The Future’s so Bright, I have to Wear Shades

11. February 2011 by admin.

Isn’t it wonderful, living in such historic times?  Well, there are good elements of history and then there are bad.  The downfall of Hosni Mubarak is a good element.  It shows promise and hope for a future in this world, something momentous and affirming.  The Egyptian people have taken back their lives and presented a statement to the region that power is granted by the people, not taken by a few chosen ones.  Not a bad start to the year.

Call me an idealist, but for me things began changing as the Soviet Union began to collapse.  This was followed by the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of the two Germanies.  Imagine, in a few years’ time there will be people who will have never known a divided Germany. 

We’ve seen relative peace break out in North Africa and the Middle East and while our focus has shifted toward central and eastern Asia, things have trended toward a common theme: knowledge begets power.  The knowledge of an incident of corruption and violence in Egypt has ultimately led to the downfall of an autocrat.  Facebook was the rallying point around which hundreds of thousands of Egyptians could coalesce to bring about (relatively) peaceful revolution.

How powerful is this knowledge?  Let’s say that the fear of spreading knowledge has led several countries to restrict the access of its citizens to information in a vain hope of avoiding a similar fate.  But let’s face it, the tide has turned already.  Even in the most impoverished of nations, people have their cell phones and their internet and are able to communicate without the knowledge or consent of their governments.  And even in places like North Korea where the people in power have the populace firmly under their boot, information trickles in.

Information becomes knowledge, knowledge is shared, and soon you have people who view knowledge (and access to information) as a right, not a privilege.  What is even funnier about this scenario is that even the most enlightened countries will have to face their own little revolutions as more people use the information that’s available to develop knowledge and then, to act on it.

Look at what has happened with the whole Wikileaks situation.  We all knew that the United States had its own share of secrets but the sheer volume of information that became available is staggering.  The big concern is that humanity is not yet mature enough to know how to handle this overload of information.  Or that we know how to determine what is fact from hyperbole from fiction.  For me, this means that we, as a world, need to ensure that everyone has full and complete access to unfettered and unbiased education.

I don’t just mean schools.  I mean that every human being has the right to learn how to learn.  This is distinct from learning information since anyone can learn stuff, but learning how to learn is the building block on which the future is built.  Sure, parents want their children to be just like them, believe just like them, but the reality is that every child has the right to choose for themselves.  More and more these days we hear about children diverging from the philosophies and beliefs of their parents, often to a diametrical opposite.  And that is good.  Because I firmly believe that while we all may disagree on how we get there, we all have the same set of goals in mind: peace, prosperity, and security.  And while some of us still think this is a zero sum game where someone has to lose for them to gain, I believe that we will discover that we can all succeed equally, if we choose to work at it.

So the changes in the Middle East are beginning and my heart is singing the possibilities of the future.  Where are we heading?  When will we get there?  I just hope that I am alive to see some of the major events unfold toward a bright and glorious future for all of humanity.  I can’t wait!

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