The next day, Brian went to Niagara Falls to sightsee, shop, and play games at the arcade. He stayed overnight in Niagara Falls and then flew to Hawaii the next morning.

Alex and Adrienne greeted Brian with smiles at the airport in Hawaii. They were all happy to be together again. The three drove to Alex’s hotel room to talk.

"So how was your trip and everything?" inquired Adrienne.

"Good and fruitful," replied Brian, "How was yours?"

"Oh, it was fine. You know that not much surprised me because I’ve been to those countries many times before. Still, I learned new things by asking people different questions and getting them to think about their life," said Adrienne.

"Yeah," added Alex, "And you made some good business contacts out there, too."

"Listen, Brian," continued Adrienne, "When people learned about what I was doing, they wanted to get a copy of this work to see the results. What do you think about putting together a finished report of our findings and publishing it?"

"Well," stated Brian, "I don’t know…"

"What do you mean?" asked Alex.

"You see, what I observed and the initial conclusions I’ve drawn are not good. I need to see what you two have discovered. But if I am correct on this, the world really is in sad shape. I doubt people will want to hear about it," was Brian’s reply.

"Really?" asked Alex.

"Ah, well, let’s get together tomorrow to discuss our findings. Then we can decide if this is worth publishing," replied Brian.

____________________

The next day the three of them rented a boat and rowed away from shore. The water was beautiful and the mountainous islands looked impressive. A light breeze blew, keeping them cool.

After discussing some light issues, Brian pulled out his journal and began leafing through its pages. He thought for a moment and said to Alex, "What did you find during your trip to South America?"

"Oh boy, I found poverty!" exclaimed Alex, "And that shook me up at first. I’m not used to that kind of survival—bare subsistence living with stone-and-earth shelters. True, there were other areas that had wealth. But, when I saw how some people were living, for instance, in Bolivia, I felt like crying. No kidding. Their living conditions are just one step above that of wild animals. What made this situation almost unbearable to me is that I know this is totally unnecessary."

"Please explain," said Brian.

"Oh, damn, those people are mired in ignorance, poverty, and servitude," replied Alex, "Their country’s leadership blocks out the tremendous knowledge, prosperity, and freedom that is available around the world. And when I finally saw slavery and poverty directly in front of me, everything came together. Countries that have communistic, fascist, or socialist governments take the wealth produced by the workers. The workers are honest and hardworking, but they remain poor. And they have grossly inadequate education, lacking the basics of math, science, history, and literature. They are at once ensconced in mysticism and poverty."

"I see," said Brian.

"But this is totally unnecessary as free-market entrepreneurs would love to sweep those poor, backward countries with valuable products and services. Yet, governments of such indigent countries keep out those entrepreneurs, not wanting their people to rise in individual power and wealth. This way, government rulers and leaders can continue living off the efforts of the workers indefinitely," said Alex.

Brian changed the boat’s direction by rowing with only one oar. He looked at Adrienne and noticed how the sun was now shinning in her hair, making it look like silk. He smiled at her and said, "What do you think?"

"Sometimes I don’t know," replied Adrienne, "I grew up in the kind of poverty Alex just described. It didn’t seem so bad then because I didn’t know anything else. But since my family came to America and became wealthy, I understand what Alex means."

Adrienne thought for a moment and continued, "I have lived in China, Vietnam, and the Philippines before. I knew what to expect. Strangely, when I went back there, I felt like everything was fine…until I really observed the people there. They are oppressed by their government and hindered by their mystical beliefs. I really noticed it when I began questioning average people and watching them conduct their lives. I saw so many people without hope, without happiness, without a soaring spirit. And I never noticed that until carefully observing them."

"Were the people who lacked happiness young, middle-age, or old?" asked Brian.

"Most were older, although several middle-age people seemed unhappy," replied Adrienne.

"What about the youth? Were the youth happy or sad, with hope or without hope?" asked Brian.

"Oh, the children and young adults were full of life. Most smiled a lot and had a hopeful outlook on the future," responded Adrienne.

"Now that you mention it," added Alex, "I noticed a similar pattern in South America. Most young kids were unaffected by the negative events around them. But the adults were caught up in it all, like they were shackled and drained by some…"

"Aha!" exclaimed Brian as he leafed through his journal.

"What is it? What do you know?" asked Adrienne.

Brian looked intensely for a specific journal entry. He found it and said, "Listen to this. On August 24^th, I wrote in my journal:

Adrienne and Alex looked at each other. "I never even thought about that," said Alex.

"Yeah, good going Brian," said Adrienne, "You’re on to something."

"Right. I wanted to find out about both of your experiences before drawing any conclusions. Now that I know both of you saw the same thing I did but in different parts of the world, I can say this is a universal situation. Generally speaking, younger people are happier and more alive; older people are unhappy and spiritually dying," said Brian.

"What’s the matter?" asked Adrienne.

"Huh? Oh, something’s gnawing at me. If a person loses his hope, happiness, and vitality as he gets older, there has to be a cause. And since this situation deals with the soul, physical processes such as bodily aging probably do not cause it. It is a psychological situation. And I think I know…" said Brian as he was interrupted.

"I don’t want to sound like a determinist Brian, but what if the biological aging process triggers something in the body that causes people to loose their happiness and hope?" asserted Alex.

"That sounds plausible," added Adrienne.

Brian once again changed the direction of the boat. Now it was heading back to shore.

"No. As I’ve recorded in my journal, I have met some older folks that were very happy, full of life and vitality. Any biological processes like the release of hormones or deterioration of brain cells at a certain age would be universal—reaching across the entire spectrum of human beings like the onset of puberty hits everyone at about the same age," replied Brian as he rowed the boat back to shore.

Alex and Adrienne held hands as they walked on the beach. Brian walked along side of them. They stopped at a hamburger stand to get some lunch. While sitting at a picnic table, Brian said to the young couple, "I’m going to leave you two lovers alone now."

"What? Where are you going?" asked Adrienne.

"I’ll bet he’s going to solve the mystery of why older people are unhappy and unfulfilled," asserted Alex.

"Oh, I think he just wants to pick up that bikini babe lying down over there," Adrienne said winking at Brian while pointing to a pretty girl.

"Both of you are right. I’m going to Washington DC tomorrow morning to begin a disciplined study program. I’ll be working in the Library of Congress for several months, so you know where you can find me…" Brian said.

"Yeah, we can find you…in the nightclubs scouting for single women. That’s were we can find you, Brian," said Adrienne as they all laughed.