Written By Brad Harness
My conversation with my grandson George was something I wanted to be careful with. So often people know nothing about history, or what they did learn was distorted or outright wrong. Being a history buff, I felt my job was to tell history properly.
They - the ‘they’ we often hear about - say that it is the victors who write history. Think back to history that was written about major world events, such as wars. Had the Germans won the Second World War, the history books would have sang Hitler’s praises. As it turned out, they lost, and the dictator’s evil was written down for future generations to learn about.
George was sitting patiently, aware I was collecting my thoughts.
“Alright, Sunshine, ‘The time when everything changed’ took place in 2027. Many things happened, and all of it was like a bus driving up a mountain and falling off a cliff.”
George nodded, listening.
So I continued. “Events around the world had been heading up to those heights for several years before that. And then all Hell broke lose!”
“Really?”
I nodded in a grandfatherly way.
“You see...most of the largest countries wanted more...more land, more resources, more money.”
“Even here?”
“Where we are now used to be Canada, the Number Two country for size. But Canada never had a crazy leader like the others did.”
“My teacher told us about a country called the United States of America? And he said that they had this crazy old man leader - way older than you, Grandad! - some guy named Donald...hmmm, I forget his last name...”
I smiled at that. “Nice when tyrants disappear into the pages of history. With each new generation born those nasty guys fall back further in time...eventually very few remember them...like Genghis Khan.”
“Who?”
“Oh, he was a crazy leader that took over much of the planet a thousand years ago...and look at him now? You and your friends have never heard of him.”
George nodded slowly, considering this reality.
“So, when I’m gone, nobody will remember me, either?”
“Depends what you do with your life. Those of us who lead ordinary lives...well...we are forgotten.”
“Unless I do something big!?”
Next Month: Part 3
