The Death of Progress
How we have stopped believing in the future.
Many people instinctively feel that the future is uncertain and our children might not be as well off as ourselves. We all experience this worry about the state of our world. A Gallup Poll conducted in 2017 concluded that the world is ‘sad, worried, stressed and in pain’ Most negative scores were recorded in countries that had experienced conflict and displacement, but the overall trend was global, with three out of four Americans experiencing some form of anxiety.
Is this what progress has given us? By destroying our planet and ecosystem, are we actually destroying ourselves? Is there a cause we can rally around within the moral wasteland of consumerism ? While we worry, citadels of privilege are being fortified and increasingly placed out of reach. Should we storm them, so we can start rebuilding? Are we ready for serious upheaval? Maybe we need it. Perhaps the future is worth fighting for, even if we have to gamble.
As I get older, I ponder my place in the grand scheme of things. I sort of have to. I want to understand my parents and my children in relation to myself and my generation. Where do we all stand in history and where does my own anxiety about the future come from.
