President Dwayne Johnson in 2030?
In which the Rock can smell what we're cooking right now in 2020
Jack Hughes, our Canadian pop culturalist, looks at how we’re changing now by looking back from ten years into the future when President Dwayne “Rock” Johnson is delivering the State of the Union. I know, I know, it’s a ridiculous concept. The US electing an actor or a reality show host president? Ludicrous. But how we’re adapting now is signaling several exciting changes that could transform the way we live in the future.
STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS
PRESIDENT DWAYNE DOUGLAS JOHNSON
January 23, 2030
THE PRESIDENT: Madam Speaker, Madam Vice President, members of Congress, distinguished guests, and my fellow Americans:
Ten years ago, this month, the world witnessed the beginning of a pandemic that would ultimately spread around the globe. While COVID-19 changed our lives in countless ways, I am proud to declare the state of our union has never been stronger – it’s Rock solid.
Tonight, millions of Americans are thriving in jobs that didn’t exist at the start of this decade – just as thousands of jobs that were common then have all but disappeared today. Entire industries were transformed, impacting both our personal and professional lives.
Perhaps no sector of our economy was impacted as completely as the tourism industry. Americans are now traveling again by way of commercial airlines and cruise ships, reassured by the health safeguards that were put in place to protect us from a future pandemic.
Just as the tragic 9/11 attacks led to new security screening at airports and seaports, C/19 inspired new symptom screening to ensure anyone who is infectious – including the many who don’t even know they are – can’t carry that contagion to their ultimate destination.
Enhanced symptom screening was made possible by unprecedented investments in health science and advances that were science fiction a short time ago. Testing has become second nature. Before you enter Disneyland or Disneyworld, Mickey takes your temperature.
Of course, not everyone is traveling. In fact, millions of Americans no longer even have a morning commute. Many professional firms forced to work remotely during the pandemic continued the practice, greatly expanding their corporate flexible work arrangements.
This evolution of employment was not limited to the private sector – it was adopted by virtually every level of government. Even tonight, in the Capitol, I am addressing a chamber with as many screens as there are Senators; and as many cameras as Congresspeople.
The innovative use of cameras and screens, videoconferencing and virtual reality, holograms and 3D projections have transformed how we gather for business meetings, trade shows, conventions, and revitalized two sectors close to my heart: Sports and entertainment.
In a couple of weeks, my Miami Dolphins will defend their championship title at home in Super Bowl LXIV. As much as I would love to be there in person, my family and I will attend the game in the safety and security of the White House augmented reality room.
There will always be those who say this is no substitute for being at the stadium, just as there are those who will only go see movies in theatres. But for others who prefer the comfort of home, immersive experience technology puts us on the field or on the screen.
In the decade since C/19, society changed in ways none of us could have envisioned a generation ago. We overcame the obstacles it put before us. Our resolve and resilience allowed us to endure painful loss and punishing hardship. We survived and thrived together.
RIP
I would like to pay respect to those we lose along the way. If there is someone you would like to be remembered in future newsletters, please post links to their obituaries in the comments section or email me. Thank you.
How we’re getting through this
Making our own yeast.
Buying records online.
Doing Star Wars-themed yoga.
Going to an online comedy show.
Renaming this "Hasselhoff Kielbasa.”
Piloting the Mars rover from our house.
Keeping my favorite bars open — with a T-shirt.
Googling “How can I help?” more than ever before.
Making food bank donations go twice as far in Austin.
Checking out Facebook’s map of COVID-19 symptoms.
What I’m reading
Marc Andreessen’s post that everyone in Silicon Valley was on about
An infographic explaining why oil is worth less than zero.
The birth of epidemiology sounds pretty stinky.
What’s the deal with the Clubhouse app?
An oral history of a Detroit ER nurse
Pop-up blogs are a thing now?
The 2020 Global Communications Report conducted by the USC Center for Public Relations, which examined “the evolution of activism and finds that the new generation of activists are younger, more diverse, and more collaborative. These “New Activists” are aligned with PR professionals in the belief that the key to creating long-term change is not protesting, but voting.”
Got some reading suggestions? Post them in the comments section, and I might include them in the next newsletter. Have a book to promote? Let me know in the comments or email me.
What I’m watching
Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s doing the opening monologue on Saturday Night Live during the Before Times is a wonderful palate cleanser.
Ann Hornaday liked it. NPR did, too. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Selah and the Spades, a gangster movie set in a high school, streaming on Amazon Prime. Writer-director Tayarisha Poe makes her feature debut here.
Got suggestions? Post them in the comments section, and I might include them in the next newsletter.
What I’m listening to
Diego Bernal grew up in west San Antonio with the Castro brothers, did his undergrad and got a master’s and law degree at Michigan, went from the city council to the state legislature, all of which is good. But his music? Dude.
You can listen to Jo Carol Pierce’s epic Bad Girls Upset by the Truth on You Tube.
Can’t get “Shoulders” by Jonah Mutono out of my head.
“If you want to hang with me, then you have to roll up your sleeves and work,” says Madame Gandhi in her infectious single, “Top Knot Turn Up.” Feminist activism has never sounded so bouncy as it has in this Brazillian trap anthem “about putting your hair up in a bun and getting work done.”
Got suggestions? Post them in the comments section, and I might include them in the next newsletter.
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