The Original Letter, This is the letter that starts it all.

[View The Future]

Hello. My name is Hal. I have a message for you.

We all know about the tragedy of New Orleans and the hurricane Katrina. We have all seen the news, heard the stories. Some of us have even experienced it ourselves. Well, I have a question for you. What does the future hold?

If you do not know, then you are like most of us. Well, I have a solution.
I have an idea for what should be done with New Orleans. You see, we have here an incredible tragedy, but we also have an incredible opportunity. There is so much more that could be done to New Orleans. It could be wiped away and forgotten. It could be rebuilt as it was before. It could be built better than ever. It is this final prospect that I propose.

Now, I have no political background. I have no plans, no blueprints, no funding or organization to devote to this idea. All I have is a concept. A concept I wish to spread to everyone. A concept that, at first glance, seems like something out of a science fiction novel. A concept that, when looked at closely, has no reason it should not work.

Look around you at America. Look around you at the way we live our lives, at the way the government functions. Look ahead. How will this method last? How long can we go before the economy collapses, before the government is overthrown or broken. How long before something drastic happens that changes us all for the worse? Well, New Orleans gives us the ability to change all of this. New Orleans can be the start to what can become a much better America for everyone.

Sooner or later, we are going to run out of space. The population is increasing. Conditions are growing worse. The economy is beginning to fail. The government is in debt. People are too apathetic to do anything about it. We will run out of space, and when we do, we have two options. The first is to continue upwards. To build on top of everything. This is taken in movies and novels. The undersides are always dismal places, slums those above choose not to look at, until the foundations crumble and the world falls out from under them.

The other solution is to tear down and rebuild. To break down old, inefficient, degraded cities and rebuild them to be modern, to be secure, to be better. This is likely the route to be taken. However, why do we have to wait? Why should we wait until there is no more room? Why shouldn’t we start now, while we still have the space, and the time, to make things better for the future?

This is where New Orleans comes in. While the hurricane was a disaster, it is also a chance. The city will have to be rebuilt eventually. Why should we not build it a future city today?

“What about the people?” That’s the point. We rebuild the city from scratch. We can take the amounts of poor, and homeless, and refugees from the hurricane into account. We can prepare for them, and give them what they need, from the very start. This is what I propose. I propose we build a future city in the site of New Orleans. We build a structure unlike any other on earth. A modern, futuristic city designed from the start to hold everyone and more. Designed to withstand the elements. We build this city, not for now, but for the future. We build this city as a first step in the direction of a better tomorrow.

“What would it look like?” I don’t know. I can put forth many ideas. We could build a pyramid, larger than any seen before. Hundreds of floors, and entire city self-contained. The core can house all the heating, cooling, ventilation, computation, and the needs any city could have. The lower areas can be lower-rent districts. Places that are shelter for those in need, places where you can stay until you have something better to go to. We could dig deeper, have a city under ground. Protected from the elements by the very earth itself. We could have it self-contained, surrounded by the lake. Forget the levy’s, the walls are thick enough. The higher you go, the larger the spaces, the higher the rent. Drawbridges could access the outside. Helipads and airports could be anywhere along the sides. The point is, the city can look like anything we want to design. I’ll cover that some more later.

“How can this be done?” I need your help. I need everyone’s help. I need you to read this, to post this, to spread the word. Give this letter to someone else. Copy it and spread it around. Come to the journal, talk about it yourself. Post the links online. Do whatever you can to spread the word. This can be done, but it cannot be done alone. We need to become a thinking, acting populace. We need to be the ones in control. We should not have to limit our future because of money, the government, the way things have been. We should be able to step forward! We should be able to act!

“Where does the money come from?” Everywhere. The government can help fund the project. The people of New Orleans can help with what they have, invest in the future. Anyone with some money to spare can donate it. Companies can chip in, if not with money, with raw materials, workers, time. We can appeal to other countries for donations, for aid, for help. We can make this project truly worldwide.

“Where will the people of New Orleans go until this is finished?” Anywhere. If enough families around the country opened their doors to take in another, they could be housed. If the government, or the Red Cross, or independent companies build houses, rented out apartments, or bought hotels, they could be housed. The government could waive the fees, for the sake of charity. The people who lost their homes can help work on the project, so they have jobs as well as housing. Anyone could get a job constructing the new city. The resources can be obtained, if enough people help.

This is an investment. This is an investment in our futures. I make no pretense about it. It will cost a lot of money, and it will put a lot of people in debt. The money can be gained back, however. Just think; a giant futuristic city. How much money could that bring in during the space of one year, as a tourist attraction? How much money could it produce as an efficient port? A hub of commerce? How long would it take to make back what was put into it? One way or another, the city will eventually be rebuilt. The question is how, and my answer is “better.”

