I don't know if any of you know this, but author Kurt Vonnegut is very good at predicting the future. Now, I've enjoyed Vonnegut's work for years and recommend him to everyone out there. Every book he's ever written is great. But, I'm not typing this out just to kiss his ass. In fact, unlike most of my entries, I even have a point, here:
Kurt Vonnegut can predict the future.
Now, I'm not big on research or references so you'll have to research this yourselves, but trust me, it's true.
Back in the 60s or 70s (again, that whole research thing?) Kurt Vonnegut wrote a short story about a kid who divorced his parents. This story was largely viewed as farce or biting satire. And then, about fifteen years later, a kid took his parents to court and tried to divorce them.
Vonnegut once said that his biggest competition was reality, and that he often lost out to it, but this time, he beat reality by fifteen years. Much like Jules Verne calling the invention of the space shuttle, Vonnegut had called the invention of a child divorcing his parents.
Fast forward to today. I'm in the office, it's been a shitty day so I decide that I need a laugh. Naturally I click on CNN.com because nothing is funnier than real life stories. And what do I find?
(Calm down. I'll tell you.)
I find that Kurt Vonnegut beat reality again.
Back in the seventies, Kurt wrote a short story about a world where people had such long life spans that often great grandparents and even great great grandparents were alive and healthy. As a result of this, living space became extremely precious and wealth did not quickly trickle down to younger generations. Anyway, short story shorter, the main characters (who live with their grandparents and great grandparents) eventually get arrested and discover that in jail, unlike in their crowded homes, they all get their own rooms and beds. In other words, they are happier to be in jail than they were on the outside.
On CNN.com, I found a story about a guy who recently lost his job and didn't know how he would be able to afford to live. He was three years from social security and he needed money badly. So he robbed a bank.
And then he handed the money to a guard and went to jail, happily and peacefully.
Later, he asked the sentencing judge to give him three years in prison so that the state could feed him and shelter him until he was eligible for social security.
In other words, he felt he'd be happier in prison.
In case you're scoring at home, that's reality: 1,000,989,424; Vonnegut: 2.
And oddly enough, this puts Vonnegut second on the all-time list of writers versus reality, just behind Jules Verne.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go start a retirement fund.