It seems to me not too long ago their was a widely held belief that in the future things would be fantastic. War would be a thing of the past, diseases would be virtually elliminated, racism, violence, discrimination would all be things of the past. Personal robots, hovering cars, sidewalks that transported you where you wanted to go, all at the click of a button or equivalent simplicity.
I remember my mom telling me when she was a girl she'd watch the Jetsons and imagine that to be what the world would come to.
Here we are. In "The Future." Isnt it grand?
No? hmmm...
Well why isnt the future a Great Utopia? Why are things essentially like they were (more or less) 40 years ago?
Of course, Utopia isnt really possible its a target to aim for but never reach. Here's what I think though.
We REALLY havent progressed anywhere because we dont solve problems.
WE DONT SOLVE PROBLEMS.
Its not really about solving problems anymore in any large sense. We constantly sweep problems under the carpet and are surprised to see them occasionally reemerge. Our government is all about blowing hot air and rarely getting any of the grand things done they say they will. Or they create legislation that does the opposite of what its title implies. In the macro sense, we just dont solve problems. Discrimination is a great example. To avoid discrimination against minority students going to college we discriminate against "White" students through Affirmative Action. Think about it that way. I feel bad for these people but really? How is there ever going to be true progress when we perpetuate the problem we seek to solve. We arent solving problems by "helping" one group and hurting another.
We really need to do something productive. Something that actually makes a positive difference on a consistent basis. Otherwise, we'll be stuck right here or we'll be going backwards really fast. I dont need to remind you how many problems our society has today or that our world is in turmoil. There are real solutions that are possible. This doesnt mean they are easy, but it does require a great deal of dedication. I hate using trite expressions, but in this case it does justice to what I'm saying. Rome wasnt built in a day. If we want real solutions we have to be willing to take the time to see the fruits of our labors somewhere off in the future.
If we ever want to progress and reach for that goal of a great society, a sort of "Utopia" we have to be willing to make changes in our lives, and reform parts of our political system and really focus on solving problems instead of constantly sweeping them under the carpet to be dealt with at a later date that is to be determined.
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it is so strange,
that whites proclaim,
they will sacrifice,
their life,
for their great country.
and yet,
when it comes down,
to equality,
no white,
wants to sacrifice,
so that years of injustice,
can be brought to light,
and finally corrected.
do you honestly think,
that affirmative action,
hurts whites in the same direction,
that segregation,
battered African Americans.
Why did you type your reply like that? Is it supposed to be a poem? (just asking)
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See my blog and I'll love you forever! Or at least temporarily: www.progressiveu.org/blog/npsm18
I'm not used to arst replies to my posts...
What the hell?!
"Its all very well to practice but it will never work in theory."
a very poor poem, but poem none the less.
Do you honestly
believe
that putting line breaks
in your
responses
makes it poetry?
And did you
seriously try
to rhyme
direction with
segregation?
Res ipsa loquitur.
memor mori, mahalo.
But
didn't you know?
Anyone
can be a poet,
and anything
poetry.
It's all
a matter
of taste.
"CONSERVATIVE, n.
A statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as distinguished from the Liberal, who wishes to replace them with others."
- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"
"But
didn't you know?
Anyone
can be a poet,
and anything
poetry.
It's all
a matter
of taste."
Poop in a bucket
Piss in a can
This poetry is shit.
I'm not a fan.
"Its all very well in practice but it will never work in theory."
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/daimler
its a slant rhyme, and parallel word construction.
it was the strange linguistic relationship between action, direction, and segregation that was being emphasized. this relationship was meant to correlate with the equally strange relationship between the definitions of action, segregation and direction. The terms to do not go together well lyrically, thus, segregation should not be the action or the direction. This lines are also placed between lines that end with "think /African Americans". I was trying to be critical of some blacks as well
This last section relates to more towards the past than the present. The first two stanzas are related to modern society, which is emphasized as backwards because the present is coming before the past, in terms of the poems structure. The staggering spacing of the second stanza was used to dramatized the rhyme between "sacrifice/and brought to light." Its as if the poem is bringing itself to light at the same time. The first stanza creates a logical flow of rhyme that is broken up in the last line. This break is centered on the word "great",used to describe the country. the awkward nature of this word in terms of the rhyme scheme was meant to emphasize its awkward use in describing america
u dont have to like it, but u dont need to bash something you may not understand.
