I don't know what is this generation's greatest fear, but I can speak for my own...Nuclear war. When I have nightmares, and yes..I sometimes still do, that war is what keeps coming back. I grew up with detente...whoever has more missiles wins..though as the saying goes.." There Are NO winners in a Nuclear War." And there wouldn't be. We knew it, we lived with it, and it still to this day, after the SALT treaties, it stays with us.
During my young adulthood there were movies "The Day After ," "Threads" (which is very hard to find these days, it was scary as hell) and "Testament." I read Robert McKinnon's "Swan Song", a fictionalized fairy tale that started with a Nuclear war. I watched news reels of how they tried to educate school children to "Duck and Cover" under their desks for protection. And when I was only 3 there was the Cuban Missile Crisis.
So yes..it permeated my life. It is still my Boogeyman to this day. Do I believe I am any safer now than before? Umm..no, not really. Even if I survived a direct hit (which would be preferable) death would be painful and sure. Essentially we would F-up the planet, if it was not radiation, there would be starvation. Nuclear winter is not just a theory, this planet has seen it more than a few times even before man was a single cell. To correct an imbalance takes millions of years, or billions. Blocking out the sun for even a short time would be enough to finish the rest of us off.
I am not randomly dooming and glooming, I had a doozy of a dream last night. Anxiety? Not sure, it's possible. But it has been a long time since I had one. Here is the dream sequence:
With my ex-husband, who had a job at some sort of bank office. (no he never did) I arrived for some business celebration and promised to help. When I returned to help...there was a line of homeless people waiting for me to assist them. No paperwork could be found, (of course..this is my anxiety dream, lol) So I asked them what they needed. The dream switched to me sitting down in a lounge with big plate windows. Someone else was there. There was a rumbling noise, the pictures and objects started to shake...I said.."Cover Your Eyes!" And the sun like explosion followed, I could see the light filtered through shut eyes with my hands covering them as I fell off the chair to the floor. That ended the dream. It was enough.
Do the generations that followed mine have the same fear? Or are they oblivious to our past? Everyone seems to jump on the cause of the moment and then quickly move on. (short attention span) What we are taught to fear these days is more like a program presented to us by nightly news. Like a commercial, over in seconds. I fear for the short minded, they miss the mark by jumping on cue, and quickly forget. That leaves a whole lot of things never questioned..and a giant group of sheep...Bahhh, Bahhhh...who just accept.
I believe that everyone thinks that a nuclear threat is a thing of the past. I think that they are wrong.
Hence my special nightmare, my take on the Apocalypse. In line to collect our money, never expecting,
never questioning, unable to question because it is a "past" issue. And then it is there.
Hoping for better dreams tonight,
k
During my young adulthood there were movies "The Day After ," "Threads" (which is very hard to find these days, it was scary as hell) and "Testament." I read Robert McKinnon's "Swan Song", a fictionalized fairy tale that started with a Nuclear war. I watched news reels of how they tried to educate school children to "Duck and Cover" under their desks for protection. And when I was only 3 there was the Cuban Missile Crisis.
So yes..it permeated my life. It is still my Boogeyman to this day. Do I believe I am any safer now than before? Umm..no, not really. Even if I survived a direct hit (which would be preferable) death would be painful and sure. Essentially we would F-up the planet, if it was not radiation, there would be starvation. Nuclear winter is not just a theory, this planet has seen it more than a few times even before man was a single cell. To correct an imbalance takes millions of years, or billions. Blocking out the sun for even a short time would be enough to finish the rest of us off.
I am not randomly dooming and glooming, I had a doozy of a dream last night. Anxiety? Not sure, it's possible. But it has been a long time since I had one. Here is the dream sequence:
With my ex-husband, who had a job at some sort of bank office. (no he never did) I arrived for some business celebration and promised to help. When I returned to help...there was a line of homeless people waiting for me to assist them. No paperwork could be found, (of course..this is my anxiety dream, lol) So I asked them what they needed. The dream switched to me sitting down in a lounge with big plate windows. Someone else was there. There was a rumbling noise, the pictures and objects started to shake...I said.."Cover Your Eyes!" And the sun like explosion followed, I could see the light filtered through shut eyes with my hands covering them as I fell off the chair to the floor. That ended the dream. It was enough.
Do the generations that followed mine have the same fear? Or are they oblivious to our past? Everyone seems to jump on the cause of the moment and then quickly move on. (short attention span) What we are taught to fear these days is more like a program presented to us by nightly news. Like a commercial, over in seconds. I fear for the short minded, they miss the mark by jumping on cue, and quickly forget. That leaves a whole lot of things never questioned..and a giant group of sheep...Bahhh, Bahhhh...who just accept.
I believe that everyone thinks that a nuclear threat is a thing of the past. I think that they are wrong.
Hence my special nightmare, my take on the Apocalypse. In line to collect our money, never expecting,
never questioning, unable to question because it is a "past" issue. And then it is there.
Hoping for better dreams tonight,
k
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