A Letter from the Future: Your Crisis is Metaphysical
This dispatch from the not too distant future warns that our current predicament is more metaphysical than political.
This is a message from the future. My calendar says June 2031, though some on social media argue it is, in fact, October 2033, and have presented rather compelling evidence in support of their position. Regardless, I wanted to drop you this note with some advice about your situation in 2025, as it may be instructive.
You see, that was the year the split really took hold. Obviously, political reality had been melting down for decades. But the veil of political games finally dropped, and you became acquainted with the realities of the new Zeitgeist. From then on, it was necessary to choose: are you for unity, or division? Are you for war, or peace? Are you an obstacle to evolution, or a collaborator?
Most people never gave those questions much thought. But once people realized that those in the way were having a bad time — their assets seized, their freedoms restricted, their voices marginalized — it became clear that some new thing had emerged, beyond politics, beyond fascism, and indeed unlike anything mankind had ever seen before.
Of course, it wasn't really new — it just hadn't been applied at this scale. Esoteric philosophies had been around for a long time. But this time, things got a bit out of hand. For simplicity's sake, let's start with Mikhail Gorbachev. You didn't expect that, I bet — you wouldn't, really. But his turn towards New Thinking is really what landed us on this path.
Yes, I'm talking about Glasnost and Perestroika, the reform and “openness” agenda that some say unwound the Soviet Union. But behind those ideas was something else — what Gorbachev called “The Roerich Idea.”
Nicholas Roerich was an influential Russian artist and mystic. His best-known protégé was Henry Wallace, agriculture secretary under Franklin Roosevelt, and later Vice President. Roerich and his wife Helena borrowed heavily from theosophy to create Agni Yoga, and they attracted many followers, including Wallace. But Roerich's philosophy wasn't so much about mindfulness as the eventual fate of the world.
The Roerichs believed there were three kinds of people: the elite few who get it (pneumatics), a broader group of people who can be taught to get it (psychics), and those who will never get it (hylics, or mud people). This is where I will start to lose some of you, especially you Westerners; but the Slavs will know what I'm talking about. Stick with me here, even though the terminology is unfamiliar.
It was in 2025 that the hierarchy really became manifest. The Roerich Idea had become so embedded in the Russian worldview as to become integral to Vladimir Putin's policy agenda, along with other “woo-woo” ideas like Russian Cosmism and the Noosphere. And because these ideas were unfamiliar to Westerners, they were invisible, even as they ground away at the foundations of constitutional democracies.
Proxies like the late President Donald Trump, J.D. Vance, Peter Thiel, and Elon Musk were easily led to do Putin's bidding, driven by ego and promises of power. With the implicit backing of Russia and China, they realized that they could do whatever they wanted in the name of consolidating absolute power and control. Those willing to throw in their lot with the power cult — believers, if you will — were rewarded.
What about the mud people? Well, you can guess what became of them. Many of them were simply sidelined. The ones with followings were de-platformed by the AI, and thus de-monetized. As long as they remained quiet, they were allowed to live out their unremarkable existence. But those that continued to speak up were dealt with swiftly. You may recall the former United States' contract with El Salvador for prison services — well, other arrangements followed in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Argentina, and North Korea. And spoiler alert, they weren't “prisons.”
And then there's the matter of The Church. After Pope Francis died in 2025, the conclave produced Pope Nicholas VI (cheekily named after the last Romanov Tsar), who was aligned with Opus Dei. It didn't take long for him to consult with Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Together they issued a joint encyclical titled, “Towards the Third Rome: A Millennium of Unity.” The plan called for the spiritual merger of the Russian Orthodox Church with the Roman Catholic Church, and the establishment of Moscow as the new Holy See not later than 2028. That same year, the former Vatican complex came under the exclusive control of Opus Dei.
It was then that things really kicked into high gear. With the powerful pushing forward on their plan to sort out the wheat (collaborators) from the chaff (obstructionists), dictators and monarchs gained the upper hand — to the point that every major economy in the world now functions as a monarchy. Might makes right, they say, and thanks to technology and AI, there is plenty of might to go around.
About the United States... writing this as someone born in the former country of Canada, my direct knowledge is somewhat limited, and no one can really glean a clear story from the AI slop floating around on the internet. But it appears that the entirety of the American political machine was simply captured between 2025 and 2028. Opposition political candidates were either co-opted by forces they didn't understand (cryptocurrency likely played a big role) or they were shipped out. Journalists, too, were offered an ultimatum: either play ball or accept reassignment. Those that chose neither option were effectively silenced.
The “United States™” survives today primarily as a brand, like McDonald's, Nike or Coca-Cola. Flag licensing alone generates significant royalties for Elon Musk's company, the United States of America, Inc., which he registered in 2024. Since Musk's death from Ketamine overdose in 2030, company revenues now accrue to his many male heirs.
Of course, people still live in the geographic territory of the former United States, with each state pursuing its own “network state” governance model and competing for residents. It's quite complex, and no one seems to know quite how it works. But everyone knows that the elites do what they want anyway, and the mud people have simply checked out. It's certainly not an inspiring vision for the future, but people seem to get by. And now without the regular drumbeat of elections, well, many people have simply lost track of time.
As to what to tell you, dear reader, in 2025... I wish I had better news. We know this much: focusing exclusively on politics and the rule of law wasn't enough to stem the tide of the Roerich Idea. Americans needed to place equal weight on metaphysics, but simply couldn't see the assault that was underway. This is why tweaking the knobs marked checks and balances seems to have no effect. Reality itself is under attack. Use your imaginations to create art that helps people see that this goes into dimensions well beyond politics.
The word “peace” is code for capitulation without consent. It is used to justify the imposition of the hierarchy. It is used to justify placing men above women, the powerful over the meek, autocrats over the people, whites over people of color, and natives over immigrants. It is used to justify extrajudicial imprisonment and killings. The people of Ukraine learned this meaning of ‘peace’ the hard way.
When you fight, fight for justice — and let there be no peace until justice is achieved. Perhaps, armed with that bit of wisdom, your timeline will turn out differently than mine. ■
Special thanks to Joe Szimhart, expert on Roerich philosophy and Agni Yoga, for his insights and advice on this story.
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Dave Troy
Dave Troy
Dave Troy
