The End of Our Innocence
Sep. 22nd, 2003 04:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cassy_gLast Concorde Tickets On Sale
You're sitting there asking yourself, so what? I wouldn't have ever been able to fly on one any way. It costs just as much to fly one way as it would to fly first-class in a big jet, and I would have a lot more room in the big jet too!
In 1975, I was six years old, and I still clearly remember seeing on television that the very first flight from London to New York was going to be made by a Concorde. They even told us about how the Concorde had been developed, and showed us the way the nose of the plane would move up and down to help it with it's supersonic travel. Well, WOW, I remember thinking, isn't that just the neatest?
Through the 1960's and 1970's our country was like a child wide-eyed with excitement and the desire to know "why" and "what".
We sent people to the moon, and with sheer dogged determination and desire to succeed and survive, they found their way home again. We sent the Vikings to Mars, and we got to watch Jacques Cousteau explore the depths of the ocean.
It's only now, that I see clearly that somewhere along the way, we lost our dreams.
Society has stopped relishing the oo's and ah's that exploration brings and has turned towards that which is macabre. We seek the pain and suffering in others, hoping it will make us forget that we are suffering too, or perhaps will tell us that our lives really aren't so bad. If you don't believe that, turn on the news, or watch a little prime-time reality TV.
I ask myself why, what changed, when did we lose our desire to learn at all costs? Then I realize, it's because when we explore the unknown there is the possibility people will die, and that is no longer acceptable to us.
Of course, there are those of you that would argue that people die fighting in wars all the time. Yes, that's so. People do die when fighting a war, on both sides, without prejudice or remorse or care for who is right and who is wrong.
But we've changed.
There's honor in dying for your country, for your cause, for duty, otherwise, it's just a tragedy.
All in all, it turns out, we put away our toys and we've grown up. I'm just not sure we've grown wise.
You're sitting there asking yourself, so what? I wouldn't have ever been able to fly on one any way. It costs just as much to fly one way as it would to fly first-class in a big jet, and I would have a lot more room in the big jet too!
In 1975, I was six years old, and I still clearly remember seeing on television that the very first flight from London to New York was going to be made by a Concorde. They even told us about how the Concorde had been developed, and showed us the way the nose of the plane would move up and down to help it with it's supersonic travel. Well, WOW, I remember thinking, isn't that just the neatest?
Through the 1960's and 1970's our country was like a child wide-eyed with excitement and the desire to know "why" and "what".
We sent people to the moon, and with sheer dogged determination and desire to succeed and survive, they found their way home again. We sent the Vikings to Mars, and we got to watch Jacques Cousteau explore the depths of the ocean.
It's only now, that I see clearly that somewhere along the way, we lost our dreams.
Society has stopped relishing the oo's and ah's that exploration brings and has turned towards that which is macabre. We seek the pain and suffering in others, hoping it will make us forget that we are suffering too, or perhaps will tell us that our lives really aren't so bad. If you don't believe that, turn on the news, or watch a little prime-time reality TV.
I ask myself why, what changed, when did we lose our desire to learn at all costs? Then I realize, it's because when we explore the unknown there is the possibility people will die, and that is no longer acceptable to us.
Of course, there are those of you that would argue that people die fighting in wars all the time. Yes, that's so. People do die when fighting a war, on both sides, without prejudice or remorse or care for who is right and who is wrong.
But we've changed.
There's honor in dying for your country, for your cause, for duty, otherwise, it's just a tragedy.
All in all, it turns out, we put away our toys and we've grown up. I'm just not sure we've grown wise.
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no subject
Date: 2003-09-22 03:29 pm (UTC):)
no subject
Date: 2003-09-22 05:06 pm (UTC)So much in the news is demanding attention lately!
By the way, I read your post about Revolve and I have some thoughts on it. Will post them sometime today. :)
no subject
Date: 2003-09-24 11:03 am (UTC)At our core, I believe that the best destiny of mankind lies in his future as an explorer, a thinker, and a loving soul. Is that the path that I see western culture taking now? Hell no! Maybe we'll collapse like ancient Rome, dragged under by the weight of our excesses. Maybe we'll pull ourselves back from the brink of entropy, but my hope dwindles.
no subject
Date: 2003-09-24 02:10 pm (UTC)Ironically, it feels like we are going full circle.
no subject
Date: 2003-09-24 12:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-09-24 02:10 pm (UTC)