For many years I have been worried about this planet and what mankind is doing to it. To help you understand where I am coming from I am going to put forward an hypothetical story. One that everyone will say could never happen. But what if it did?
The year my daughter was born, 1977, NASA sent a satellite called Voyager out into space. The idea was to send it out past our solar system to other galaxies. On this satellite were messages, in different languages about how we live on this planet. The way we lived then, in 1977. Not now.
The voyager has travelled over twenty-five billion miles from earth and is still going strong, way past our solar system. Just outside of Canberra at Tidbinbilla is a large radio telescope. It happens to be the only telescope in the world that can receive transmission from Voyager. This is where I am going to tell you the hypothetical story.
What if one afternoon, the Tidbinbilla radio telescope received a signal through Voyager that was coded. Probably noughts and ones which is used regularly as codes for computers. The scientist running the telescope would be excited. Finally, something or someone had found Voyager and taken over the communication system on the satellite.
After several months, the cryptologists would decipher what had been sent, and strangely enough found what was being said was using most of the languages spoken on our planet. But what did it say? It advised that a select group from another planet in another galaxy had found the Voyager and realised they were not the only beings in existence in this large universe and were looking to find a replacement planet to their own, which was dying. Several space ships were already out in space, and now this group had discovered another inhabited planet, they were looking to bring all their people to the place we call earth.
The NASA scientists didn’t know what to do. How many people were going to come to earth? Would they look like us? And what if they were going to invade and take over? Who should they tell, and what could the rulers on this planet do about it?
Big questions, but if you think about it, our planet is currently going through similar things. People from poorer countries want to live where they and their family can live in safety and not starve. Scientists are telling us our planet is doomed unless we do something about the changes in climate, and the planet is becoming over populated. If these people from another planet were to come here, how would we cope?
Firstly, social media would go wild and cause a panic. Our political leaders would not know where to turn. They wouldn’t want to be involved. Let another country take these people, we don’t want them. We can’t support ourselves so how can we support more, especially when they come from somewhere else? Also, what if they were more intelligent than us and want to take over how we run the world? Oooooh!!!
I don’t think I have to go any further with this story. I don’t want people to believe it is happening. Why? Because in 1938 Orson Wells wrote and presented a radio play about this same story. Only in this case Martian armies were invading New York. What happened? The radio play was so realistic, those who were listening believed it was really happening and got into their cars to leave the city and caused chaos. Look it up on the internet, the play was called War of the Worlds.
The point with my hypothetical story is to show how our world at the moment is at War with Itself. So many of our leaders are more worried about their power than they are about the population of their country. The combined efforts to follow the scientists’ suggestions about the changes in climate are being ignored by so many of the politicians, much against the wishes of their fellow countrymen. And desperate people arriving from a poorer or war-torn country to live where they can be safe are being treated like aliens. What has the world become?
I have been living on this planet for over eighty years, and in the last decade have become disillusioned and disappointed at how much society and how our supposed leaders have changed. When I was in my twenties, the older generations used to complain with this saying: ‘things weren’t the same in my days’, and I am starting to think the same way.
Personally, I believe we do need change, and what mankind has achieved in my life time has been amazing, but at the same time a lot of bad things have happened. Suicide rates, especially amongst teenagers has risen. Nobody seems to care that leaders tell lies regularly. Wars have come back into favour, and instead of people working together, society as a whole seems to have lost its way.
I call my podcast and blog, a World at War with itself, because that seems to be what is happening. Very few people seem to be happy. They are not satisfied with what they have. There seems to be an expectation that everyone is owed something and we should all be given everything without putting any effort into trying to gain it ourselves. We seem to have forgotten so much of what was normal when I was a child, and maybe this is where we have gone wrong. We will never know, but I feel we have to do something about it.
This is why I present the podcast and write my blog. I can write, and interview people. These were gifts I was born with. The podcast and blog have now been running for over 26 weeks. As I set them up to only run for 52 weeks, this is half way.
I don’t believe it will achieve much, but I live in hope. And if I don’t try, I will die being very disappointed with myself. Perhaps the subjects I cover about things that happen in our lives, have and will plant seeds in other people’s minds. I do hope so, because this is the only way I know of how to get through to the greatest number of people. I guess you don’t get to be an octogenarian without learning some tricks
The majority of the things I talk about are relative to us all living on this planet and how I believe we now have to learn about living together, instead of hating and fighting. As our population grows, we have to work out a way to live in harmony. To provide and support each other. To create a world where people are happy to give their opinions and not fear for their lives. And, also to share the wealth that this planet is providing.
If people did arrive from another planet, would we welcome them or tell them to move on and probably miss out on learning new ways to do things and travel in outer space?
You, as an inhabitant of this planet have the power to change things. People power can change the world. But it won’t happen just hoping and praying. My Dad used to say, God helps those who help themselves. If you want to make things change you have to do something. I am trying my best to discuss matters of importance. I would love you to assist me, by spreading the word. The podcast and blog will end come this October. And that is only six months away.
My voice is just one crying in the wilderness, with your voice added to mine, that will be two. Maybe we both can help it grow, and finally, have an impact.
Julie Finch-Scally ©
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