I am befuddled (I like that word). I was brought up with the idea that the
Nation, in fact, the entire World, was going to enter some wonderous age, a
period of high tech wonders, easy living and enlightened peace. Well, here I
am, 60 years later and I'm still waiting.
Sure, we have technological wonders aplenty. The cell phone and personal
computers are two, but how beneficial are they really? I, for one, do not like
feeling connected all the time so I have come to abhor cell phones, especially
since the advent of texting, a rude and insidious habit. Computers are useful but
I have begun to question just how time saving they are. I have worked at places
where it took more time and effort to do the books with a computer that it did
manually. And while there is a vast amount of information on the Internet,
information can become a trap. You can resaerch yourself into inactivity. Add
into that the out of date web sites, the enormous numbers of popup adds, and
the frequent disruption in Internet service and the whole computer revolution
grows a might shaky. Just wait until they start taxing Internet commerce and
start censoring content. Bith are on their way.
Mediaclly, doctors can do wonders. Or can they? They sure have a whole
bunch of really cool gadgets but, you know what? Folks still get the same
diseases and they still die and when they do live longer, the quality of life
is often not high enough to justify the extra few years. Also, did you ever try
to get an HMO or a low cost insurance policy to cover the use of those really
cool gadgets? Good luck on that.
Cars are still about the same. Food is basically the same. Clothing is
about the same. Well, that's not really true. The quality of all 3 has gone
down while the prices have gone up. Remember, we import much food, many cars
and most clothing, all from countries where people work for a couple of dollars
a day.
As far as peace goes, well, it doesn't. We have fightinmg throughout the
Mid East, China is rapidly militarizing, the Koreas are rattling sabers, and
Russia is bombing Syria to rubble. In addition, India and Pakistan still hate
each other and keep those nukes ready for action and God Himself doesn't know
what the Israelis have planned. Europe is a hot bed of Islamic terrorism and
just wait and see what happens when the average Europeans get sick and tired of
taking in a semmingly infinite stream of immigrants. In our own US things are
not at all peaceful. There is a simmering tension between whites and blacks,
that has come to the forefront because of the gestapo like attitude of a lot of
cops and now I am beginning to notice a few white groups such as the Klan,
raising their ugly little heads.
When I was schooled, we were, with surprising frequency, treated to Disney
made documentary films showing how science was going to lead us all into a
glorious future. Well, that ship sailed a long time ago and has been lost at
sea.
Years ago, science fiction seemed to take two contridictory stances toward
the future. The Ben Bovas, Arthur Clarks, and Robert Heinleins painted a fairly
rosy picture of a brilliant shiny techno-future, full of adventure and
discovery. Huxley, Orwell and Phillip K.Dick portrayed dystopian visions
of weird, viscious totalitarian regimes.
Guess who's winning?
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