From a proclaimed "time traveler"(John Titor; from the year 2036, on a mission to retrieve an IBM 5100 computer from 1975 to fix a problem with UNIX in the year 2036. (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_2038_problem)
I feel it is important to reflect on the point that is being made by John rather than if this is a true story. Please read this with that intent. You will be glad you did.
This is an excerpt from John's story:
On my worldline, life is not easy. We live in a world recovering from years of war, poison, destruction and hate. All of it, courtesy of the thinking and actions of people that live right now in the same world you do, worrying about which stocks to buy or whether or not a stranger is lying to them on the Internet.
I believe that hardship and challenge develop character and community. My first experience with war came when I joined a shotgun infantry unit at the age of thirteen. In the 4 years I served as a "rebel", I watched hundreds of people get shot, burn and bleed to death. I know exactly where I was and every detail of the exact moment the first nuclear warheads began falling on Jacksonville. I know the pain and regret of not acting soon enough to enjoy a relationship as a loved one dies of brain cancer from a war that gained nothing.
How can you possibly criticize me for any conflict that comes to you? I watch every day what you are doing as a society. While you sit by and watch your Constitution being torn away from you, you willfully eat poisoned food, buy manufactured products no one needs and turn an uncaring eye away from millions of people suffering and dying all around you. Is this the "Universal Law" you subscribe to?
Perhaps I should let you all in on a little secret. No one likes you in the future. This time period is looked at as being full of lazy, self-centered, civically ignorant sheep. Perhaps you should be less concerned about me and more concerned about that.
