The Peter Pan Society

 

 

"If we close our eyes and travel to the 'second star to the right and straight on to morning', things should be fine..." 

As a young boy, I could not watch Peter Pan enough. I loved the entire show. In particular, I loved the Lost Boys. Oh, to live like that! No rules, no structure, no reality. Sure in Neverland there was an occasional pirate or Crocodile - but what the hey. It was still a great life. Soon the movie would be over, and it was back to reality. There was no Neverland, no Peter Pan, and I sure the heck was not one of the Lost Boys. 

Today, some of the younger folks will say that "reality sucks". In some respect, I can't blame them. The table we have set, the world we are leaving to them, looks very bleak at times. However for the rest of us, we need to understand there is no Neverland. We can't be the Lost Boys (or girls). We can't travel magically from the "second star to the right and then on to morning". No, we live in a world that is fraught with real and growing problems. A world full of clear and present danger. A world that demands that all of us to be on our toes, to pay attention.

So how do we survive until the end of the year? Two and a half months of dealing with a people who want to cut our heads off, and then a deadly virus that nobody really seems to understand. Unfortunately, we have a President who really does want to be Peter Pan. Solutions, which on the silver screen may do the trick, will in reality will kill us. And by the way, help is not on the way. Not at least for the next two years. Sure, we can take back the Senate this year. All that will do is blunt the President's initiatives. What we really need is a leader who is reality based, one who will protect us, and will not lead us blindly and deeper, into Neverland.

Truthfully, when I look at social media today, I am amazed at what some people close to my age are concerned about. It is as if they 1) do not watch the news, 2) don't believe the news, or 3) want to fly to Neverland. Some expert this past week were asked how long we can expect the War on Terror to continue. Could it go 30 years? His response - maybe 300 years. In other words - people who we do not know, will be trying to kill us for decades, maybe centuries.

And as far as our health is concerned, we might be playing with fire. The Black Plague still exists in some animals in our Southwest. The Spanish Flu killed millions worldwide. Ebola has the potential to "cull the herd", as the expression goes. We let Ebola in this country without the proper safeguards. This is nasty and untreatable stuff, and most medical professionals know it.

So as our leaders continue to experience sunshine and lolly pops, we need to remind them of one thing - the movie is over, and it is back to get back to reality. There is no Neverland, and the monsters we are facing today are far worse than Captain Hook and his reptiles. We need to be "Alert times Four" and then some. Failure to do so lies somewhere beyond dereliction of duty and treason. As far as I am concerned, until these present dangers are over, I will continue to sleep with one eye open. Instead of living in a 9/10 world, I really am trying to live in a 9/12 world instead.

The next time you watch Peter Pan, think about our reality instead of Neverland. It will not be as much fun, but much more real. The "second star and the on to morning" may not exist, but ISIL and Ebola does.