I was a trustee for Deseret Trust Company when 2000 arrived. Our concern was that computers would not roll over to the year 2000, and be able to save systems and documents. That problem was called Y2K. We did all we could. In the largest computer expenditure in history, America outfitted itself with new computers.
Then Sept. 11, 2001 hit. I was in St. Louis Missouri preparing to do consulting for a TV station. That morning, in my hotel room, I had my tv turned to NBC morning news when Bryant Gumbel came on to report that one of the twin towers had been hit by a plane.
Minutes later, a second plane hit. I ran across the park separating my hotel from the tv station I was consulting, and spent the rest of the day monitoring the worst attack on American soil since the attack on Pearl Harbor. It took me a week to catch a flight back home. America went to war with Afghanistan and Iraq. We’re still fighting those wars nineteen years later.
Then there was the 2007-2008 financial meltdown of the entire financial system caused by subprime loans. I was in Las Vegas with my wife checking out a new business unit for a company we owned. A terrible message came up on my cell phone while we were eating lunch. Congress had failed to set aside funds to help keep the American Economy afloat. At that moment we were sliding into a Great Depression. My wife and I were fully loaded with new business ventures. To say that I was both stunned and numb would be an understatement.
In 2016 Donald Trump was elected president and in 2019 he was impeached by the House of Representatives. Not since Bill Clinton had we gone through an impeachment. The difference between this one and Clinton’s impeachment was that President Trump had actually committed an impeachable offense. The challenge in my family over this is that half support Trump while the other half support Biden. My family is representative of the country. Right now we are a divided nation.
In May 2020, George Floyd was choked to death by a policeman which was caught on a mobile device and shared with a nation that went into shock and dismay. The country broke out in spontaneous protest/riot.
This came on the heels of the February/March beginning of the worst pandemic since 1918. I have been quarantined for close to six months and have just started to go out. Before this ends, well over 400,000 Americans will have been killed by this plague. Feels like a biblical plague has befallen us.
At the beginning of the pandemic we had an earthquake break out which caused our outside pipes to break, leading to the flooding of the entire first floor of our home. We just finished the full repair and built out last week.
This past week of September 12, we had hurricane winds come down through our canyons and caused major damage to our community filled trees. Electricity was cut off for close to three days. My first hurricane. I felt trapped as I experienced it. Absolutely nothing I could do to mitigate the damage.
This is nothing compared to the entire west coast set ablaze. I called my close friend in San Francisco and he said the sky had turned orange. Worst air condition in the world. 120 degrees in Los Angeles County. Hell has visited us.
Since 2004, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and radiation fallout from the tsunami that hit a Japanese nuclear plant facility have started ravaging our cities and towns throughout America. In 2004, I had professional reasons to visit New Orleans right after Hurricane Katrina breached the walls of the city. It was a city in almost complete collapse. I was stunned at the magnitude of the destruction. We would drive miles one way, then another way, and it would be destruction everywhere.
At this point, where is my mind and my emotions?
Whatever you want to call the first twenty years of the twenty-first century, the disruptions to human life and habitat demand a big strategic answer. Much of that answer lies in creating a global infrastructure that is adequate for meaningful living in the last half of the twenty first century.
What might a new and different America look like?
One, every citizen will be provided a guaranteed annual income. Two, air will be ninety five percent carbon emissions free. Three, flood control will be five times larger and more innovative than present. Four, streams and oceans will be ninety eight percent pollutant free. Five, Forest management will increase in resources until it can guarantee adequate protection and control of wildfires. Six, all public buildings, local and federal, will be rebuilt with environmentally friendly materials. Seven, Mandatory online instruction at all levels of educational pursuit will be required as well as in person education. Eight, all work places will be required to furnish day care facilities and classrooms for children of workers. Nine, all bridges will be replaced with modern materials that stand up to nature’s assaults and contribute to healthy environments. Ten, all roads will be replaced with environmentally friendly materials that can withstand heat and cold. Eleven, national and state stockpiling of medical supplies in order to rapidly test and cover the spread of all future viruses. Twelve, all homes and houses will be retrofitted to contribute to the electrical grid, not take from it. Thirteen, drip irrigation and water desalination systems will be set in place for every home and community in America.
How do we afford all this? Spend.
I could go on and on and on, but I rest and encourage you to add to the list.