In my mind’s eye I see a cartoon panel. Two figures stand side by side, each gripping a rifle at port arms. One is from George Lucas’ Star Wars franchise, from 1977 onward; the other is from a recent newspaper’s front page. The caption under the first says “Stormtrooper 1977,” under the second, “Stormtrooper 2026.”
In both cases human individuality and even identity are purposely blanked out. No nametags or numbered badges can be seen. Masks and often sunglasses, along with military-grade weaponry and armor, are all you can see, and all you are intended to see. Impersonal, implacable, irresistible force is the threat. “Be afraid. Be very afraid” is the very loud message, whether only implied or spoken. This is our world, our “free” country, in 2026.
I doubt I’m the only one who remembers the cautionary tales in George Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm, each now 75-plus years old. Fatuously, we believed warnings like his would surely be enough to prevent any such dastardly destruction of democracy in our beloved nation.
But fiction, now flying the banner of “President Trump’s agenda,” is well on its way to becoming fact. Only we, dear fellow citizens, can ensure that a different reality prevails.
And time is fleeting.
Fred Reklau
Oak Park
