Posted on 09/16/2003 8:49:41 AM PDT by Dead Dog
Guest Essay
Albuquerque artist Wilson Hurley is New Mexico's Renaissance man. Widely acclaimed for his Western landscapes, he also has had a successful law career, served in the National Guard, was an enginer at Sandia Corp. and a banker who helped organize Citizens Bank. He is a graduate of West Point and George Washington University Law School. He too takes a look at the future.
The year 2000 is unusual because of its number. Outside that singularity, it marks no watershed in our lives or culture.
All through history we have changed as technology advanced. Thus the 20th-century culture started a change from 1960 to 1980 with advances in birth control and the invention of the transistor. The resulting revolution in morals, computations and communications is incomplete, and no one can yet estimate how much of the structure of our civilization will be made obsolete or become more treasured and relevant. Yet, for all the uncertainty, there are a few things we can predict.
Human nature has not changed and will not change. It still pleases us to be treated justly, to be free, to be safe, to eat, dress and sleep warm. We find joy in fellowship and society. There will always be people with open hearts and minds willing to commit themselves to others wholly and for life with love.
There are many who for no personal advantage will cling to what is good, kind, pure and just, and understand that truth is more complex and solid than a mere personal opinion. This was evident in Plato's time. It will be evident 1,000 years hence.
There will still be the joy of life, the pure laughter of frivolous play and the excitement of games, parties and fun.
And yes, in the next 1,000 years there will be born new people -- some with beautiful faces that will lift the hearts of all who see them, and others who will carry a love and glory in their bosoms that will heal all who encounter them. There will be new minds to deal with problems you and I have not even imagined.
There will also be people who will be driven to control, grasp, change and dominate. History is essentially a constant litany of those who lust for power. This appetite can come armed and cruel, with overt evil, or softly with high purpose and honeyed words. And, bless us, many of us will succumb to it. The misery in our history is perhaps testimony to our gullibility.
As for the natural and material sides of our future, all things that live are parasites. That is, we each live on something else. Therefore, we must live off our environment even as the minnow, tree or songbird. The future will continue to be controlled by this inescapable fact pitted against various movements to protect nature against our thoughtless destruction of it.
Control of wealth will still cause strife. Property ownership by individuals is the basic prerequisite of freedom. If you disagree, ask how free you are when someone else controls your money. The amazing thing about wealth is that it can be created where nothing existed before and is limitless when human ingenuity and labor are unfettered. Yet for everyone who creates wealth, there will be another to say, "You create it, I will decide how to use it." Be it slavery, divine right of kings, a ruling class of merchants, priests, soldiers or socialists, the principle remains the same. Only the arguments change.
Despite that, think of what a gift it is for all of us to be alive, to be aware of one another and our universe. What a pleasure it is to explore and reward our curiosities. What a comfort to love and be loved.
And you may be sure that the world will still present us with the same beauty -- each leaf as it turns up in the breeze, each cloud as the sun shimmers on it high in the limitless vault of blue. Each will slowly roll under the benign glow of our sun for yet this future time to give us and those who come after at least a chance at this priceless miracle we call life.
It is a founding point in the arguement for and against Socialism/Communism, Constructionists vs. "Living Document" types, and it ties in with the argument that all totalitarians are Left wing.
Yes! That is why the study of history is so important!
The answer is an unequivocal yes. A reading of Aeschylus' Oresteia, Aristophanes' The Cloud, Sophocles' Electra and The Illiad by Homer shows us that man's nature has not changed since these classics were written. I recently read them, having never read them before. The one thing that I took away from them was we haven't changed one iota since they were written. I still don't know if that is good or bad. I lean toward the good because it shows we as a race at least are stable in our morality no matter how much the leftists try to change it.
One could say no progress is possible. Technological innovation that eliminates scarcity for most changes the environment and gives the illusion of progress, and education--especially passing on knowledge of systems of belief and behavior--gives young people a headstart in moral decision-making, but the apparent progress would be sustained only while technological civilization continues. If that day comes that--in spite of technology--scarcity returns, it will be Lord of the Flies again.
The body of a man that was found in the Alps (I forget the name given him) by hikers and later examined by scientists has been dated to be about 5000 years old. Upon examination, the scientists noticed an arrowhead lodged in his back. Human nature has neither changed in 5000 years nor will it change in the next 5000 years.
Good day!
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