As the years roll by, we continue to hear about the passing of the heroes and idols of the 20th century. Today's news told of Neil Armstrong's death at age 82, and the world is an emptier place without him.
This prompts me to ask: who will take their places? Who do we, as a society, have that can serve as honest, no-bullshit inspirational figures - people who we'd want our kids to idolize?
Our political leaders surely are not the answer, and if you disagree please do us all a favor and swan-dive into a running wood chipper immediately upon finishing this sentence (or at your earliest convenience). NASA is a gaunt, starved shadow of its former glory, and offers us no heroes. Popular culture consists (with few exceptions) of talentless, soulless corporate puppets producing meaningless feel-good noise as fast as you Top 40-consuming sheep will waste your money buying it. No dice there, either.
So what's to be done? Our military is certainly admirable for a variety of reasons, but I wouldn't want my offspring (spawn?) dying in some shitty desert hellhole for no clear reason.
I haven't thought all the way through this yet, but I suspect we're fucked in this regard.
From the Middle East, with indifference,
Jack
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