Living in the Past

I’ve returned safely from a two week sojourn abroad and, after three restless nights, have finally readjusted to my local time zone. Most of the time away was spent on a Rhine River cruise from Basel, Switzerland to Amsterdam. The Rhine is replete with castles and, while most of my fellow passengers delved into their historic significance, I found myself focusing on something altogether different. (What a surprise, huh?)

Back in those days of old a castle was, indeed, a fortress. Most contained a moat and were built on higher terrain with limited access to their front gates. These locations and their accouterments were not by accident, you know. It seemed that most folks were hated by most other folks and so, to protect what was theirs, they constructed these fortified “homesteads”. Turrets, battlements, and gun ports were erected to fend off would-be invaders.

Even then, I thought, everyone with wealth concentrated on keeping it from others. And when they weren’t doing that, they concentrated on how to gain more wealth from others. One would think that over the past five hundred years or more the human race would have evolved a bit. Apparently, it hasn’t.

The only thing that has significantly changed is the technology employed to keep our stuff safe from other ne’er-do-wells interested in acquiring it. Moats have gone the way of gated communities, privacy walls, and electronic security systems. The limited access  feature remains and still ends up at a gate of some kind (possibly with a sentry). And I’d venture to say that we are every bit as paranoid as our ancestors in devising ways to keep our riches safe while thinking of ways to get our hands on more. Guns and cannons are no longer required as they once were. Now we use computers and complicated investment schemes to enrich our coffers.

Yes, I generalize, but a glance at any daily newspaper proves my point. I cannot think of one facet of our society that has not betrayed the trust it once enjoyed: government, church, education, banking, and business to name just a few have an abundance of anecdotal evidence pointing to scandal and the attempt to cover-up or carry out plans to either maintain wealth or create even more surreptitiously.

If mankind has not gotten past the practices of medieval times, then what hope can we have for the problems facing us today? Any leader who wants to maintain control fully realizes that hope is the key ingredient in maintaining calm among the masses. Without it revolution is sure to occur. Today in this country the hope of advancement through working hard and being recognized appropriately has given ground to overnight success stories of lottery winners and reality TV celebrities. Do you think this is by accident? I don’t.

After all, it’s about the only dream most of us can lay claim to anymore. Many have no job at all and others are so terrified of losing one that they fall prey to the unreasonable demands of their bosses. Not much hope for that to improve anytime soon so we might as well dwell on how we’ll spend our lottery winnings. It’s something, anyway.

We look to our leaders to make things better by challenging the status quo. But that is the last thing they want to do because the status quo guarantees them of a continued flow of wealth and power. They’d be nuts to consider that or think with a grander vision than their own advancement. And there’s the problem: for over three years I have encouraged the thought of corporate conscience and the like and, until I saw the castles of the Rhine up close and personal, I thought it was a possibility.

No longer, though. And that saddens me for if we cannot have faith in those who lead there is no reason for them to do so. And so, instead, they continue to laud the good old USA as the last shining example of society on the world. “We’re number 1”, they chant as we chant along. Only, though, if we’re talking about defense spending or incarceration rates. We’re not number 1, folks, and haven’t been for a good while. But it makes us feel good in the absence of any substantive change in our lives, doesn’t it? Kind of like the citizens of ancient Rome in its last days of glory, perhaps.

“Where’s the ray of sunshine?” you might ask. After all, I usually find one straw to grasp. Not today, though. Nope, I’m left with a feeling of helplessness because I’ve held fast to the concept that the human race can rise up and do great things. Maybe we still can, but as wrapped up as we are in scandal and partisanship I think it will take either major upheaval outside of established institutions or some other external stimulus. We don’t have the power to change things and those that do don’t want to. Except, of course, in providing the perception that they want to. And that provides cold comfort as prospects for improvement grow dim.

So here I sit wondering why I continue to hold out hope for deliverance through established methods when I’m no longer dealing with the mindset of folks, but rather their DNA seemingly unchanged over the past few eons. We’ve all seen the tee shirt that says “SSDD” (Same shit, different day). I can now visualize one that says “SSDC”: Same shit, different century.