Thursday, August 25, 2011

Bring Back Hope

From several directions lately, I have been hearing the same thing being said: hope is gone. In America, at least, hope is gone. Americans don't dream anymore. We can look around at the reality out there and see two glaring things: most of us look to satisfy our needs and more so our wants on a daily basis even if we have to mortgage ourselves -- and our kids -- to the sky; and, two, as a result, for the first time since people have been keeping track, our children are going to have it WORSE off than we did. Wouldn't it be good to downsize our expectations and upgrade our aspirations?

As Niel Degrasse Dyson commented on Bill Maher on August 12, for our economy to recover, for the United States to regain some promise in the world, for us to create JOBS, don't we have to MAKE something? What do we make now? We consume, we expect, we indenture our future. We have lost our standing in the world, and our footing to climb back up.

So. What do we do? What do we MAKE? Dyson mentioned how hopeful he always felt as a youth, growing up in the 60's. There was constant talk of tomorrow -- the city of tomorrow, the space race and where it would lead, even the imaginary exploration that captured us for nyears, Star Trek. It was all there. It was all killed (my own suspicion is that hope died with the everlasting involvement in Vietnam), The odd thing is that the future is still out there, and if America does not lead the way someone else will. So instead of bickering among ourselves over our small group private interests, maybe we should look for some united front on which we can all -- dare I say it -- pin our hopes,

1 comment:

  1. I can’t disagree with you, but also can’t agree, for if it’s true and hope is no longer alive, please let somebody turn of the light. I firmly believe that there is still a lot of hope amongst people. The little hope and the big hopes. But it’s true, it’s no longer what you hear on the street or in shops. That has a reason, for the fear of all things that can go wrong has a so much louder voice. It is what we all are believing. In the Netherlands the amount of people that say they feel unsafe is increasing but objectively our society is no more unsafe then a few decades ago. Hope and fear are in essential the same, they are emotions. Fear sales. Fear makes it possible to maintain and control, much like the church did back then when they spoke of heaven and hell. Yes, I firmly believe that hope is still alive and kicking in each and every one of us. It is only a matter of when we are starting to listen again to this whispering sound.

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