The reason we haven't achieved Utopia is because it cannot be done. People are always going to be in disagreement over what such a society would be like, so even sketching one out, much less implementing it, is impossible. There are just too many competing interests.
The other reason is that utopian fantasies give license to barbarism, usually against those who don't see the greatness in a particular utopian vision. Anything is justified as long as it's done in the service of "the cause," whether it's removing "undesirables" from the population to achieve racial purity, killing close to two million citizens through forced labor in order to create a classless society, or suspending the Geneva Conventions and Habeas Corpus to end terrorism and ensure a new American century. 'Sure, it's a messy road, but won't it be great when we get there?'
None of this is to make excuses for complacency and an ugly status quo; we should be striving for progress and solving the world's problems, and I agree that many will just sweep a problem under the rug. But often the people on either side of an issue will try to ascribe an ideological band-aid to a problem that needs to be assessed realistically, with consideration of the ramifications of a policy, and the willingness to change tactics to minimize consequences.
Affirmative Action, while arguable, made some sense when it was first implemented; it was a form of delayed reparations to the first generation of blacks to receive a non-separate and (in theory) equal treatment. African Americans a generation later haven't grown up in segregation (de jour); the circumstances that led to Affirmative Action's creation have changed, so why shouldn't our approach change with them?
In short, Utopian ideas should serve as a guideline, not a blueprint.
"CONSERVATIVE, n.
A statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as distinguished from the Liberal, who wishes to replace them with others."
- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"
"In short, Utopian ideas should serve as a guideline, not a blueprint."
I absolutely agree. As I stated in my blog it is a goal. It will never be achieved, but that doesnt mean we cant get close. Their are competing interests and their will be competition but a lot of the reason we dont improve as a society is because we dont solve many of the problems we have until they finally become so bad we can no longer ignore them. This is probably the biggest challenge to progress we have today and it requires large reforms in the way things are done, and in the way we think about achieving goals. All too often we look for quick and easy fixes to problems but some problems have no easy fix. The Iraq War is one I see, "some" thought removing Saddam and establishing democracy and bombing key targets would be enough to establish peace in Iraq but we never addressed the real sectarian problems the people in Iraq have and the poverty that country's lower class faces.
"Its all very well to practice but it will never work in theory."
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/daimler
I remember reading a story in middle school about a culture that would plant date trees..not so they could benefit but so the generation after them would have food. I think this is the way we must see things. If we take the initiative..if we take the time out of our busy schedules to fix things going wrong today, the future might be more sound.
"Its all very well in practice but it will never work in theory."
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/daimler
All utopias are inherently facist. Any governing principle, when universally agreed upon, creates a utopia. Utopias all hinge on one thing, that everybody agree that they are utopias.
Res ipsa loquitur.
memor mori, mahalo.
If all utopias are inherently facist and we are not in a utopia doesnt that make all people inherently liberal?
"Its all very well in practice but it will never work in theory."
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/daimler
I "like" how we see the problems from the Tigris to the Euphrates but not from sea to shining sea.
Who is to blame for the complacency? The government, the media, the citizens... I think it is the mass media. We see 7000 advertisements in one day! All the advertisements rely on super-edgy marketing tactics and a schizotypal (magical thinking) inducing tendency. (You can be Like Mike, that's utopian/magical). We are also bombarded with cynical news and every TV sitcom is full of pre-packaged families with their razor sharp wit. We take two things from the media: Concern for "issues" and how to live a zany and fun life.
That paragraph was about the incredible influence of the media. Assuming they have an incredible influence, how has it affected society? I think society (citizens) take to marketing and public relations schemes every step of the way. It has the dual ability to make us spend money on crap, and make ourselves feel like crap so we spend MORE money on crap.
This self-consciousness and MTV polish make for a weak citizen much less a weak activist. Activism for 16-26 is off-limits unless you look like Janeane Garofalo or hate showers. Thanks MTV, when are you going to make activism popular? They may give up after we weren't able to Rock the Vote or Vote or Die.
The free press showed us a glass house. They invited us to live with THE Brady's in their lovely Southern Californian home with their wacky situations. Did Marcia or Greg protest despite being in SC in the 70's, No. The media is good about avoiding issues and distorting the truth WHICH... is not lying!?
If you are a white person in the top 20% income level, you live in utopia. You also have the money needed to be progressive and start a movement. Who's movement? The media's or something organic. We need the marginalized people to start a movement, not the 20% because its counterintuitive.