zen5887 said:
Having thought about this for a few days, I think I have a few answers. Now, for the sake of argument, I'm going to assume that you wake up in your
adult body in an unfamiliar place (but maybe close to where you were when you fell asleep in the future) because that's what your post leads me to believe.
1) I would
immediately find two people who are good friends of mine right now (and who I know are around the same place in 1991) and explain
exactly what my situation is. They don't know me in 1991 (because I'm three years old and living half a state away) but I know them well enough to know they'd help me out if I explained what was going on. Also, one of them worked for the government in 1991 and could help me get some fake identification so I could at least get by. I'm to understand it was a different time in the 90's.
2) Use knowledge of the future to support solar and wind power, because FUCKING CLIMATE CHANGE. I reiterate this point later, but preventing climate change as much as I can would be
my number one goal.
2b) If at all possible, I would find Carl Sagan and explain my situation to him, too. Because Carl Sagan was
awesome. Also, after explaining how things are going to be in fifteen years, I think he would be more than willing to help me in my goals.
Other than that, I'd live my life as normal. I'm not entirely certain that I'd go and meet my family for awhile; not because I don't think they wouldn't believe me (I could prove who I was very easily; I have a very distinctive and easily identifiable birthmark, and my family has always believed in weird things), but because everyone in my family growing up were
bastards. I
might go and see my grandfather, but I don't know if I would go and see anyone else until at least 2000.
List of things to prevent.
1) FUCKING CLIMATE CHANGE. I know 9/11 was bad, and I know the aftermath was worse, but that is
NOTHING compared to what climate change is
going to do. As much effort as I possibly could possibly spare would go to doing everything in my power to
2) The Neo-Conservative movement, in the United States, because that's what led to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. And I wouldn't just stop this because it's the right thing to do. I have a personal stake in it; one of the most decent people I have ever met was killed in Afghanistan. Being as Bush won by such a thin margin in 1999, it shouldn't be all that difficult to at least stop
that trainwreck.
3) I...don't know how I would stop 9/11 from happening, but if nothing else, I would tell literally everyone I know to stay away from New York in Sepetember of 2001. If I could figure out a way to stop it from happening outright, I would do so.
4) A far and away goal would be stopping the so-called War on Drugs, because it was a failure of policy even in the ninteys. But doing everything in my power to halt climate change comes first.
LIST OF PEOPLE TO MEET
1) As said before, Carl Sagan. I'd explain to him the situation I was in, and I'd ask if I could enlist his help. I would also tell him (since he was going to die in a couple of years) that not only was he a
hero of my time, but two of
his students were also heroes of my time.
2) Bill Hicks. I'd explain my situation to
him, too; not because I would want his help, but because I
know he'd believe that. Also, because he was an incredible human being, and he's someone I would have liked to have known personally.
3) Nelson Mandela. Him I'd keep out of the loop, but he's someone I'd like to thank for making things better for the rest of the world.
4) Douglas Rushkoff, because he's one of my idols. Hell, I may actually tell
him I'm from the future, too. If it's the early nineties, he may believe me.
5) Jonas Salk, if only to tell him personally that he is also one of my personal idols. I know it would be just another voice in the unending chorus, but
he deserves all the prase he can get.
6) ...MAYBE Dick Cheney. I'm to understand he was a much more reasonable person in the early 90's, and if I could impress upon him the
evil that he was going to be partially responsible for, and how not only he, but
the entire conservative movement going to behave in the future, it may change a great deal of things.
...I can't think of anyone else offhand.
So yeah. After several days of thought, that's what I've come to. Of course, if I wake up as a three-year-old child with the mind of a 25 year old man...that changes things. Not just because I'm a little kid, but because, as I said before,
everyone in my family was a bastard back then. Or at least that's how I remember it.
Oh! One last thing; for money, I wouldn't do stocks, I would buy things I know are valuable now (first-print magic cards, toys, rare games, and later on computer stuff) and sell them years later at exorbitant prices. Because I don't need a lot of money to live well.