“What about cleaning up?” Cleanup of New Orleans is already underway. That won’t change no matter what the future holds. Why can’t we be thinking of rebuilding it already? What is to stop us from having a plan, the resources, even the construction underway by the time the cleanup is finished? Nothing. While the cleanup is taking place, donations can be collected, resources can be bought, preparations can begin for this project.

“How do we find the right people for the planning?” Why do we need to limit it at all? This is what I propose. Build a national, even worldwide forum. A place where anyone, around the world, can propose an idea. Any plan can be thought over, revised, and debated on. I’m certain there are people out there with ideas. If I, a college student from the middle of nowhere, can come up with an idea, anyone can. No matter how big or small, it can be proposed.

“What about political support? That’s the hardest part, and yet the easiest. You see, we will never get this plan to work if all we do is write letters to the senators. This idea will never go through if no one knows about it. This is why I am targeting you, the everyday person. We, the people, have the power. If the people know, and the people understand, then the politicians have little choice but to agree.

“How will this forum work?” Here is my idea. The Internet is a good place to base it. A central forum, a website where anyone can submit ideas and have them posted. Anyone with a phone can call in; it can be recorded and posted. Television and radio can broadcast the highlights. Print sources can publish the links and the highlights. Letters can be posted as easily as phone conversations. Any and all forms of media can be used.

From there, the ideas are in a free-for-all. Sooner or later, within the forum, parties will emerge supporting their ideas. The worse ideas, the less feasible, will be dealt with. They can be merged into one, they can be added to and resubmitted, they can be removed. When it comes down to a few, it’s a battle of the best. The most popular idea at the end can emerge and be the one to be designed. If multiple ideas have enough defenders that no single one can prevail, they can be set aside and new plans, merging the best of the best, can be created.

“What happens once the best is found?” Construction. By this time, the funds should have been accumulated, the support gained, everything needed to start obtained. People can donate money. Companies can donate money, or resources. The government can donate whatever they can. Other countries can help with the donations, the manufacturing, anything they can. Anything that’s donated can be used, or sold at auction for more funds. The only thing left is to construct it.

Think about this. What is there, in this idea, that cannot be done? What of this can be done if we all put our minds to it? Construction opens up hundreds, thousands of jobs. Those who help build, can be given first choice of where to live within the city. Anyone involved can be rewarded once it’s complete.

Yes, this will take time. This will take a lot of time. To borrow from cliché, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Neither will out future. Cleanup will take time, but it can be done. Construction, planning, it all will take time, but it all can be done.

The Point of this letter. The point of this is to rally support. What I am doing here is creating the most basic framework for it. I do not know how to engineer a city. I do not know how to clean up contaminated water. I do not have the ability to do this on my own. All I can do is spread the word. If I give this to everyone I know, and they do as well, and so do they, and so on, connections will be made. Sooner or later, someone who CAN engineer a city will know. Sooner or later, someone who DOES know how to clean up the water, will find this and agree. Sooner or later, enough people will know and agree with this, that it will gain it’s support in the government and it CAN be done.

This is where you come in. You, the reader, have one very important resource you can dedicate to this project. Your voice. There is no part of this plan that cannot be done. There is nothing I have said here that is truly impossible, if the resources are obtained. It will take time, but it is possible. This cannot happen without you. This step towards our future depends on you.

“What do I have to do?” Spread the word. That is all I ask of you. Copy this paper, give it to someone else. Send the document to everyone you can. You can write to your senators, your government, but that isn’t the point. That isn’t how we will get this done. What we do is target each other. Once the people know, and the people agree, the rest will follow.

Conclusion. The future is possible, starting now. The future, however, cannot happen without you. Please, help spread the word. That is all I can do, and that is all I ask. New Orleans is but the first step, but it is our best chance to start the future today.

The Journal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/viewthefuture/
Feel free to comment on the journal, and link others to it.

The Forum: http://s13.invisionfree.com/View_The_Future/
Feel free to comment on anything, post whatever you like. Your opinion is what will make this better.

The Email: viewthefuture@gmail.com
Please use this email only if you don’t wish your comment to be public; any comments sent to it will not be posted to the forum or the journal without permission first


Please, spread the word. It is the first step to a better tomorrow.

[View The Future]

Download the Letter in Microsoft Word Format.

Attached File ( Number of downloads: 30 )
 View_The_Future.doc (35 kb)

[View The Future]

Download the Letter in .txt format.

Attached File ( Number of downloads: 21 )
 View_The_Future.txt (11.65 kb)