Dart Adams presents Nightmares Of Futures Past: Imagine © John Lennon

In graphic novels, books and screenplays the idea of an alternate universe is quite an important device. It's often used by writers to theorize how one event could change the entire course of human history and either affect change for the better or cause a chain of events that send us all spiraling towards a fiery cataclysm...or just make everyday life seem like Hell to certain segments of the population.

For my new blog series entitled "Nightmares Of Futures Past" I'll create a fantasy scenario about things that could've happened in the past going back almost 50 years that would have a detrimental effect on the American as well as world population today. Let's see what kind of far out fantasy shit I can cook up, shall we?

Imagine for a second that certain kinds of people in America were denied basic human rights at one point in time and that they were being treated like second class or in some cases third class citizens.

Let's also say that a bunch of upheaval occurred in the United States beginning in the early 1960's and many of these groups spurred on by changes enacted by the burgeoning power of youth culture and the prevailing tone in the films and music of the day began becoming organized and aware of what was going on in their nation. They began questioning things that were going on around them and realized that they have power that they haven't yet exercised.

Next thing you know, women want to be viewed as equals to men in all facets of life rather than being denied their God given (or State given) rights. Members of different racial groups (let's say Blacks, Latinos/Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans) begin getting organized as well and fight for their rights to be recognized as human beings in the face of overwhelming oppression and racism.

Let's also say that young people growing up in these crazy times all across the country are also swept up in the new movement and begin to get involved with it as well. Next thing you know, there's a full fledged revolution going on in the United States and the young people are at war with the old. People from all walks of life begin demanding for change.

The nation is also at war overseas in a confrontation that they cannot hope to win for reasons that are questionable at best. The young people begin to question the government and it's actions overseas in the name of the American people and protest the war en masse (considering that they are being sent to fight and potentially die against their will in many cases). The shift creates a sort of anti-establishment counterculture that completely opposes the status quo and tears at the very fabric of the "American way of life".

The government then decides to actively go after these rabble rousers and troublemakers in an aggressive manner and they in turn respond by systematically killing, suppressing or neutralizing everyone that is a threat to national security or gives the youth any kind of hope or inspire them to strive for revolution. These key figures and counterculture icons must be monitored and silenced at any cost.

Let's also say that the government, knowing that this generation is into drug experimentation decides to flood urban areas where certain segments of the population live with deadly narcotics that will turn a fair percentage of the population into addicts and eventually erode those communities from the inside out so they don't riot or rebel anymore. This is aided by allowing drug dealers to enter the country and distribute it freely to those considered to be "enemies of the State".


Within a generation the inner city would be a complete blight teeming with dealers and addicts and there would be chaos and lawlessness in the streets. No family would go unaffected as every family would have at least one junkie, dealer or know people that are or even possibly died from overdoses. Imagine if even more potent and addictive drugs could be manufactured and distributed to those same areas as well? Over time those communities might never recover!


After years of government agents infiltrating these revolutionary parties or groups and either killing, jailing or simply getting them addicted to drugs the threat level began to slowly die down. It would also take several assassinations and murders to many key figures to ensure that they wouldn't cause any problems in the future or encourage any more rabble rousing or possibly even entertain the ideas, doctrines or beliefs of the counterculture crowd.

It took thousands of dead people (both at home and abroad) and hundreds more to be jailed but all those years of hard work finally paid off for the government and it's special agencies. Before you knew it, the chaotic 60's and the revolutionary 70's were over and a new president was elected in 1980 that would usher in an era of excess known as the "Me Decade". There would be a complete 180º shift in the nation's overall focus now.

The leaders of all the old movements were either all dead, discredited, a shell of their former selves or sent into exile. For some segments of the population, this lack of real leadership will cause them problems for years to come as those that were originally icons of the old movement were now simply opportunistic ambulance chasers that extorted people and corporations towards their own ends.

Imagine if all that shit actually happened how fucked up our reality would be? We'd have no real leaders to think of other than entertainers and the youth would have a complete disconnect to any civil rights movement or no one would want to be a revolutionary because they'd be too busy chasing that almighty dollar at any cost.

Imagine if 90% of the examples of leadership or supreme intelligence and eloquence that fought for freedom in the face of tyranny were dead or in jail? Imagine if every time it looks like a new potential leader that brought people of all walks of life together shows up on the horizon they end up (often mysteriously) suffering the same fate as well?

What kind of effect would that have on later generations that never got to hear their voices or grow up with them as their role models? I guess we'll never know, huh? Thank God, none of that shit actually ever happened because things would be an absolute mess for us all right now.

It all kinda reminds me of that song John Lennon did back in the days, you know the one people keep asking him to play at his shows all the time (like the one he did last week). "Imagine"? Yeah, that one. Well, thank you to all of my readers for going with me on this far fetched fantasy scenario. If the government actually did all of this kinda shit in the past and then tried to pull anything similar nowadays people would be literally rioting in the streets!


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