Todd Purdum in February’s Vanity Fair catalogues the decline of the human condition. He notes, for example, that technology has made privacy obsolete. Gone, too, is the power of nation states, superseded by the multi-national elite — corporations and multibillionaires who play by a different set of rules than in the past and whose loyalty is to themselves. Worse, given the flow of information, we see the problems but are overwhelmed by so many that we fail to act, treating them simply as topics for debate. (“Prancing on a Volcano” by Todd S. Purdum, Vanity Fair, 2/13, pg 76-78.)
Of course, Purdum’s observations are not new and he admits he has no idea how history may judge us. Maybe the era is better than we think or at least not as bad as the next one.
Any day’s reading on my Facebook page will confirm that others feel as Purdum does. The best we can hope for is that political satirists like Bill Maher, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert will help us laugh our way to oblivion.
I am no Pollyanna, but I’m not as gloomy as Purdum. As individuals, we hold the future in our hands and shape it every day by our actions. There is truth when I speak the truth. There is kindness when I am kind. Each of us, living our lives as honorably as we can, quietly, and without fanfare creates what history will say of us.
(Courtesy of warez.f60s.com)
