“Smart people wouldn’t bring a child into this world we live in today.”

That statement was the lunatic icing on top of the crazy cake.

I was once having a wide-ranging conversation with a good friend over dinner. It ranged from politics and his support of some extreme candidates (maybe that should have been the first warning sign) to false flag conspiracy theories that spanned from 9/11 being part of a grand orchestration by the government to tragedies like the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting being staged.

While I disagreed with most of what he said, it was that final statement that really blew me away and showed that, much like with our current political climate, some ideological divides are simply too large for the two sides to meet in the middle. 

I have read lots of the conspiracies about 9/11 and other formative events. Most are way too far-fetched for me, but when you try to convince me these and many of the other key events in American history are orchestrated by our government, the Deep State or a shadowy cabal of elite citizens, I just can’t buy it. 

The federal government messes just about everything up; no way it could accomplish something of this magnitude. There are way too many moving parts.

Human nature is too unpredictable, while human greed is far too predictable.

I just can’t believe so many people could be in on a scam and no one would talk. The whole thing would come down like a house of cards.

We did agree the world we live can be a scary place and the future our children face is the sort of thing that can keep you up at night. But I don’t think we can — nor should we — live in fear.

And the idea that only unintelligent people have children is ridiculous. 

My daughters are 9 and 11, both going on about 15 when it comes to attitude. I wouldn’t trade those years — and all those to come — for anything. 

I may not be the sharpest crayon in the box, but I don’t think my intelligence can be measured by my desire to have children.

We cannot live in fear of the future or allow a changing world to rule our lives. Imagine if our parents and grandparents did the same in the decades of world wars, racial tension and political unrest that filled the 20th Century.

Many of us wouldn’t be here today. 

A baby born today — or an unborn child — may grow up to be the individual who brings world peace, cures cancer or leads our country as the next president.

We live in a crazy world, but we cannot let that stop us from actually living.

Michael Caldwell is publisher of The Winchester Sun and Winchester Living magazine. He can be reached at (859) 759-0095 or by email at mike.caldwell@winchestersun.com.