Time Change – Open Book Blog Hop #372

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Topic #372

If you could live in any place, any time, any world, where would you live?

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I’d never return to the past, unless it is guaranteed that I can come back to at least my own time. Many people love the idea of exploring the past if they had access to a time machine. I don’t blame them. The idea of getting to see persons and events that we’ve only read about, which had an enormous impact on our history, that’s compelling! However, when you consider the finer details, you’ll see why I have no interest.

Prior to modern history, women were not afforded the equal rights. The majority enjoyed a quasi servitude. Giving up the freedoms that I have now would be alarming. Certainly, women and femmes are not on equal footing with the dominant demographic. That said, would you want matters to get worse? Consider, if you will, how bodily autonomy is being ripped from the grasp of those who are not cis males. This is no joke and it will have ripple affects that lead us into an era of absolute authoritarianism not seen in centuries.

Following that vein, this leads me to the reality that those who veer from dogma face the possibility of harm from those who would enforce rules, laws, and norms. They don’t even have to be the majority of the group, a historically repeated phenomena. Small groups enforcing dogmatic beliefs have commonly been very dangerous.

Lastly, another reason for my reluctance is the loss of present day medical advances. Especially in the case of female anatomy, there are a great many reasons to fear such a loss. While I am past the possibility of having children, there are other things that continue on. There are also hereditary issues to be concerned about. What if breast, cervical, uterine, ovarian cancer is a great risk? What if prolapses have happened? Fibroids? Aside from that, heart disease is one of the most common killers of women.

So, unless I can visit and return as needed and at the drop of a hat, I have no interest in the historical eras. I remain curious, however, about the future. It is likely that medical advances will lead to a healthier society (at least one that can address diseases we fear today). I also assume that bigotry against gender and sexual orientation will fall away along with the dogma that plagues our world in this time.

If one thing holds true, things get better, even when the echoes of those issues may still continue. It gives me hope that bigotry and all the suffering it causes will end. No, that wouldn’t create a utopia. There will be other issues that come to fill that void. What do you think they might be? If the catastrophic results of climate change, such as crop failure and flooding, don’t bring us past the pettiness of judging gender and skin tones, what do you think would?

Going to the future would answer these two questions, and I would love to see what shakes out. I’d feel a heck of a lot safer in a future world. That said, what if the bigots win? What if hate takes over and they rampage across the world like the hate-fueled factions of the Second World War? It is possible that this could happen. People are still acting just as complacent as our grandparents did in that time. So much has been allowed to happen that turning back could be impossible.

The frightening prospect of a world yoked by authoritarianism in the guise of morality and faith is so close to reality. Have we not just recently escaped such in recent history? Think about it. Is there any time outside the one you know that could be fun to visit? If you’re a fan of Star Trek, you’ll know that visiting any other time (past or future) could be like visiting a foreign world and the dangers are great.

I still think I’d take a chance on the future. Humanity has such a great capacity for compassion. I believe that will win out over the capacity for violence.

Let’s hop through the answers the other authors have given. Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter to get this hop delivered to your inbox every Friday.

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