The man in the mirror

Birds flock in formation, wolves hunt in pack yet human want to go alone, cause “greed is good”. I was just out of college, with a few thousand bucks in student loan to start my first job at Children’s TV (Sesame Street – CPBS/ITV).

Out of the Penn State bubble, I was confused and dazzled: Rock Hudson biography was out ( AIDS ) and Bonfire of Vanities in ( Greed is good…the suspenders and the stairs master) and of course, the counter-Counter-culture ( 60’s out, Nancy said “No to Drugs”).

I was standing at the cross-roads, not knowing which way to turn, like Crocodile Dundee in NYC i.e. just to greet people would take me all day.

Penn State was both good and bad: it had shielded me from the real harsh world (there hardly were any Black students on campus at the time – or any girls from my homeland).

So much for being well-equipped for a changing world. Today’s landscape changes even faster: average student loan is around 33,000 dollars and ballooning. Greed is out, Greta is in, Opioid replaces AIDS. And nobody is going to read anyone’s biography because we are into gaming and sci-fi.

I respect Al Gore and his playing number 2. Like Avis “we work harder”. If we had all voted for Al, we wouldn’t have to consider Huawei peace offering (5G technology) and we wouldn’t have to witness today’s historic joint force of the Dalai Lama & Greta. Frankly, I believe Greta is our modern-day reincarnation in the great Lama’s tradition: ” out of the mouth of children, God speaks”.

Given our current rising-sea level, we got two choices: party to death for tomorrow we will all die, or stop everything and start doing all the things on the list – flood-prevention and coastal build-up — to push climate change to the outer edge ( it is akin to the fire-department breaking and entering a garage while a suicide-by-CO2 was in progress).

Let’s look in the mirror for one second: have we been better off since “the Graduate”? has plastic enriched a few or the many?

Fossil fuel moved the camel riders from outdoor traveling to indoor plumbing ( and gold-engraved toilets), but their women barely got the driver’s licenses – quite a step-up from being beheaded for sleeping in the wrong bed ( even when you are a Saudi Princess back in late 70’s). It propelled China ( Walmart plastic toys ) to world’s numero 2 (watch PBS Newshour series).

So have you looked hard in the mirror? Found any defects or are you perfect?

I made my point. Case closed. For the truth is not too far from it. Greed is not good when there won’t be any one around for you to brag, boast and broadcast your version of truth.

Today, the suspenders and stair masters (at work) are out, just like those yuppies and “low-emission” German cars of the 80’s. Rock Hudson would wake up like Rip Van Winkle to an AI and Big Data world, not knowing how to use the phone, how to text/tweet and/or access from a highly-secure and classified server.

Google has just announced a much faster Quantum Computer. By the time you finished reading this, it has already finished downloading John Wick 1,2 and 3 and while at it, recommended the Matrix after having pulled your profile and FICO scores (right, as if I am a high-tech guy who can trace my readership) to place its ads followed by relevant emails to your respective mail boxes.

Happy Friday, buy some pop corns and watch the unfolding UkraineGate.

The poor comedian-turned-President looks so young and “prey-able”. He is in for a tragedy-comedy made in Heaven, more than what he thought he had signed up for (anti-corruption endeavor). See, we are all distracted by politics and publicity e.g. Nobel talks of Greta vs Trump, rather than all the plastics floating in the ocean and entering sea creatures’ stomach.

Save a whale and save the world. For my daughters and their daughters, thank you. I want them to watch Frozen or A Wrinkle in Time and perhaps by a very small chance, seeing my name in the fast-rolling credits as Camera Assistant. (BTW, I always paid off my student loan – even after all the overseas volunteering works – or else, how can I look at the man in the mirror). Now do your part, pay your share and join the human race to “flock in formation, and hunt in pack”.