By Antonia Williams=Gary

“…. it’s been a long time coming but I know a change is gonna come….”

So, here we are. The President of The United States of America has started a war, though still unde­clared by Congress, affecting much of the world economy, has picked a fight with the Pope, wears Hal­loween costumes, while the Secre­tary of War is playing with the military like they’re toy soldiers, possibly under the influence of al­cohol/substances, and publicly mis­quoting bible verses!

Can it get worse? Yes, if these in­competent embarrassments maintain the highest offices in the government.

Folks are saying how disastrous life has become- the economy, interpersonal relationships, political divisions, a world at war, etc. We have seen empires rise and fall over recorded history, and if there is any test to human resiliency, our contin­ued existence underscores our en­during ability to survive as a species. We will, we must, move past these turbulent times and emerge in better shape as a society and hopefully, wiser.

But you ask, when will this hap­pen?

Evolution takes time. Yet, the human species has existed for nearly 300,000 years.

Our bodies and minds are not al­ways in sync. Our reptilian brain stem defaults to instinctive opera­tion: when threatened, we fight or flee. Our struggle to merely survive the environment is an ongoing chal­lenge, no matter how rich we are, our access to drinking water, food, and the very air we breathe has been diminished, and a variety of external threats to our safety and well-being are broadcast every day and night.

But there are solutions on the hori­zon. Currently technology, and par­ticularly the use of AI, offer us a wonderful opportunity for improv­ing daily menial tasks, and which offer means for overall advance­ment of human beings.

We just circulated around the moon. A phenomenal accomplish­ment, opening unlimited potential for exploration of space for colo­nization and/or exploitation of re­sources in outer space. It is just a matter of keeping the human imagi­nation ignited and open to collabo­rating with AI innovations.

I am excited about the future as long as we are not annihilated by some errant nuclear accident before we can begin to enjoy the advancing modernization of our world and our species. Nonetheless, warfare con­tinues to be a time-honored primi­tive response to human conflict. We should have evolved beyond such barbaric measures by now. One would think.

Then there is the matter of vio­lence perpetrated against half of the population; namely, battery and murder of women.

A recent spate of murders has headlined the news. It is alarming, yet it is a daily phenomenon commo throughout the world: domestic vio­lence, where the overwhelming ma­jority of victims are females, and femicide is found in all cultures, in every socio-economic group, every racial and ethnic group, and is not an exception, but sadly, the norm. The statistics are alarming. Black and Brown women are shown as the majority victims.

Patriarchy, religious beliefs, cul­tural “norms’, community standards (or lack thereof), poverty, disenfran­chisement of females, and any num­ber of factors contribute to these hideous and primitive responses of violences against women; usually by men.

Why? There are so many explana­tions. So many attempts to correct the problem (education, counseling, medication, legal remedies, etc.)

Is anything working? So far, not many. We should all put ourselves on pause.

Pause to ponder the remarkable feats of human achievement, e.g., poetry/literature, art, music, dance, et al. Pause to behold the beauty of earth- photographed from the moon in full color. Pause to reflect on the possibility of destroying the human species in a nuclear holocaust. Pause the politics of superiority and domination. Pause from treating the ‘other’ as an enemy.

Pause to realize that gender vio­lence threatens half of the popula­tion!

I welcome the future. But we need a fundamental “do over”. A human species reset is possible. DNA se­quencing is already taking place to improve our species; new systems are being proposed which will dic­tate how we will live in the future; political structures are being re­designed, women are being differ­ently valued.

A change is gonna come. How much longer? It had better be soon.

Toniwg1@gmail.com