On the Instability of the Modern World

Long ago, when parents knew what the future held, they tought their children how to live. They understood the seasons, how to hunt and farm, where to find water and they knew how men came to have wives. The circle of life was hard yet predictable.

Then came the rise of cities and specialization. Everyone stopped doing everything and now people only did certain things and others did the rest. Parents knew less about what to teach their children and with time their children had less in common with their parents.

As time went on the changing tide grew more and more rapidly and no one knew what to expect or what to teach. People had less in common with each other at every level. Specialization dividing every unit of knowledge until information itself became unstable and with the future in flux the masses seek the old ways.

Anything to join a group with a cause. Teaching anything that seems to point to a future more stable than the present. Clinging to those that sell timeless truths knowing that time is plunging forward into the unknown. As humanity seizes forward the old have less to offer the young and the young split apart into islands of self indulgence and discovery.

With rapid change comes instability but the roots of morality ground our actions and guide our future even in the midst of the unknown. With ruthless self reflection and unwavering personal responsibility one can make a difference. This does not change the past or even those around you and may have no effect on the world, but it matters to the individual that looks at life and wonders what it all means.

It is no wonder that the youth feel like pioneers and the old feel angst as the young replace them. It is no wonder that the old have failed to prepare the young for a world they can't predict and never saw coming. Holding on to the past only helps if it acknowledges the truth of the changing of the world and accepts the limits of our knowledge. Those truths that ground morality must remain while the forces that stifle connection must wither or else the future is lost to the chaos that comes from technological advancement.