OUR WRITTEN LEGACY

What an astonishing thing a book is. It's a flat object made from a tree with flexible parts on which are imprinted lots of funny dark squiggles. But one glance at it and you're inside the mind of another person, maybe somebody dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, an author is speaking clearly and silently inside your head, directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs. Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic. - Carl Sagan [Cosmos, Part 11: The Persistence of Memory (1980)]

In all the animal kingdom, humans are the only species that can leave a footprint of knowledge, legacy or intrigue through the written word.

Now that we've forgotten, altered or hidden history in many other ways, must we learn lessons all over again through the vast array of written testimonials from the past? There is much to learn from the written memories and imaginations of others who took the time to pen their thoughts and actions.

I have found that the writings and teachings of those who have been on the front lines, such as the founders of our nation, soldiers and first responders to have greater meaning than from those who merely pontificate ideology without real world experience beyond academic platforms.

Many in law enforcement find themselves on the back side of their careers to have both the desire and means to share their knowledge and experiences via the written word. I am one of those individuals, who has shared my thoughts through book writing, as a past newspaper columnist, and currently as a regular contributor to the Blue Magazine both in print and online. It is a mechanism to allow a final chance at an attempt to leave the world better than it was found so that future generations can benefit from a head start on the many lessons previously learned.

Sometimes the written word can seem to be inexplicably prophetic. In 1949, George Orwell published his dystopian fiction classic 1984. It depicted a dark future where technology exists in the public realm only as a tool for the elite to control society. Sound familiar? In the 70 years since, much of what Orwell imagined has come to fruition, including facial recognition, auto-transcription and more. In 1984, Orwell wrote: "The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." The belief that people are deterred from disobedience through propaganda is widespread. - 'Big Brother is watching you.'

Long before Orwell’s vision of the future, The Last President, by Ingersoll Lockwood, is a surrealistic 1896 novel, where Americans are protesting a corrupt election process while the president’s hometown of New York City fears the collapse of the republic after the transition of presidential power. “The entire East Side of New York City is in a state of uproar. Mobs of vast size are organizing under the lead of anarchists and socialists, and threaten to plunder and despoil the houses of the rich who have wronged and oppressed them for so many years." If this reminds you of the attitudes after the 2016 Trump presidential win and of current day sentiment, you are not the alone. Does this book foresee Donald Trump as the last president of a republic as we know it? Is this a bizarre coincidence or prophetic? Let the reader decide.

This book, as well as Lockwood’s two children’s books, The Travels and Adventures of Little Baron Trump and His Wonderful Dog Bulger (1890) and Baron Trump’s Marvelous Underground Journey (1893), have drawn attention due to its uncanny connections with President Trump and his family.

Although The Simpsons cartoon series was written for television the writers eerily made many accurate predictions on:

· The Donald Trump Presidency

· Super Bowl results

· Smart Watches

· Autocorrect

· The Siegfried and Roy tiger attack

· Video chats

· Faulty voter machines

· The Ebola outbreak

· A National Security Agency spying scandal… and more.

What stories, thoughts, predictions or useful information do you have to share? What legacy do you want to leave behind? The Blue Magazine welcomes submissions from you. Essays can be sent to https://www.thebluemagazine.com/submissions. Articles should be submitted as a Word document, 800 words or less, 12pt Times New Roman Font. Including original images is encouraged, but not required. Please also include a short author bio of 60 words or less with a headshot image. Writer photos are not required, but you wrote it, and deserve the attention!

We have so much to offer through our written legacies with the lessons that we are able to share with others in perpetuity. Joel E. Gordon is a former Field Training Officer with the Baltimore City Police Department and is a past Chief of Police for the city of Kingwood, West Virginia. He has also served as vice-chair of a multi-jurisdictional regional narcotics task force. An award winning journalist, he is author of the book Still Seeking Justice: One Officer's Story and founded the Facebook group Police Authors Seeking Justice. Look him up at stillseekingjustice.com