Everybody has a sense of nostalgia, a feeling that longs for the way things used to be, when everything was simpler and the world was a better place to live in. Similarly, there is a reason people talk about “the good ol’ days,” because the future that once was so promising turned out to be disappointing.
In one of my writing classes recently, we had to settle on a time period for a theoretical group-writing project we were undertaking. Made up of a collection of right-brained thinkers, suggestions such as the Middle Ages, the Victorian Era and even the Wild West were being thrown around. Then the presumed glory of the future was presented, and all eyes widened.
Of course, the future is going to be riddled with phenomenon like hover cars and teleportation – a pair of ideas that are rather conflicting.
Everyone will have photographical implants in their eyes, allowing them to take pictures when they blink. Cancer will no longer be a threat because, naturally, that is curable. There will be such things as invisibility cloaks, time travel and tanning pills – everything will be hunky dory… unless it’s not.
Along with the glorious assumptions that present peoples have for the future comes the intimidating tracks that lead to unexpected or frightful realities. At the rate we are going, within the next few years gay marriage will be legalized everywhere. They do not really list that with the transporters and jet pack dreams. Likewise, marijuana will be legalized – do I even need to describe how fast China will surpass us when all Americans are doped up?
We all anticipate the technological advances that could lead to new Xbox’s, but what if a technology spike leads to more terrorism? What happens when a nuclear bomb falls into the hands of someone with truly nothing to lose?
Believe it or not, the future does not feature only the expansion of good, but also of bad. Along with the exponential growth of exciting possibilities comes the exponential increase of intimidating threats.
Fewer and fewer people are putting their belief in God, and more and more celebrities are the focal point of society. Gas prices are going up, with no sign of stopping. Rap artists are getting increasingly vulgar, the government is growing more and more corrupt and we are getting no closer to ending world hunger.
Granted, there are many things to look forward to in the future, but there are just as many, if not more, factors that require us to be on our guard.
Ultimately, we are responsible for the future. This generation is made up of the men and women that will define the future – we have the reins. If we do not take a stand today, we are assured a disappointing future.
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