Rusty Saber: World's changes too great to comprehend

Joe McAdoo is former chairman of the communication department at Drury University.

Call it a fantasy. So many changes have occurred in America over the relatively short span of 60 years, that my fantasy is to go back 60 years and describe some of these changes to someone and see their response.

It's my fantasy; I get to make up the rules.

It is 1942. My fantasy counterpart is a young serviceman who came of age during the Great Depression, just in time to fight World War II.

When I tell him that in 2002, people will willingly pay $1.50 for a bottle of water, he says "Come on, give me a break. A dollar and a half for a bottle of water. Who are you trying to kid?"

He just looks at me when I tell him that in 2002, people will carry their telephones with them talking while driving, at restaurants, movies, whenever. His shock is understandable; in 1942, he had to go through "number please" operators.

I tell my fantasy counterpart that radio, the center of entertainment and the major source of information in 1942 America, will be relegated to music, news and sports by a thing called television. He says, "If you are trying to tell me that network radio won't be around in 2002, save your breath. It will never happen." I decide it wouldn't do any good to describe network, cable and satellite TV.

He says, "Next you'll be telling me that new cars will cost $3,000." "Well", I say, "truth be told, a well-equipped mid-sized new car in 2002 will cost around $20,000." Stunned silence.

I decide not to tell him that the average salary of a major league baseball player will be $2.38 million; I fear he might throw me out of my fantasy. Instead, I tell him that for the last 40 years, the Brooklyn Dodgers have been based in Los Angeles and the New York Giants in San Francisco.

I continue: "The best selling cars in American will be made by Japanese car makers."

With a gulp, he asks: "Aren't we fighting Japan and Germany in the war? Hey, does that mean we are going to lose this war?"

I assure him that America and the allies will indeed win the war. However, I add that a German car maker will own Chrysler, but Ford and General Motors will own car companies in England, Sweden, Australia and Germany.

Realizing that even in a fantasy, one can't be expected to visualize the future when it holds such vast changes, I decide to let him learn for himself about the impact of computers on his life.

I omit nuclear power, space travel and satellites, urban sprawl, superhighways, advances in medical technology, civil rights movements and wars in Korea and Vietnam (French Indo China in 1942).

I end the fantasy by telling him that he will come home from the war to make a life for himself. His children never will know hardships like he experienced as a child in the Great Depression. He and millions like him will trigger an economy that provides a marvelous lifestyle for his children and grandchildren.

As we part, I say: "By 2002, not many will be left who are fortunate enough to remember how things once were. You have a great life ahead of you. Savor every moment of it!"