Written By Brad Harness
“If you do something big - well, you may go into the history books. But look at all the leaders of countries who nobody remembers now, eh? And those are the people who made it to the top! The very top!”, I told my grandson.
“So, Grandad, what happened with the Big Change?” he asked me.
I stopped for a moment, considering how to explain things in a way he might grasp.
“Think about those ancient tales of giant glaciers covering the north and south poles. Have you seen those videos of huge icebergs breaking off and falling into the sea up in Greenland?”
The boy nodded. “Un-huh”.
“That happened for real...as the planet went through a warming phase. The sea levels rose...and coastal cities had to erect seawalls to protect themselves. Rural parts of the planet and islands that were low-lying were submerged.”
“My teacher said the Big Change was about countries...suddenly we had so many new countries...”
“Yes!” I replied “Yes. We went from about 200 countries... to over a thousand! It was like the old videos of the Soviet Union falling apart and all these new countries were being created every month.”
George considered what I had told him.
“So, then, we live here in the Kingdom of Ontario, right? We were part of...Canada before?”
“Exactly”.
“And the countries south of the Great Lakes...they were part of something called...the United States?”
“Precisely,” I told him. “Today when you look at that area south of the lakes you see New England...and you see the Virginia Commonwealth...to the west, you have Mississipia...and so on...,” turning the map. George looked as though his mind was racing.
“And, and, in Europe and Asia? What happened there?”
“Well, China divided into 10 countries...and Russia, into a dozen!”
“My teacher told me that the Australian Continent used to be a single country...”
“Yes, it was. And the seven or eight countries now in northeast South America used to be the Brazilian Federation.”
“So, Grandad, why did this happen?”
“It was the best way to prevent war...and to encourage trade.”
Next Month: Part 4
