Reading about America’s brief history that is so densely concentrated with excitement reminds me of the invigorating times that are occurring right now. Just in my lifetime that spans a brief twenty years, I have seen the creation and domination of the internet, the infiltration of computers at home, women assuming very prestigious positions in the government, the spread of mobile phones, the invention and influence of social networking sites, and the election of an African American president, just to name a select few. Who could have foreseen any of this a mere one hundred years ago?
If there was some sort of blip in spacetime, and Thomas Jefferson was thrown into 2011, I wonder what he would think of these times. He would probably be surprised to see so few horses, none of which would be pulling wagons or carts, but even more surprised to see how dependent we have become on our inventions. Yes, technology allows us more time to do less laborious and menial activities, but most of the things we do with that extra time require less brain or physical effort than if we were completing those tasks. Every free moment we get, we are found checking facebook, our e-mails, our text messages, instead of reading a book or newspaper, two entities that were revolutionizing the time of Thomas Jefferson. I also imagine him saying something along the lines of, “China? Really? The next leading world power? Dang, America is probably doomed to linger in that shadow for a long time.”
Everything around us is constantly growing and changing and reinventing itself. This is something that I love about America. From the prime of its history, America has never ceased to thrive nationally and germinate its seeds of development all over the planet, even beyond into outer space! I could attempt and make predictions about what will come for this country, but I know that any expectation I have will always be exceeded (in one way or another).
Your post is very insightful-- well done.
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