Future

It may seem an absurd observation, but I noted the other day with surprise the sheer volume of possibilities when it comes to picking out one's most mundane and basic supplies.  My local Target carries at least five different brands of paper towels, the cheapest being $3.99 for two rolls (generic too!).  On the other hand, the toilet paper selection is borderline luxurious with seven or eight various brands promising comfort, culture and class differentiation due to their price points!  I am struck by the sheer volume of selection and access to higher quality goods all at one local stop.

As compared to the ancient or medieval world, our local stores make us the equivalent to the great mercantile cities of the Mediterranean.  Alexandria, Constantinople, Cordoba and Venice could not rival in many ways the readily accessible goods available to most of our society in the First World.  Yet for all our potential for positive changes made by having our basic and not so basic needs met, both socially and culturally, we have not changed much from our predecessors.  In fact we seem to have regressed.

Societies of the past found they had to innovate, invent, or find a way around a problem.  Many of these problems have been taken care of for us, so the question arises: what do we do with the time and luxuries we have?  Rather than just exist and get by from day to day, the fact that we ride on the shoulders of men and women who had to work for this relatively calm and prosperous present, we should advance on their legacy of hard work.  The generations that follow are as equally deserving of a brighter future, just as we received it from our forebearers.  Will this result in better paper products?  Perhaps.  More important, rather than living in the present with a glance to the past, we must also prepare for and look ahead to the future.