Times have changed, and they still change constantly and much faster than they used to. you get around nowadays and talk to people from whatever part of the world, and the level of education and knowledge is maybe 10% of what it used to be fifty years ago. The perception of the world have changed; yes, it's easier to get around and access information, but how much of the knowledge are we really absorbing?
There was a time when people would get great education at their countries, learn the history of the world and be open to know the stories of the past. Those who had some level of money and power would send their children to schools abroad, to learn different languages and get higher level of education and broader cultural knowledge.
Nowadays the furthest you will go is with an exchange student program for six months, and even then, the level of education is not guaranteed to excel. Yes you have experiences that are valuable for your life, but what is your money really paying for? Maybe some different scenery views, movie sessions and frat house parties?
Let's talk about day to day politeness too. Back in the day, families ate together, talked about issues of the world. People asked to be excused, said they were sorry when wrong and complimented their friends even at the smallest accomplishment. Hello's, goodbye's and pleases were exchanged at all social levels and ages, and the grammar was respected in both in the writing or in a conversation. Letters helped too, it made the reader use its imagination, it encouraged writers to practice their writing and had a certain romance to it too.
Today is today only, and maybe there's room to discuss tomorrow, but today is never yesterday. The past has been shot dead by a bazooka and with the years passing it's getting deeper and deeper under ground, buried under a pile of stupid useless knowledge. Who now has the time to think about the formation of the great lakes, or who made the first airplane, or how some of the countries that are now living in poverty used to be the safest, most educated and more sought after in the world?! Not many people; not many are interested in what makes the world spin, in the mechanisms that could change the course of history. The short attention span is one of the causes of the decline of the modern civilization, people are interested on what's hot now, but five minutes from now something else will be hot and that's when the world starts cracking and why it is now falling apart.
There is a reason for every little thing that happens on earth, the explanation for it all is available, be it in a text book, a biography, Google or in a Discovery documentary; but the information is there none the less. What is really scary is the fact that even though the information is more abundant and accessible than ever, people still choose to live blindly, and even the ones who choose to see, don't feel empowered enough to affect changes into the system.
The truth for these times is that it takes a couple of bold people to affect change, and even the smallest change is a big push to our world. Our planet is going down, and the way of the future has to be made by the combination of knowledge, action, hope and urgency, because if order is not urgent for the progress of our planet now, than I don't know what is.
