I received this strange post on Facebook Messenger yesterday which I would like to share and find out, whether this is one of those pranks that abound in social networks. It came from a woman name Julia Sen Poniatowska, who I do not know, although the given names correspond to two of my granddaughters, which is why the post caught my attention as otherwise, I would have deleted it. I found it quite interesting and wondered about whether this is a fact or just somebody playing a trick on me.

At any rate I share it with you for your consideration as I received it, including the accompanying illustration. The post was titled: A Note from The Future.

Who knows maybe we will get lucky and there will be a change of heart in the future.

My dear Great-grandfather,

I write to you from year 2060 taking advantage of this new App called Timepost which still on an experimental beta mode so I am not sure if this will reach you. I wanted to share with you some news about the future since my mother told me that you used to worry about the future of the world based on the events at the onset of the third millennium.

Let me tell you that the world did survive the major crises of the beginnings third millennium. Consciousness of the inseparability of all life did become the organizing principle for the new world. The Neo-obscurantism led by Trump and other leaders of the world at that time was overcome. True, there are still some pockets of resistance, since the old paradigm had created enormous differences and polarities, and full healing would take some more time.

Nevertheless, the major drivers for social agreements are now based; on cooperation rather than competitiveness, on intuition, on distributed governance, on the empowerment of women, and on educational systems that recognize the great importance of art and music as tools for sound human development. It is a new world where hunger for material acquisition, beyond the satisfaction of basic needs, has been replaced in large measure by assigning value to cultural assets, spiritual wisdom, and inner well-being. Those are the highly valued pursuits of these times.

Technology is now understood as an instrument to serve happiness, but not as the means to acquire it. Every child born now is recognized to have the right to education, health and the pursuit of happiness, as established by the Welcome to Earth Declaration signed in year 2040 by the Planetary Council (the body that replaced the United Nations). Each birth is widely celebrated by communities and headlined in day to day newscasts.

The recovery of the Earth’s environment is now a major policy principle at local, national and international levels. Recycling and the use of noninvasive material technologies has been instituted, through a change in consciousness, social incentives and strict enforcement. Public transportation systems using clean energy are the principal mode of transportation and the last gasoline operated vehicle was decommissioned in 2050. Major efforts to repopulate the Earth with species on the verge of extinction has been undertaken.

The world’s forests are recovering and social support systems resolving the great inequalities of wealth distribution of the early third millennium have been corrected.

Since 2058 newsprint has been replaced by e-books, newspapers have been replaced by electronic circulars that people read in their solar operated handheld devices, or in public solar-operated plasma screens.

Dear great grandpa I never met you, as was I born in 2031 several years after you passed away, but my mother and grandmother talked to me about you. I am fascinated by the history of the family, and by history in general, so now from this future time, hoping that this App does work, I venture to send you a message of hope and also to establish contact with you and to send you much love from the future.

Your great-grand daughter, Julia Sen Poniatowska.