A Lack Of Interest In The Future

I find myself a great deal less interested in the future than I used to be.

Once upon a time, of course, I was much more so - I remember being in 5th or 6th grade at our local public library, reading a book about how space stations were the wave of the future and what they would be like (with artist's renditions, no less).  And I have been a great consumer of science fiction for over 40 years.

But my interest in the last few years has drastically fallen off.

The easy answer is to look at my age (back side of 40) and simply say that the future means less to me because I am likely to spend less time in it.  Which is a legitimate thought, of course - statistically I have something like 26 years or so, thanks to my genes maybe something more like 30.  And with that, of course, are all the things that I will not get to do (because on the whole, 70 year olds do not go to space).

But that is not it, entirely.

The more factually accurate answer is simply that I have seen the future, and there is very little of it that interests me.

The onward roll of history in my lifetime has been that of collectivization, a slow but steady loss of true diversity of opinion, and greater and greater control and power by centralized bodies of authority.  On the whole, most of us can do less, say less, express our opinion less, and be less than what was once possible.  The technological achievements of this age - the fact that I can stream music or look up facts anywhere - are a pale benefit compared to that.

I foresee a time - before I die - that even the lesser versions of what I can do, think, say, and participate in now will be swept away in the great societal need for control of every aspect of the "common good"  (it does not matter which good you discuss at the moment - there are several, and all involve more and more control and less and less freedom).  If you would see the future - at the least the future as some see it  - research the experiments the Chinese Government is making with the Social Credit system.  This represents control at the highest level - rated by the government for what you do, say, and how you act, you ability to do things, get jobs, and travel are expanded or curtailed.

The sad thing for those that are pushing these sorts of future is that the tomes of history tell us that those who create such things seldom survive them.  The edifices that are put in place in the name of the common good will ultimately resemble the high walls and towers of fortresses and walls, meant to keep in those below.  The future they get will not be the future they pictured.

I, however, have reconciled myself to the fact that this is the nature of things.  I can only hope that such things are at least held off until my demise.  I have no sense that they will go the other way.

I would like to have seen space, though.