In 2030, they still call me Boomer

In 2030, they still call me Boomer

Every picture tells a story — not like the Rod Stewart kind.

I recall a time when we could travel freely between states without having to go through checkpoints. That was when people could still afford gas and own a car. For most of my life, I worked and earned money for my labor. Since I was branded an enemy of the state, I am no longer allowed to participate in the robot repair program that most people call regular employment.

It is mostly make work so you can receive a government check and ration stamps. It’s ok that my food rations don’t stretch very far because, being almost 75, I don’t need as much food to stay alive. Still, I miss the internet; state TV just doesn’t have the same sense of humor, or any sense of humor at all, actually. Things have not been the same since the execution of late-night political comedians.

I enjoyed a video conference call with a friend across the country. We suspected the government was listening to everything we said. Now, we don’t need to be so suspicious because they have assured us they do listen to everything, even when we are only talking to someone in the same room.

It never used to be a crime to say things the state did not agree with. It’s essential to watch state TV so you know what is acceptable to discuss and what will result in being sent to a labor camp like the one that was once New York City.

Discussing what it was like before the Stephen Miller reforms will get me in trouble. It happened to a friend of mine, but before he could be picked up by the men in masks, he escaped to North Korea with the help of some Chinese agents. China will not allow any more Americans inside its borders ever since the trade war ravaged global commerce. However, I’ve heard through the grapevine that China is a wonderful place where you can walk freely after dark, and they say there is little to no crime.

I am using simple language in my writing about the past because I realize that, since the government closed the schools, reading is no longer as commonplace as it once was. Even many of the government signs have misspellings or confusing grammar. I don’t think it is fair that I should be arrested for things I said when we still had freedom of speech, but since the crackdown, we can’t reference those days when we had freedoms. As a Boomer, next year I will have to enter a mandatory government “Retirement Home.” I don’t hear good things about them.

However, on a hopeful note, the government may not last that long, as they have abolished the presidency and installed the president as a King. He has been spending a lot of money building golf courses in foreign countries. He has an impressive collection of large jets, but is getting too sick to travel anywhere. Some say he died a while ago, and that’s why we never see him anymore; others say he is alive and well with his good buddy Putin, who bought an island called Little St. James.

This chilling glimpse into a potential future if we continue on a path of division, governmental overreach, and the erosion of personal liberties. In 2030, a simple conversation could land you in a labor camp, and your “job” is just an illusion to justify your existence on government rations. The very essence of dissent, once a cornerstone of democracy, has been so thoroughly stamped out that even humor is a relic of the past.

In this future, the government listens to every word you say, even within your own home. Traveling freely is a memory from a bygone era, with checkpoints now a part of life. The Boomer, an “enemy of the state” because of their age and past, has been stripped of their profession and livelihood. Education has been so neglected that basic literacy is no longer a given, and government signs are riddled with errors. The fear of the “Retirement Home” looms for the elderly, a final, horrifying step into a system that promises security but delivers something far more sinister.

Ultimately, the most sobering reality presented is the quiet normalization of this dystopia. The Boomer speaks of lost freedoms with a sense of resignation, and the only hope they can muster is the rumor that the government may not last long because the “King” is too sick to travel and spends all his money building golf courses.

It’s a wake-up call, a stark reminder that the slow, steady chipping away at our rights and societal norms can, in a shockingly short time, lead to a reality that looks more like a cautionary tale than a functioning society. The satire is a mirror, and the reflection is a slap in the face: this is what awaits us if we allow our freedoms to be taken for granted and our democracy to be dismantled piece by piece.