Traveling in Place

Facing the Future with Faith

A car commercial currently airing on TV features the voice of inventor Arthur Clarke from a 1964 recording. Accompanied by soothing music and fast-moving digital images, Clarke expresses unbounded optimism about the future. Acknowledging that it is beyond our current ability to understand, he offers this rosy assessment: “The only thing we can be sure of about the future is that it will be absolutely fantastic.”

Of course, the purpose of the commercial is to sell a car by suggesting that Clarke’s “fantastic” future has come to pass in the production of a particularly attractive model. But that point is always lost on me. What strikes me every time I see the ad is that nobody talks about the future that way anymore. I haven’t done any scientific polling, but I’m pretty sure people today are more likely to fear the future than look forward to it.

The spirit of invention that spurred so much optimism in mid-century has produced decidedly mixed results. Recent history has supplied abundant evidence that the best human technology in the wrong hands leads to diabolical outcomes. For instance, the Wright brothers were appalled when their invention of the airplane was used in wartime to drop bombs and destroy cities. The television didn’t just bring moving pictures into living rooms; it emptied front porches on summer evenings and replaced human interaction with inane, solitary entertainment. Digital technology has put the world at our fingertips, but it has also supplied ISIS with a powerful recruiting tool and made everybody more vulnerable.

As people of faith, how should we approach the future?

Steep Climbs and Descents

McKenzie Mountain is not one of the Adirondack High Peaks (those over 4,000 feet), but it’s close. Spreading above the western shore of Lake Placid, it features multiple peaks, the highest rising to 3861 feet. I’ve been curious about the McKenzie trail for a while, but also reticent to try it. One section ascends over 1,000 feet in a half-mile. In that treacherously steep stretch, the soil is badly eroded, making for very poor footing. Multiple on-line descriptions warn that this hike is not for beginners or “out-of-shape” hikers. Only “experienced hikers” should attempt it. Well, on Tuesday – the last free day before the busy fall schedule commenced – I decided to find out how “experienced” I was.

The hike began on an old logging road that rose gently, then the trail continued through the woods mostly on the level. Turning right at an intersection, the walk began a moderate ascent, but then, about two miles in, the real climb began. It took me a full hour to cover that steep half-mile, which involved numerous vertical rock scrambles and frequently pulling myself up by tree roots that were exposed by heavy erosion. Then, the hike became both easier and more interesting. Several lookouts provided natural breaks and built anticipation for the reward at the top. The last mile crossed three small peaks before dropping into a fairly deep col and then climbing steeply to the summit.

McKenzie’s peaks are all tree-covered, but just below the summit are escarpments that provide expansive views in both directions. The broadest ledge, looking west, is known as the “balcony” overlooking the entire northwest Adirondacks. This view includes the western High Peaks, the Saranac Lakes, and the village of Saranac Lake in the foreground. A smaller ledge on the other side looks out over Lake Placid, with Whiteface Mountain to the northeast and the central High Peaks to the southeast. The village of Lake Placid is in the foreground.

How Did We Get Here?

We’re only a little more than halfway through this summer of discontent. I wish it was over. The high humidity is one thing. The sweltering heat is another. The lack of rain has stressed all forms of vegetation except the hardiest weeds and leaves the soul as thirsty as the soil.

But it’s not just high air pressure and drought conditions that make this summer seem long and uncomfortable. It’s also the presidential campaign – one like no other in memory – that has dominated the daily news and works its way into most small talk, which then becomes pretty serious discussion among friends and family about the state of our society.

Since interest/concern/fascination/horror (take your pick) over the Trump phenomenon is so pervasive, I might as well delve into it again. The more I consider what’s going on, the more convinced I am that Trumpian populism has deeper roots than have been publicly acknowledged. I’ve heard pundits assert that today’s Trump supporters are yesterday’s “Reagan Democrats” – white working class voters who felt betrayed by the Democratic Party, but more recently have felt taken for granted by the Republican Party. Others maintain that Trump is exploiting fears over terrorism and rapid cultural changes, appealing to nostalgia for a “simpler” time. There’s truth to both these analyses, but neither goes far enough. If you stay with this article all the way to the end, you may think I’m crazy, but here goes.

If the election were held today, Trump would win by huge margins among rural voters across the country (as Republicans have consistently in the last four elections) and would also poll well among white working class men and women in the industrial Midwest who do not have a college degree. Those two groups are more culturally connected than one might think.