Cassandra

Cassandra: she knew the future… but no one believed her.


Can you imagine her frustration, her fear, her loneliness, her rage? It’s the ultimate powerlessness: knowing trouble is on its way, but being unable to stop it.


I see the train coming but I am tied to the tracks. In fact, a lot of us see the train coming. We cry out. We use logic. We share evidence. We beg for help…. But the train keeps coming, faster and faster.

Most people care about ordinary things. They care about sports scores, shoe sales, lunch spreads, and hit tunes. They know how to turn off the world’s pain and escape into a Hallmark movie or a horrorfilm. They can think for a moment or two about a starving child’s face on a Time magazine ad, but then they can turn the page and read the funny pages. I can’t.


I’m lucky because many of my friends have shared their deep thoughts with me. I’ve found people who want to ponder Plato, plan podcasts, and write musicals. We want to understand the world and make the world a bit kinder and more beautiful. We are willing to work for that.


Maybe I’d be happier if I went for an easy path. Maybe I’d be healthier. If my ideals were material, success would be objective. My goals are so complex and nuanced that I’ll never be able to accomplish everything. But I’ll never stop trying.


I’m struggling right now because the most powerful people in the world don’t have the best interests of humanity in mind. They’re more concerned with making the trillion dollar mark than making sure that every child has enough food. They don’t seem to care that without medicine, illnesses will spread unchecked. They don’t understand that wasted water will give fires more force.


I’m frustrated because the next tier of people- much of the media- lies to the people. An ordinary father comes home from work and watches Fox News because it’s entertaining. An ordinary twentysomething gets news on TikTok and doesn’t stop to fact-check.


The most powerful people have taken the media and spread emotional lies. With fearmongering, the media villainizes the helpers. They highlight flaws and even exaggerate them. Half of our society has fallen for the lies.


Life is nuanced and nobody is perfect. But I see disaster looming. I see food shortages, looting, epidemics, lynchings. I see internet systems going down, businesses shutting down, communications faltering. I’m afraid of civil war, or global war.



And I’m an optimist!


I hope I’m wrong. Maybe I’m no Cassandra. Maybe this isn’t really the future. We can still avert it.

We need to see one another. See each other’s pain, each other’s goals, each other’s gifts. See what we have in common. Celebrate what makes each of us unique. We need to speak out for one another, not just for ourselves.


Cassandra was seen as a witch. Nobody wants to know that danger lies ahead. The messenger is liable to be shot. But maybe we can learn from mythology and history. Maybe we can get others to hear and heed the warning signs.


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