Sunday, April 21, 2024

That is the title from a story written by Ray Bradbury in 1962 and made into a movie in 1983. The story is about a carnival that comes to this midwestern town in Illinois, and brings fun and promise and pain to its inhabitants. It’s a story about people’s dreams coming true, but at a horrible price. I remember seeing this movie with my kids, and I was much more scared than they were; it made me realize that I still had a lot of my childhood fears and innocence within me, in my 30s, and still do, to this day. I love the movie, for the fantasy and also the darkness of it, and still watch it whenever it comes on. It’s about fulfilling one’s most earnest wishes without the happy ending. In other words, be careful what you wish for. The giver of those wishes feasted on the fears of the supplicants in order for this carnival from hell to survive. I won’t give away the ending, just in case you come across the movie.

I bring this movie up because it reminds me of AI (artificial intelligence), of the SOE (state of emergency), and of the ICJ (International Court of Justice), and the ramifications that might result from all of them, and so much more!

I never paid much attention to AI until a friend of mine who always wanted me to check her work, her phrasings—she’s getting a degree, so it’s very important to her— stopped asking me for advice. Recently, she told me that she goes online, and AI makes sure that everything is correct. Of course, my pride was hurt; but that’s nothing, considering the lasting impact the dependency on this new technology will have on education. What incentives will our students have to put in any effort into learning anything on their own, on more research, or reasoning? AI will take care of it. Will it turn future generations into robotic humans, lacking empathy and kindness and love of nature and one another? AI is technology without feelings, after all; they can’t teach you, or help you feel and understand basic human needs. Something wicked this way comes!

Whenever there’s an uptick in murder in the Jewel, the police fall back on the SOE, their apparent solution to prevent killings. This SOE is usually designed to reduce the intensity of the gangs and their turf wars and illegal activities. In the meantime, civilians become victims by being poor and living in the wrong neighborhoods, by being harassed and having their lives ruined by insensitive policing! It doesn’t matter how many SOEs are issued, the crime and the killings will continue! Why? Because doing the same thing over and over, does nothing to get to the root causes of these senseless killings that are part of life for many of our citizens, especially our youths, these days. There was an excellent editorial in the Amandala last week, outlining all the mayhem that abounds, not only in the city, but nationwide, and suggesting solutions that would help curb the violence! So, the Ministry and the Commissioner can keep going down the same path till eternity, but until the root causes are explored, dissected and remedied, the horror show will continue. Something wicked this way comes!

While we await the decision from the ICJ regarding our sovereignty, our right to exist within our current borders, we have to be very worried, and maybe alarmed at what the outcome might be. Someone much smarter than me told me the other day, that this is more than just a border dispute between Belize and Guatemala. That there are powerful forces out there who want this ruling to go a certain way, pro or con! I don’t want to believe that! I want to believe that these Justices of the court will see the preposterousness of the Guatemalan claim, and reject their efforts to colonize us! Meanwhile, enough waiting already, it has been too long in the making of the decision to determine whether we will become homeless, stateless, without our own identity, or be secure in our Jewel! Something wicked this way comes? I hope not.

All this from watching one of my favorite movies.

Glen