Progress
written on Tuesday, September 3, 2024
As I'm getting older a lot of my social circles are becoming ever more conservative. The focus shifts from building with ambition to fiercly protecting what one has achieved. Shifting the mind on protectionism makes one consider all that can cause damage. It puts the focus on the negative, it makes those negative thoughts feel much more significant than they are and one dwells on the past, instead of envisioning of what opportunity might lie ahead.
Yet, when we look back at history, it becomes clear that progress and fresh ideas tend to prevail over time. Not every new idea will succeed, but the overall trend is undeniable.
I believe that every day presents us with a choice: to step forward with courage and optimism or to cling to the status quo, even as it becomes increasingly untenable. Embracing new ideas carries inherent risks, but so does the refusal to explore them.
Right now we find ourselves slowly sliding down from our local maximum and some people try to pull you back up to where we were standing. On the other hand if you dare to run you will find a bigger and more impressive hill to scale. One that offers a better vantage point and when water rises undoubtedly the better place to be.
In today's political environment, the rhetoric is dominated by a yearning for the past. Some politicians will promote a return to fossil fuels and conservative social norms. They play into your fears of others and promote individualism at cost of the collective. The will uphold every bad news as a reason to fortify borders and strengthen nation-states.
But as time marches on, future generations will likely look back at these regressive inclinations and wonder how we could have been so short-sighted.