Emanuel David

5/21/2011—Yesterday, my daughter Anna gave birth to a son, Emanuel David. Now here is the shocking thing about my grandson. On January 1, 2100, he will be 89 years old. This is old, of course, but one of his great-grandfathers is alive and well at 93, so I would have to say he has a reasonable chance of living to this age.

We hear all the time about the consequences of our current policies, both environmental and fiscal. We are ruining the natural world through industrialism and overpopulation and we are spending money we don’t have, which the next generations will have to repay. But we don't react as we should because most of us will be dead by then.

I have always been troubled by our selfishness and short-sightedness. But I must say that the birth of Emanuel David has concentrated this feeling to a great degree. Simply put, I must now evaluate everything we do by the standard of how it will affect the world of 2100, in which my grandson is likely to be living. I owe this to him and to all the other little ones born yesterday and in the days to come.