What Will History Say We Were Dumb About?

In Aquarius Now, Marilyn Ferguson wrote:

“œEach society believes it is on the knife-edge of knowledge and looks back with pity on peoples of earlier times because of their ignorance. We forget that future generations will look back on us the same way.”

So, I got to thinking – in a generation or two, what generally-accepted social assumptions and behaviors are we engaged in today that will be looked upon by future, more-awakened generations as grievously misguided? What are today’s Dred Scott decisions? Today’s sociocultural blind spots? There’s no question there are quite a few – I suppose the challenge is in finding them.

I’ll present a few personal nominations off the top of my head:

• The west’s blithe, suicidal, runaway-train addiction to fossil fuels;
• The world’s silence and inaction in the face of genocides such as Rwanda and Darfur;
• The United States’ ham-handed reaction to the attacks of 9-11-01, specifically its invasion of Iraq (and, I suppose, the entire concept that terrorism can be fought tactically);
• Our genocidal “War On Drugs,” specifically the United States’ 1970 Controlled Substances Act;
• The US PATRIOT Act;

I think this is such an important and enlightening concept – that we are not evolution’s end game. We are but a stepping stone to a brighter (I hope) and higher state of being. To shine light into our blind spots with thought exercises like this one – as much as it can irritate – is to accelerate our journey toward that state.

I challenge you all to do the same.