if you had the power to travel to any point in the future or past, where would you go and why?

would you seek power? wealth? fame? honor? ..would you remain incognito or let your presence be known to others from that time? would you save lives or kill others to achieve a desired outcome?

id probably travel far into the future, at least one hundred years or so just to see the progress of certain things: technology, society, the welfare of mankind.

id travel to the past to assist american soldiers abroad the spectrum of time to achieve more victorious outcomes in both land acquisitions and also reduce casualties.

id also travel to key points in time so that i can be the first "boomer sooner", and also the first to claim all the gold in california.

Nothing so grand, for me. I think I'd go back to when I was a teenager to see my sister for a bit. She died in a car accident at age 18. I am not sure how my life would have turned out if she'd never got into that car, or if it would affect having my kids. Because of that, I would be torn between saving her and risking that they would never come into existence (the first was conceived in grief - and love of course). If I could keep my kids, wouldn't it have been wonderful to have her with me while we grew up and raised families? I still miss her, everyday. I'd settle for just a few moments to hug her, tell her I love her and say my goodbyes (without letting her know it was goodbye, of course).

Actually, we'd probably end up getting into a sister spat over who used up all the hot water.

If I were to go into the past, I'd go back to when I was a freshman in college and knock myself the f*&k out for partying too much. If I were going into the future, I'd do it like in HG Wells Time Machine, but only go to the years beyond what mankind is now and destroy my machine to start all over again.

id go back a ways and party with elvis

I would go back to sometime before 1978 and get to know my Dad. He passed away when I was still a toddler.

I'd go back to when I was 18, buy some lottery tickets, and lose weight and fix my teeth earlier then I did so I could have enjoyed it longer.

The future, I'd rather not see.

I wish I could go back to 1980 when I quit a fairly decent paying job because I didn't like it but had $10,000 saved up from it to bide my time while figuring out what to do. But instead of just blowing my money until I had to look for a job, I wish I had put at least several thousand in Wal-Mart stock and so be a multi-millionaire as a result today. Seems like I was thinking of doing something to invest my money because I went into some investment office but soon walked out of it because it seemed I was being treated like some young kid who probably didn't have much money, or knew what he was doing.

If I could go back in time, and if I could take modern technology with me.
I would go back and "help" our founding fathers to be less vague on some topics.
I would set up defensive Vulcan machine guns to protect Pearl Harbor from the attack of Dec. 1941, I would hand over the specs for the early jet fighters and early air to ground and air2air missiles, to combat the Germans and the Japanese, I would try to advise using the A bomb except as a last resort, avoid the Cold War by giving Patton the tanks of today for his use against the Russians.
I would exterminate the Anti Semitic behavior of the modern Arab nationalism by exterminate those who preach it.
I would watch and intervene against those who use the Communist threat to further their own brand of political terror.
I would use the power, hopefully benevolently to heal ,to cure, to build.
I would use that time too to see my grandmother play pro baseball, to see my paternal grandfather, to see my uncle before he left for duty in Japan( he was killed in Korea).
The thing is we do have real time travel, but only forward.
Its our kids,our grandkids, we teach them right and wrong, how to think, how to love and to forgive, hopefully we then can see a bright future.

That's really nice.

I'd love to see what this country looked like before any people were here.

1000 years in the future so that I could befriend an alcoholic, cigar smoking bending robot and a crazy penniless lobster monster doctor.

I'd also like to make out with a mutant cyclops.

I've thought of that, too. Lots of Chestnut trees.

including or excluding the Native Americans?

Either way. You know what he meant. While the land was still in the condition before the Europeans arrived would probably do it.

I wish FUTURAMA had not been cancelled, I loved that show.

the natives protected it, when the ships arrived is when it started going downhill.

speaking of indian reservations, why do they get the worst land? (deserts, barren prairies, etc).... it was all their land to start with, shouldnt they be the ones putting everyone else on reservations, and deciding where we should live instead?

what do you suppose are the chances of the entire californian coastline being entirely indian land today?. yeah, right.

Why do you think they got the worst land? You need to think this through.

First, not all of them got "bad" land. Eastern Oklahoma is pretty sweet unless you were a farmer like the Cherokees, then you had to sneak off to Missouri.

But those deserts, etc. in Arizona and New Mexico WAS the native land of the Indians on the current reservations. And there were a lot of places with spiritual significance to them. Fact is, for those areas, we didn't want it and it was their home, so there you go. It is not like they stuck the Mohawks out there. You are showing ignorance and (perhaps) a Northern European heritage to assume that those deserts and so forth weren't valuable to the native people living there. It ain't no Ireland but - hey - for that matter, the Europeans left Ireland in droves.

I agree that a lot of plains Indians got shifted around outside their native lands but the lands they were sent to didn't suck. They just weren't home and we can all appreciate that.

And just what California Indians were put on reservations? Name a tribe, any tribe.

The Native Americans were, in large part, a conquered people. That they were allowed to keep any land at all says something. The history of the Native Americans is not all that different, in many ways, than what happened to people on the European continent, repeatedly, over the centuries. Or any other people on any other continent. At least we didn't enslave the Native Americans - that was common for centuries for fallen nations in Europe. And Native Americans did enslave each other. Or have you forgotten that many of the native americans were extremely warlike? They weren't all vegetarians and basket weavers. I suggest you read up on it.

All that being said, I cut my teeth on Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee and don't dispute that they were treated horribly. I am just saying that was the history of the world. And don't think for two seconds that it won't be repeated somewhere, again and again. Man is vicious when he wants something.

Back to topic, though.

MPOV,
It was to "avoid" the needs/desires of the white man.
The very least it was to pay lip service to "the victor granting the poor conquered ones" something they didnt deserved, and the "Christian charity" of the "white civilization".
Now...thanks to some Court decisions, The Native American Nations have been able to negotiate buyback for some,reversal of land grabs.
I sometimes wondered if the 70s showdown and murders of the FBI agents didnt cause a rethink of how the Federal and State governments interact
with the Nations.
Of course how OHP treats Indian Nations EMTs one wonders.

Not timetraveling per se, but I'd like to relive the care-free days of 3rd-5th grade or so. There's nothing like being a kid and having very little real worries.

Would not even consider going back at all. Mess up one tiny thing and I could miss out on my wife and kids. Couldn't take that chance.

-Chris-

That is so sweet.

Going back in time seems like it would be pretty miserable for anyone who is blessed with 21st century technology and comfort. I can still remember not having indoor plumbing (yes, I'm THAT old), no air conditioning, one old un-air-conditioned car that had to be worked on constantly by my dad, no TV. Going foward in time seems like it might be OK. As long one would be able to come back. So collect some world series and super bowl scores, stock prices and powerball numbers from the near future and come back. Automatic easy street!