Philosophy is dead.

Have we convinced ourselves that we’re living in the future? It’s already 2005, we’re well into the 21st century. The 20th century was marked by unpreceded technological advances. Transporation advances. Communication advances. The global market. If you take it all in during one giant breath, you might even convince yourself that we’re living in a golden age.

But, no.

We live in a world where we’re dependent on society. This isn’t to say that humans didn’t interact as a society previously. In fact, in a lot of ways, nothing’s changed. You want potatos, right? Somebody has to grow them. Whether it’s 2005 or 1905, somebody has to grow them, somebody has to ship them to your local market, and somebody has to sell them to you.

But the infrastructure. Imagine a world where you don’t wander five miles from your home. You raise your family and live with the same family of neighbors for the rest of your life. No car. No gasoline. No electricity. None of those dependencies. If part of this infrastructure is effected, a lot of people are effected. Dependency on society.

This is supposed to be the future. Things are supposed to be better. We, as a society, are supposed to be better. We’re supposed be enlightened. We’re supposed to be the height of civilization. Or is that just something we’ve convinced ourselves? What’s the difference between the person that drives a gas-guzzling SUV and a person who drives a hybrid? Both is convinced they are better than the other. You deserve an SUV, don’t you? You work hard. Now go out there and destroy nature. And the pretentious hybrid driver. Oh sure, it’s about saving gas. Just looking at the bottom line. Bet you feel like a hot-shot doing that.

The future. Poverty still exists. War still exists, ragingly. Racism, sexism, jewism. Hunger exists. Circumcision still exists. Religions still clash over who’s right, and who gets a small hunk of crust on the Earth’s surface. Governments are still out-of-touch with the populations they govern. Future? WHERE’S MY FLYING CAR?

We have a perspective of the world. An idealism, really. A President that believes his version of this idealism. Oh sure, “democracy” is a grand thing. If only our government were actually a democracy. Calling it a Republic doesn’t make it much better. A small revolutionary faction, fermenting over a couple hundred years; our government is hardly “we the people anymore”.

And yet, our government’s own ignorance reflects our own. Politicians don’t care. And we don’t care, either. Maybe I’m jaded, but this is hardly a government that I, in any way shape or form, participate in. (I’m not denying that I’m part of the problem.) I stopped really caring or paying attention to the events in Iraq. What happens in terms of world events is out of my control.

At least that’s never changed. Governments are just lunatics with power and a hidden agenda.

What comes after the future? Decay. Chaos. The striking hand stops hiding how utterly fake it is. We’ve been told all our lives that we’re the greatest country in the world. Defy that axiom, and all the “good things” about this country are thrown in your face. In every country, you’re free as long as you stay out of the government’s way. Yes, even in Iraq during Saddam’s reign.

Freedom? What does that even mean anymore? Freedom to have a predesignated life like everybody else? We are forced to live in the future whether we like it or not.

It’s as if the entire world is caught up in not only their relevance to global events, but also their intrinsic self-importance. What stories will be told of us? Will old Seinfeld reruns reflect the state of our society the way we can look at old Shakespeare plays?

I don’t know. I’m just shooting things out of my mouth. Much like the last 100 years, I expect to see a lot of world change in my lifetime. This is not the Final Form of the world. It will continue to decline. Height of civilization, my ass.