Our history is packed full of emancipations locally and globally. In 1829, the Catholic Emancipation Act freed Roman Catholics from the civil disabilities imposed on them by English law in the United Kingdom. In 1844, there was the emancipation of the British West Indies. In 1861, Tsar Alexander issued an emancipation manifesto freeing serfs in Russia. In 1863, President Lincoln issued an edict freeing all slaves in the Confederate States, declaring the abolition of slavery in America. In 1920 women won the right to vote in the United States, now referred as the emancipation of women. There is further the emancipation of the Jews. History is chronicling the Emancipation Network, which is destined to cease human trafficking. History has documented the emancipation of homosexuality in Germany. The Caribbean Islands celebrate Emancipation Day every year with festive costumes, dance and food. All states allow emancipation of minors. Children have sought emancipation from parents in court and won.

This past week an astronaut, wearing a helmet camera, repaired a wing on the International Space Station without a safety net. Imagine stepping outside on nothing, landing on nothing. Imagine the vastness. This space walk, about a football field length from the space ship, was available via satellite television on your PC, for free. Imagine the many masterminds, locally and globally, contributing to the International Space Station over the years. In 2004, I remember a pair of astronauts, one from America, one from Russia, pulled off another risky complex mission to make a repair. They accomplished the space walk, finishing "well ahead" of schedule. Imagine two countries accomplishing an uncommon act ahead of schedule. (Where should that place "common acts"?) Remember now, the first television weather satellite was placed in 1960. In 1963, two spacecrafts were in orbit at the same time. That same year in an October issue of Wireless World, a concept proposal on global communications was written. The rest of the story is "walking" history, because everyone is walking around with a cell phone.

Amazingly, we have witnessed in our lifetime other benchmark successes that we all ultimately benefit from, because progress embraces us all. Our world is indeed wireless. Our world has a new airplane that flies longer with less fuel, lighter in weight, carrying more people. Our world has a car that can parallel park without human intervention. And my all-time favorite ... the average home can order 700 television channels. You have to ask yourself, have we lost our minds?

Emancipation is liberation, being set free from subjections of any kind. Today, our world is a "slave" to sickness, and our lawmakers are comfortable with our being there. Over half of our population is on legal or illegal pills. I personally see the greatest danger to our society as not global warming, not energy prices, not the economy or race relations. Our greatest danger is our health, locally and globally. In the greatest interest of all humanity, we want and need emancipation from our two largest enemies, diabetes and obesity. To accomplish this is not a risky, complex mission requiring a long bureaucracy map of madness in two meetings a day somewhere in a five-star hotel only to set the next meeting. The statistical signs and stats on diabetes and obesity have only doubled, with no "repair" in sight. If we can create a wireless world in 20 years, surely we can emancipate and retire diabetes and obesity by ... say, 2015, starting with Texas. The evidence is clear. Tools, toys and triumphs matter, but history reminds us that people do also. Can we please have a true better world?

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Ester Davis is a writer and television producer. She can be reached at {email host@esterdavis.com}host@esterdavis.com{/email}. Copyright 2007 by Ester Davis.