🎼 Trump and Obama run for President in 2044 (Sasha and Barron... and it's Okay... Really...)
This is the near-final version of my musical speculation on a survival path with a safe climate, less war and a functioning Constitution.
You may have heard my earlier versions of this song I sketched out in February. I’ve tweaked some details and here it is in fairly final form. Also on YouTube.
Here are the slightly annotated lyrics. Follow those footnote links!
Good News from 2044?
by Andy Revkin
Don’t know how I got here, 2044.
Somehow the world avoided nuclear war.
Somehow the climate didn’t go to hell.
Somehow the Constitution never fell.
Candidates for president are on the stump.
Sasha Obama and Barron Trump.1
And that’s not the weirdest thing I have to relate.
They’re both kind of sane and talkin’ pretty straight.
That change didn’t happen on its own.
Sun let out a flare and all our circuits were blown.2
A.I. fried. Satellites died.
People had to live without a telephone.
Don’t know how I got here, 2044.
Somehow the world avoided nuclear war.
Somehow the climate didn’t go to hell.
Somehow the Constitution never fell.
Of course that is a dream.
The sun won’t set us straight.
It’ll take a lot of work to make this country great…. again.
So join yourself a club or your PTA.3
Even run for office if you feel that way.
Find yourself a goal that suits your skills and heart.
Take back the power from the oligarchs.
Don’t know how I got here, 2044.
Somehow the world avoided nuclear war.
Somehow the climate didn’t go to hell.
Somehow the Constitution never fell.
What are you listening to, or singing, these days?
As far as I can tell, if Barron Trump decided to run for president this’d be the first year he’d be eligible - at least presuming the Constitution still functions.
Yes, extreme solar storms are a threat we included in my 2018 book Weather - An Illustrated History. Here’s more from the United Nations’ tech agency: Solar storms: Are we ready for another Carrington Event?
My wife and I recently went to a screening and discussion centered on the fascinating and timely documentary “Join or Die” - about the history, decline and vital need for gatherings from clubs to bowling leagues. The film centers on the lifelong work of Robert Putnam, the social scientist whose groundbreaking Bowling Alone book and research charted the decades-long decline in community connections in the United States.