If you had the opportunity to spend one year in the past or future, which would you choose and why?


I'd live one year in the future. It could be utopia or dystopia but I'll take my chances in an unknown future. The past is a no-go for me.

Let's run through the scenario:

If I am living one year in the past that probably means I need to work. Even if I could get an ID card that would allow me to pass as someone who belongs in the past I am disabled. Prior to 1990 there is no Americans with Disabilities Act.

Going back to 1969 and watching man walking on the moon? I know America was secretly bombing Cambodia between 1969-1970 under Operation Menu. That would make me a possible threat to national security in the eyes of the 1969 United States government.

The same problem with living a year during World War II. I've studied a lot about the Manhattan Project.  That makes me an even bigger threat to national security.

How about post-World War I (which during that year living in the past I'd have to remember to refer to as "The Great War")? Well, I am disabled and I also live in California. California, like many other states at the time, had eugenics laws. What separates me from being forcefully strapped to a table and sterilized against my will is basically a century of history.

It would just keep getting worse for me the further back in time I would go to live a year. Believe me I know what I am talking about.