From Here to 2050
by Don Kirchner

It’s 2050. We as a society have managed to navigate our way through the most troubled times in modern history, and have found that humanity can flourish in a cooperative world where the common good of all is sacrosanct. Collaboration and mutual respect among all humans have proven to be essential in order to function as a civilized society.​

We have managed to achieve this end because enough people came to realize that the power of kindness, caring and cooperation is greater than the forces of human avarice and ignorance. In the process, solutions to generations of “unsolvable” problems were found, and ideologies, partisan politics and distrust gave way to compassionate behavior, intelligence and sensible reasoning.In support of that statement, the following is offered as an example of how powerfully those principles have worked in my life, and the ripple effect that has taken place in the lives of countless others who have contributed their part to global peace and understanding.

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Thirty-eight years ago, as a fairly respectable young man of 35, and a Vietnam veteran, I found myself in federal prison because of a desperate and foolish series of decisions I had made at the time, thinking that I could do business with organized drug smugglers and keep my hands…and my record…clean. My involvement was relatively brief, but that didn’t matter to authorities who only wanted names and information. Unable to provide what they wanted, my situation worsened…until I discovered something that did matter. What mattered were the human beings I was locked up with, many of whom I discovered could not read or write. An overworked counselor suggested that I could make good use of my time helping inmates learn to read, and suddenly a dismal set of circumstances became an opportunity that I could not have imagined in my other life.​Little by little, I became a tutor and gradually as trust was built, a mentor for men I would have avoided in the outside world. Gradually through their stories and openness to me, I came to understand behaviors and causes of crime I couldn’t fathom when I was consumed with my own needs and concerns. No matter how big, young, old or scary a lot of them were, in truth they were all just scared little boys in grown-up, scarred and tattooed bodies.

As word got around that I was someone who cared and was helping others, attitudes began to change. Behavior among men who were used to violence as a way to survive, became noticeably more respectful with each other, and eventually even with officers and staff. It became so noticeable that, unbeknownst to me, comments were made in my record by supervisors, which were later brought to the attention of authorities in my case.​

Meanwhile, all I knew, and eventually grew to care about, was that inmates who would normally be hostile toward me were open and conversing respectfully with me…even ones who weren’t involved with me. As a result of this experience, I’m still doing it decades later as a “free” man in jails and prisons wherever I’m invited.​There is an awakening going on across America, and in Europe where education and respect have proven to be far more effective in redirecting criminal behavior by giving former offenders a sense of hope, personal value and belonging to their communities rather than being rejected by them. But this “awakening” applies to all of us…all of humanity…we’re all “locked up” in some way or another in our cultures, our upbringing or our fears, addictions and limiting beliefs.​

The words, “cooperation,” “collaboration” and “unification” are taking on far more meaning in the face of impending calamity, climate change and ideological conflict because we’re all affected and impacted by it. We’re like the saying about fighting over the deck chairs on the Titanic. We need to make better choices and put kindness, caring and respect ahead of self-interest, blame and separation. I’m not talking about syrupy-sweet, apologetic kindness and caring. I’m talking about Gandhi-level kindness…fierce Mother Theresa caring, Martin Luther King-level tolerance and acceptance. Abraham Lincoln courage. Nelson Mandela patience and wisdom.

None of those icons of moral values and heroism started out that way. They were all simple people who rose to the needs of their times and did what they did because they were passionate about human freedom and spirit. We can all do that in some way in our own personal lives, a little bit at a time until enough of us are cooperating and collaborating in larger groups until it impacts others to the point that it becomes the norm. It can, and it will, if we’ll each make a decision each day that we get up that we’ll do our best to see things and each other differently…and if we fail or stumble, no matter. We’ll get up the next day and try again. Gradually we’ll get it down, and discover how we can cooperate and collaborate on a bigger scale. If prisoners in today’s jail and prison system can do it, you can do it. WE can do it.

​My journey through something most people would consider a dead-end experience changed my perspective and my life, and enabled me to impact others by example, not preaching or moralizing. Inspired by the results of that example, the prosecutor in my case took it upon himself to alter the course of my journey and dropped two of the most serious charges. That resulted in a total time served of only two and a half years…no more than my tour of duty in the military had been. That was pure miracle-working that spared me a certain 25 years in prison, and gained a most unlikely ally who ironically wrote the Foreword to my first book, A Matter of Time.​

From the very beginning of that journey, I have learned how powerful the human spirit is to overcome any obstacle or adversity. In the process, miracles take place almost predictably that open doors of opportunity for growth and transformation of humankind. This is available to all of us, no matter what age, culture, gender or educational background. It’s simple, but not necessarily easy. It takes kindness and caring equal in strength to the forces of manipulation, power and deception, which we can accomplish as our numbers and passion for real freedom increase.​

The present acceleration of change in the criminal justice system on a global level is only one part of the turning point that Alvin Toffler wrote about in his classic book, Future Shock, fifty years ago. “Future historians,” he wrote, “will look back on our times and say this is the dividing line between civilized and uncivilized humankind.” He was right. We’re at that dividing line right now.

I believe we’ll get there much sooner than 2050 if we’ll learn to work and live together and stop fighting over the damn deck chairs.​