Hello and welcome to geneburshuliak.com, a non-commercial, ad and cookie free collection of my Writings and Rantings!
Writings and Rantings? Yes indeed. The site consists of these two categories. The Writings include short and long stories, fictional and non, some deathly serious, others comedic, as well as political satire and plays. You’ll even find a few musicals. The Rantings are letters and articles that I have sent mostly to newspapers.
So why did I, an ignoramus when it comes to computers and technology, create this homemade site? It was a struggle for sure, and without the help of my wife Rosemary and essential advice from a friend, I never would have been able to do it. So, given my lack of expertise, why is it important to me to put so much time and effort into The Writings, The Rantings and this site?
As a teenager and young adult growing up in the 50’s, 60’s and early 70’s, I had confidence- that I took for granted- that the liberal idealism of the Age of Aquarius- harmony and understanding, peace and love abounding- would continue forever. I didn’t worry about my future: Every day, and in every way, humanity was evolving toward a bright utopian tomorrow. I simply assumed that a welcoming place that I fit into snuggly had been reserved for me, as if I were an essential piece of a thrilling, picture-perfect jigsaw puzzle. My generation, the Boomers of post WWII, enjoyed the hopefulness and pride that came of the defeat of the greatest threat to democracy that had ever hitherto existed: the rise of Nazism and the Axis powers whose tentacles embraced it. How hard it must be for our current young generation to imagine the optimism and peace of mind I grew up with given the Age of Cynicism and impending fascism we are living through today.
Can the children of today aspire to the future that I envisioned? Will they live happier and more prosperous lives than their parents did? I am skeptical that they will, and I think that they are as well. I do know that our kids are scared and depressed. I believe that we let them down, and I see a dystopian political, economic, social and environmental future for them- a potentially reversible horror of our making that so many of us respond to with a “What? Me worry?” callowness, if we bother to acknowledge it at all. And that drives me, and cuts deeply, with a jagged edge.
We are living in the most consequential moment humanity has ever faced, threatened by imminent, simultaneous extinction events both natural and man-made. Most of them, like the looming disasters of climate change, require immediate remediation. The proliferation of threatening indicators is all around us, a hissing fuse, getting shorter and shorter as we continue to indulge ourselves in self-destructive, potentially avoidable mistakes. The time to speak out is now.
Will American democracy fail? Will the idealism of our Founding Fathers crumble and devolve into dictatorship or chaos? Will the middle class survive? Has the lower-income class’s dream of joining it become hopeless? Can we end gun violence? Find peace in a nuclear-armed world? Feed and nurture all nations? Save ourselves from the looming dangers of A.I.? Lead green lives and clean the environment or doom our children to misery on an inhospitable planet? Will we restore the humanity of Jesus or succumb to the Age of Greed?
The issues are staggering. But are they insurmountable? When you consider that chimps and mankind share 98.8% of their DNA, is the remaining 1.2% that makes us human enough to make the difference that will save us and usher in the Utopia I dreamed of as a child? Or will it be the catalyst that makes us more effective at doing what our chimp cousins do best- slaughtering the unwelcome stranger?
This is why I created this website. In expressing myself I find hopeful purpose and courage. And perhaps a dubious form of sanity that suits me.
You will find The Writings and The Rantings under the “Portfolios” heading. Simply click on the images to access them. Under each category, you will find a brief synopsis explaining the context, purpose and background that led me to write each piece. The plan is to upload new ones as the spirit stirs me. You can be certain that there’s always something new in the hopper.
I should also add in closing that all the characters and many of the events that I write about, including the ones that are based on people living and deceased, are fictional, and that readers who are prone to taking easy offense likely will find my scribblings not to their taste. Nothing that I’ve written, however, tests the boundaries of the rights we have under the First Amendment.
So, thank you again for visiting my site, and be sure to come back to check out my future postings.