Posted on 07/20/2010 6:39:21 AM PDT by bsaunders
We are barraged by reminders that the economy is oh so slowly pulling out from a deep and broad recession. The jobs are lagging, as is their usual reaction to slow recoveries. For those of us old enough to remember the times are reminiscent of the late 1970s and early 1980s. The similarity is further reinforced by the constant comparisons coming from the more conservative commentaries of President Obama to President Carter. The liberals are touting the same President Obama as a savior much in the same mold as President Reagan, though they would never mention Reagan. But all of this is irrelevant to the truth of the age in which we live. We are the second, third, or at longest fourth generation of the age of hope and great bounty. We live in a rare period in a society that enjoys wealth in abundance even if many of us neither admit nor appreciate this little truth. We really should be thankful for the abundance of our times.
The lands of this wealth conforms to the industrial and information based countries where technology is most advanced. Leading the world are the United States and Canada, followed by Europe then Asia then South America. Lagging desperately behind is much of Africa followed by a fair amount of South America and Asia where many live in a completely different world. The promise though is that the areas of bounty are currently spreading to include more and more of the peoples of Mother Earth. The question is which will win out in our future. Will we find the new sources of energy we call renewable energy before our supply of easy carbon based energy runs dry. Most indicators are that the future will be promising and new and ample energies will be developed. By all indications, technology has reached a tipping point where, for possibly the first time in human history, the immediate future holds more promise than dread. So, what will this future of promise mean to us as individuals?
Much is made of how our societies are changing and that every part of our lives are in flux of revolutionary changes. We have access to information beyond the wildest dreams of any time from history. There are the warnings that some will be lost retreating into their own little cyber existence unable to cope with the real world. Unsurprising, this has been a problem throughout human existence, just now it has a new manifestation. We used to call these people that lived in their own magic realms mad. Most of us will adapt and use these cyber realities as our new playgrounds, just now we will need to find alternate ways for exercise. Examining our new lives, we will find the truth of that old phrase, “The more things change, the more they remain the same.”
The challenge for the future of mankind will not be as dedicated to mere survival, though we do like to complain how difficult our lives can be. We will have increasing time and energies to pursue our individual wants. Truth be told, the real challenge humankind is about to face is becoming too individualistic way too inwardly turned. We must continue to value the one thing that has served humankind and fulfilled our lives making them richer in all times. We must retain a hold on immediate social networks also known as friendship. We need to return to having a sense of community, which will require us to actually go out and meet our neighbors.
Our sense of neighborhood has been the greatest casualty of our techno lifestyle and could become so epidemic that we will be unable to grow bonds of neighborhood. Without this sense of belonging geographically, our society will fall prey to those who have a strong sense of neighborhood, whether their sense is what we would consider healthy or unhealthy, constructive or destructive, progressive or regressive, inclusive or exclusive. Our future is dependent upon our ties of neighborliness or will fall to those who retain such a sense of neighborhood. Simply put, the neighborhood is the group of society immediately above the family, and just as the loss of family cohesion, the loss of neighborly cohesion leaves our society as a whole vulnerable to a creeping invasion one neighborhood after another to any influence retaining that quality. So, go greet a neighbor this week, and add another each week until you establish a neighborhood and see what wonders these acts will deliver.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.