faithfully pursued a better world for those who came next.
There was a burning desire to leave a better world instilled into the men of the greatest generation.
In the decades since 1957, the urge to leave a better world for our offspring has diminished by leaps and bounds.
The selfishness of me, me, me has taken over.
Fuck the future.
I ain’t in it.
Fuck the upcoming generation.
What have they ever done for me?
To see the result of this selfish outlook, check out Don Boy’s act.
He is the prime mover in the fuck ‘em all crowd.