Sometimes I sit and muse on the world. I consider its conditions and its residents and the various happentracks the future may take. I compare its current state with the vision of the world I want to create, and I decide what needs to be done.

Most of the “evil” in the world stems from a lack of personal power. People steal because they lack money or resources. They rape because they lack sexual security. They hoard money and resources because they fear being without. They kill people out of fear for the threat they pose. All these activities create further insecurity and instability in the lives of those who practice them, rather than decreasing it.

The standard solution to insecurity is money. Everyone is on a great quest for greater and greater amounts of money, and if they can just get enough money they’ll be “set for life”, but no amount of money is ever enough. Plus, even with a windfall of several million dollars, the recipient pays tax on the money. Then he pays tax on the things he buys. Then he pays upkeep FOR the things he buys, which is usually taxed as well.

Increasing personal power is the natural solution to the constant dilemma of security and stability. Magic can get you all the things money can, and many things it can’t, and there is no tax on magic. Rich people spend the bulk of every day of their lives chasing money they already have, trying desperately just to break even at the end of the day. At the same time, people with magic are enjoying their lives, perhaps only receiving and spending small amounts of money but enjoying immensely satisfying access to resources that others would have to pay for.

The problem this creates is the problem people face when they suddenly acquire any amount of power – they tend to become jerks, at least for a little while. Any remotely attractive person suddenly becomes a sexual target. Anyone who acts annoying is immediately set upon with curses. Any stray whim or passing fancy must be acquired, no matter who it rightfully belongs to. Fortunately, this quickly gets old and the magician outgrows it, but all too often this doesn’t propel them to move forward. Rather, they feel they’ve outgrown magic altogether, they give up on exercising power and fall into a routine of passive spirituality, “believing” in magic but not using it.

One solution to this ennui is exploration. Everything becomes stale eventually, so it’s simply a matter of finding new uses for it. This is why there are so many websites with video games on them. Computers have given us so much power that we can do practically any information-related task with them (he says in his blog) but even that level of ability gets stale and periodically needs refreshment. Find something entertaining to do with your magic – rig the Oscars if you like, or manage celebrity breakups. Or find something noble – dispel hurricanes before they hit cities, bust up a drug ring or foil a political campaign. The possibilities are limitless.

My vision of the future is a world where magic has become as commonplace as computers — most everyone will use it or encounter it in their daily routine, and it will have ceased to be the sole purvue of reclusive nerds and sinister maniacs. After all, magic is our birthright. It’s programmed into our brains, our minds and our souls. It’s ours to use, and we have no reason to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune when we control the ammunition.