Living in the twenty-first century, as most of us do, we have to wonder. Something went seriously wrong in the last half century. Somehow we work more and end up with less than we used to. "Things are more like they are now than they have ever been." There is something less fulfilling about life these days.
I don't know what's wrong with today compared with yesterday.
What was right in 1966
that has gone a little bit more wrong
in each subsequent year?
I have spent two decades
applying my ample intellect
trying to figure this out,
I have lots of ideas and suggestions,
but I still have no direct answer.
We all seem to feel the post-modern depression. In politics, in our version of Stalin's concept of "politically correct," in people's manners, in the integrity of our printed and broadcast media, in our standard of living, in our attitudes about excellence, in the state of education in the United States, in the choice of feel-good over do-good, we feel a sense of loss and helplessness that has been articulated well by William A. Henry III and others.
I can tell you that I have five areas of intense interest
and I feel four of them crumbling beneath my feet.
These are
Operations Research (my field of study),
computer programming,
music
and audio,
and
aviation.
My feelings are mixed about
the state of long distance running.
Most of these have declined considerably
in the last thirty years
and have a bleaker future ahead of them.
I have to figure that similar things
have happened in other areas
that I do not know so well.
I miss the moon landings
and I miss looking forward
to the manned Mars missions.
Working now is a lot less fulfilling,
a lot less fun,
than professional life thirty years ago.
We work more for less
with less job security.
I remember listening patiently to a person
a generation older than myself
complaining about the dim prospects
for the twenty-first century.
All I could answer is,
"Well,
at least you're retired.
You won't have to work there."
We live in wonderful times
rich in wonderful things.
If I sound negative,
then it is because
I remember what used to be,
I grew up in the Space Age,
and I know the promise of what this century could have been.
Today is 2009 January 5, Monday
21:19:46 Mountain Standard Time
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