I was online checking my email (on AOL) and I was caught by one of their headlines, which was 25 Things That Won’t Exist.
In the near future there are 25 things (at least) that will no longer be part of the American imagination. Some of these things don’t really matter like pit toilets and the yellow pages. I think as a nation we would want people to have indoor plumbing and have little problems with the amount of trees and recycled paper used to make phone books. These days you can easily look up phone numbers online or use a magic three-digit number, 411. Along with phone books other forms of paper materials are vanishing such as want ads, news magazines, checks and hand written letters. I think the best thing to do is blame the Internet. The Internet is killing the use of paper and killing social interaction. Yes, I can pay my bills electronically. Yes, I can read the want adds online or use Monster.com. Yes, I can read CNN, ESPN and the countless blogs without having to pay 50 cents per day or yell at the delivery kid that cannot throw the paper on my front porch. Yes, I can write an email or a facebook message and not worry about stamps, mail delays and incompetent mail employees. Yes, I can live my whole life and never leave my house because of the Internet.
Sure I could care less about losing dial up Internet connections or Analog TV. Losing the VCR means nothing to me as long as the DVD transfer is of high quality. Blockbuster and other video rental places are fading as well. Sure that means the loss of thousands of jobs but you can rent as many movies as you want for just 5 bucks using Netflix – hot dam! Sure you might not have a job but maybe you can spare 5 bucks a month for some awesome entertainment and if that doesn’t make you feel better about losing the minimum wage job helping you stay afloat or so you can save to buy your first car then I don’t know what will.
A lot of things on this list (kind of) don’t matter. Sure some of them have a tremendous amount of nostalgia such as drive-in movie theaters and hand written letters. The drive-in lost a lot of appeal after cars switch to individual seats over bench seats and when huge multiplexes with air conditioning and heating were created. I blame the lack of bench seats in automobiles because the best part of a drive-in isn’t the just the movie but the blanket and the company you share underneath it. And a hand written letter, stamped and delivered is more personal, romantic and/or unique than an email will ever be.
Who needs landline phones when everyone on the planet has a cell phone? I am concerned about the loss of the HAM radio. I am concerned because what will the world do when aliens attack and we lose all control of satellite and digital communication or when zombies walk the earth and vampires appear in daylight? Soon there will be no more answering machines, cameras that use film or incandescent light bulbs. The loss of much of these things could be seen miles and miles away by any reasonably intelligent person.
When reading this list I actually become concerned about five things. First, the Chesapeake Bay Blue Crabs. The sustainable population is about 200 million and the existing population falls short by 40%. Who is to blame for the vanishing population of this delicious treat? We are, not me, but I mean society. Over fishing, global warming and invasive species is killing this industry. Good eats, fisherman and restaurant owners should fear this downfall.
Second is the Ash tree. In the late 1990’s a species of beetle, known as the emerald ash borer snuck into North America via ash wood products imported from eastern Asia. Since its larvae has killed millions of trees in the Midwest and nothing seems to be stopping the ecological destruction. The loss of a native species like the Ash tree can be seen as nothing short of an environmental disaster with far-reaching effects on the entire ecosystem. The emerald ash borer is not just causing havoc in parks and forests but it is also having a significant economic and industrial effect. In the U.S. Ash is a strong and highly resilient hardwood. It is used for guitars, tool handles, sports equipment and office furniture.
Third, wild horses are vanishing from the American plains. I may not have grown up in during the wild, wild west or when the western was one of the dominant art forms on the silver screen but the cowboy on his trusty steed roaming the country proud and free is an image that should never be removed from the American picture book. In the early 20th century it was estimated that around two million horses roamed the United States but as of 2001 the National Geographic News suggested about 50,000 horses remain.
The numbers according to the National Horse and Burro Advisory are much worse estimating that there are only 32,000 wild horses remaining. So yes, the wild horses are vanishing. Isn’t it sad? Yes of course it is sad? But the United States government is not sad, as the Bureau of Land Management is seeking to limit the number of wild horses roaming the country to 27,000. The government, using euthanasia to control the wild horse population is afraid of the overpopulation of wild horses on public lands. Believe it or not, millions of dollars is spent on controlling the population of wild horses by keeping them in holding facilities. Doesn’t reading all of this make the story much sadder? Yes, of course it sadder. The U.S. government can claim this dark victory over Mother Nature. If any of this makes sense to you then feel free to explain it to me because I cannot see the harm of wild horses running free except for the occasional driver not being careful on a dark highway road. I don’t know, hopefully horses are smarter than deer.
But what can be worse than ash trees, crabs and wild horses? The honeybee! In the past few years 50 - 90 percent of honeybee colonies have collapsed. Why? It is called CCD or as bee people like myself refer to it as Colony Collapse Disorder. If you have seen the ecological thriller/comedy starring Jerry Seinfeld, Bee Movie, you would have learned that bees are not only essential to making honey but are also essential to fruit and flower pollination. Plus, what else is going to roast my Cheerios?
Last but not least and in all actuality the most problematic one is the loss of the Family Farm. Since the 1930’s family farms have been on the decline. The USDA estimates that in the 50’s, 5.3 million farms dotted the American landscape but according to numbers published in 2003 that number has been reduced by over 3 million. Much has been written about the plight of the American family farmer. Best selling novels and even a music festival create opportunities to spread the word about the deprivation of a truly noble profession. With some stories reporting that 330 farm workers along with their families are put on the street weekly and that can be seem as nothing but tragic and problematic.
How do we solve these problems, I don’t know but I wish I did and could solve them. Oh well so goes life and so goes any amount of humanity.
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