What will the Future Bring
...kely to have under present policies”. (Pg. 605) You would think with that being the case that higher education would be made more affordable, but no it just keeps getting higher and higher. Even in the state of Vermont tuition prices for state colleges have almost skyrocketed. I guess the higher the demand the higher the price is going to be. It’s like real estate. It is almost as if they don’t want people to become educated. The rich are the only ones who could really afford it. The rich get richer and the poor stay right where they are. It is a very depressing thought. Flipping through the news channels all you see is what’s going on in Hollywood, or the latest on the Michael Jackson case. Then there is the war in Iraq or “Middle East”, which is almost becoming monotonous. All of these current events are sensationalized and exploited by the media. Not to mention the fact that you’re really not getting the whole story. The media is very bias in what information they report to you. For example the recent tsunami had news crews all over the world busy reporting on all the latest information. It was like there was a new death toll “every hour on the hour”. News crews were there for the sole purpose of taking pictures and exploiting the victims. Take Oklahoma City, 9/11, Columbine, Kosovo, any major tragedy, and think back to how over sensationalized and exploited they were. I’m not writing this to bash the media but it is almost like mind control in a sense. I briefly contemplated majoring in communications/journalism but decided that it was just not for me because I wouldn’t want to have to exploit anything to earn a living. After reading “American Ignorance of War”, by Miloz I asked myself the question “Are Americans really stupid?” (Pg.661) No I don’t think Americans are stupid I just think a great majority of them are uninformed or misinformed about what is going on in the world around them. Why is it natural that Americans should be ignorant of war? In recent times we have never had a war right in our backyard. Perhaps if we did then we would not be ignorant of war. Right now we are engaged in the “War on Terrorism” as a result of the events of 9/11. The thing is that it really isn’t being fought on our land. We are however feeling the effects of it such as our loved ones being called to duty over seas, tightened security everywhere, and the Patriot Act. So our picture perfect natural world is slowly starting to become unnatural. Will there be a war in America in your lifetime? We are in the beginning of a war right now. To think that America is untouchable and that we are unstoppable is ignorant which makes us an easy target. 9/11 is an example of that. Rome was a great empire that ruled for a very long time. But Rome eventually fell. Who’s to say that America will not fall as well? It is certainly something that I don’t want to see happen. War no matter how you look at it is terrible and I personally like all the freedoms that I have now at the present moment. It is ignorance, the need for power, and greed that could take it all away from everyone. “Thoughts in the Presence of Fear”, by Wendell Berry, presented another insightful look into the future. “The paramount doctrine of the economic and technological euphoria of recent decades has been that everything depends on innovation. It was understood as desirable, even necessary, that we should go on and on from one technological innovation to the next, which would cause the economy to grow and make everything better and better…….All things superceded in our progress of innovations, what ever their value might have been, were discounted as of no value at all”. The drive that this world has for developing newer technologies is absolutely unbelievable. The road that it has taken to get there is not appreci...