The War on Terrorism and the Attack on America and the Future--What you can do

The attack on September 11th, 2001 is difficult to describe.  Words like tragedy, disastrous, horrific, horrendous evil don't seem to be strong enough to express the gravity of the event.  Certainly it was, as many leaders have expressed, "a wakeup call from Hell".     The class on the future at San Diego State University College of Extended Studies covered a section dealing with about a dozen threats and challenges to the future.  One deals with the problems facing the world if and when terrorists obtain weapons of mass destruction.  We talked about nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, but never imagined the destructive creativity of utilizing commercial airplanes as "human" guided missiles.   So how do these recent changing events impact the future and what can we do about securing a better future for all human kind.  Certainly governments worldwide need to aggressively attack terrorism until its force and threat are virtually eliminated.  But in the long run, a major effort will be needed to deal with a world population that will double and may even triple in this Century.  If nothing is done to reduce the poverty and desperate situation of a huge portion of the growing population, the attraction to terrorist activities by many young people  will likely increase in the future.     The issues of how technology can be used effectively to provide basic needs for a world population are addressed in the Issues section of this site.  For example, advanced material science and the development of inexpensive, clean energy sources could result in the production of building materials derived from the excess carbon in the atmosphere (from the carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide that was created by the industrial age).   Such readily available material could be used to construct basic, but comfortable, homes for every family on earth.  Future efficient energy sources such as derived from solar energy could provide energy for cooking and heating.  In tropical areas today, the predominant reason for the destruction of rain forests is for fuel for cooking.   What you can do.   Every citizen can have an impact for a better future, even with a minimum effort.  Our recommendations are:   1. Let your public officials--members of Congress particularly--know that they should concentrate on longer range issues that deal with the problems and challenges facing humankind in the future.   2. Make a financial contribution to candidates and political parties that you most agree with.  All the money necessary for Federal campaigns could be raised if only 10% of the American population were to each donate about $30 a year.  This would result in no special interest money being necessary to fund political campaigns.  When candidates do not have to spend an inordinate amount of time and effort seeking campaign contributions, they will have more time to contemplate and deal with issues facing the future.   3. Watch this site for new information and of course we would appreciate any donations.