February 7 marked the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens, one of the greatest novelists of all time. He produced some of English literature's most iconic characters, and the issues he dealt with —wealth and poverty, class and corruption — are as fresh today as they were in the Victorian era. The opening of "A Tale of Two Cities," Dickens' best-selling novel, is one of the most famous ever written. Although published 153 years ago, it is a remarkably accurate reflection of our current times...
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way."
Likewise, the world today swings between the extremes of unprecedented achievements and unimaginable horrors. The wisdom of the human race has progressed beyond the dreams and imaginations of our forefathers, and of Dickens himself. Travel to outer space is commonplace; we communicate instantaneously across the planet. And yet we have oppression, warring nations, failing economies and global warming.
Dickens' words make us think about who we are in the best of times and the worst of times, in the ebbs and flows of our work and our lives. His words mean different things to different people; we read them with our own opinions, experiences and belief systems in mind.
His words present us with a choice. We can fall into the despair, incredulity and darkness that Dickens describes, or take the path of wisdom, belief, light and hope. I talked about what I believe in a recent blog post. I believe that through the darkness eventually there is light. With every winter there is inevitably a spring on the other side. Organizations, groups and individuals — like the warfighters we support — step up and make a difference in our world every day. We are the ones who will help lead revolutions in technology, who will provide innovative solutions for today, tomorrow and beyond. The glass will always be half full or half empty, the choice is ours. We make it the best of times or the worst of times.
Dickens wrote before typewriters were introduced commercially. He wrote 34 novels all by hand, in tiny script, with a quill pen. When traveling he carried a portable inkwell and a supply of quill pens.
Today, there's a mobile app called Celebrating Dickens with podcasts, videos on Victorian Britain, articles, Dickens novels and adaptations on the author's works. This is the world we live in today, and as providers of information technology solutions, we are in the right place at the right time. I believe that we really do have everything before us.
What do you believe? Is it "Bah, humbug?"
Chris Miller is the executive director of the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Atlantic. Mr. Miller’s commentary originally appeared in his blog post for SPAWARSYSCEN Atlantic personnel of Feb. 7, 2012.
SPAWARSYSCEN Atlantic engineers and acquires a portfolio of C4ISR, advanced cyberspace and information technology capabilities for U.S. military and government agencies. SPAWAR is the U.S. Navy’s information dominance command —delivering IT solutions for naval, joint, national and coalition warfighers. For more information, go to http://www.public.navy.mil/spawar/Atlantic/Pages/Home.aspx.
The British Council is working with more than 50 countries worldwide to coordinate an exciting range of educational and cultural events celebrating the bicentenary of the UK's most prolific and influential novelists: Charles Dickens. For more information, go to http://www.dickens2012.org/.