March 20, 2004

A Dream

The air was crystal clean, the water pristine

And in the streets, people were ambling, mulling

Spontaneously running or striking conversations

Because cars had been driven underground

Well out of way of all children and pedestrians

Mohandas Gandhi was president of my country

Martin Luther King, Jr., its vice-president

Mother Teresa, its secretary of health

Cesar Chavez, its secretary of labor, and

There was no secretary of war or defense

All nuclear weapons had been dismantled

Even the idea of weapons of mass destruction

Seemed odd. Who would want to kill en masse?

Science aimed only at clarifying the web of life

Never harm it, usurp it, modify or control it

Mothers and fathers could opt to devote full time

To their children under six, if they so wished

For the government knew children were the future

And you cannot build a house on a poor foundation

Children welcomed became welcoming adults

It had been hard to turn the human race about

From its precipitous decline and near suicide

Lawyers were still busy devising new definitions

Of sovereignly, nationhood, ethnicity and race

To honor the flexibility needed for cooperation

Politicians were revising concepts of Adevelopment@

AProgress,@ Aindustrialization@ and Aglobalization@

To reflect mostly social indices, such as, for instance

The quality of life of those least lucky in a society

Or the misery and deaths from preventable causes

There was, of course, free universal health care

And in all facilities, the first questions always were

AWhat are your symptoms?@ A How can we help?@

Never, ADo you have insurance?@ AWhich one?@

ACan I please have your card so I can make a copy?@

Although private property still existed individually

The idea of the common heritage of humankind

Had been extended to include all of the earth=s water

And atmosphere, all of its land and natural resources

All species and their genome and, of course, space

It had been impossible to halt the contamination

Caused by the spread of genetically-engineered genes

Already in the environment at the time of the turn-about

But none were added, and most chemical compounds

Were withdrawn, as all caused disruptions in life cycles

War was unknown though people still lived in groups

Comparable to the previous concept of countries

While very diverse, these groups were little different

In terms of quality of life, for the world had understood

That the health of one depends upon the health of all

All countries had to have a zero balance of payment

Between imports and exports in any given year

Thus, there were no debts, no credits, no loans, no Aaid@

The power of capital was subdued by a heavy tax

All wealth disparities were held down to a factor of ten

Families had on the average just over two children

The replacement number for the world population

All food was produced and consumed locally

Trees were planted and it was thought that probably

By a small margin, global warming had been reversed

There were still people who preferred power

To the enhancing and lengthening of the future of life

But power in general was so diffused in all societies

That any one group could do relatively little harm

Concentration of power was the evil of the day

Suddenly, I heard a faint, frail, wondrous music

A suave sound which, however, grew in intensity

So rapidly that at once it filled my whole bedroom

And like a hurricane, shook me out of my slumber

Arousing as well all in the world presently sleeping

It was the conscience of humankind

Just escaped from its subterranean prison cell

Wandering free at last among all of us people.

Notes

Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948)

Indian political and spiritual leader, a major figure in the achievement of independence for India which was gained in 1947, one year before he was assassinated. His title, Mahatma (great soul), reflected a personal prestige so high that he was able to extract political concessions from the British by threatening Afacts unto death.@

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968)

American clergyman and civil rights leader, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. Before he was assassinated, King=s interest had widened from American civil rights issues to a deep concern for poverty everywhere and the morality of the Vietnam war.

Mother Teresa (1910-1997)

Born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, in Macedonia, then part of Yugoslavia, Mother Teresa was a Catholic missionary nun whose zeal and works of mercy knew no boundaries, international or otherwise. She was beatified in Rome in 2003.

Cesar Estrada Chavez (1927-1993)

Hispanic-American agrarian labor leader who organized wine grape pickers in California and formed the National Farm Workers Association. Using strikes, fasts, picketing and marches, he was able to obtain contracts from a number of major growers.

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