Hope: Mankind's Greatest Illusion

For awhile now I have been stuck on the concept of the significance of hope, and after extensive pondering on such notion I have finally reached the conclusion that hope is merely an illusion. It is a deceptive word that gives us a reasonable excuse to sit back and wait for change. Change will come, but chances are it is not the kind that was hoped for causing new hopes to manifest, and on the cycle of stagnation goes.

This moment in human existence will find its way into the history books as it is a period of turmoil and uncertainty, but there is still time to make sure that is not what the books remember our generation for. The Baby Boomers will be remembered for following blindly in the footsteps of all the former hopefuls of humanity, who claimed to be acting in the name of a greater good, all the while creating new problems that will surely prevent the resolution of existing ones. Then again they grew up in tumultuous times. They saw one of the last good presidents have his head blown off, which was followed by a controversial war, a presidential scandal known as Watergate, two gas crises, the first war in Iraq also known as the Gulf war among many other scandals, assassinations and economical problems. Not to mention they spent a good portion of their life in the Cold War era that never materialized into anything serious, but caused a great deal of fear and irrational behavior nonetheless.

However, they did try to right the wrong when they still had youthful energy, but the consciousness movement failed as the war on drugs waged in 1971 created a whole array of fresh concerns that shifted focus from an unjust war and a seedy administration to the very thing that caused their downfall-excessive drug use. True, and while their method for combating the war on drugs was to consume as much as possible before it was too late, they in turn destroyed that same energy, which drove the tank that many thought would restore justice to the American way. Indeed, the Baby Boomers lived in a time that was full of all kinds of action, good and bad.

Now those same seasoned veterans of hard times are the elders and leaders of a period in American history that appears ready to mimic the era in which they were raised. And like the Baby Boomers it is up to our generation to try and right their wrongs. Hope powered the spirit of many attempts to fix the world's problems, but look where it got us; back to the same goddamn place. Of course it isn't exactly the same, there are new issues that need to be dealt with, but there are still vast amounts of uncertainty in the minds of many Americans who feel, in their gut that the outcome will not be a happy ending. Yet there is hope and faith that this sinking ship will somehow right it's self, and that is a troubling concept to wrestle with.

We are the last generation that has any idea of what hard work is; many of the children being raised today are so babied and catered to that they will have a very hard time adjusting to a world that will cut your throat and leave you to deal with it on your own. Nevertheless, we still choose to avoid hard work at all costs unlike prior generations. It is much easier to mooch off our parents, sell drugs or carry out other methods of easy and quick money. Some of us have been instilled with the mentality that understands the hard way is often the right way, which is a disheartening thing to deal with when you are in a time of your life when good times are the only important concerns. But to those who are only concerned with good times now, will find out later that there are only hard times remaining. Similar to a college student who schedules all easy classes for their first few semesters will find that the only classes left until a degree can achieved are horrid things like chemistry and advanced mathematics. Both discoveries are always a harsh shot to the stomach, but the sting of realizing that a mountain stands between you and salvation is preventable. It simply involves accepting the fact that nothing worthwhile in this world or life is easy to obtain.

Probably the two most meaningful things in life are love and freedom, and anyone who has been fortunate to truly find either will tell you it was not an easy quest. Sure you can go through life partnering up with whoever comes along, but the illusion of love is not love and there is a fine line between the two. The same goes for freedom as many are willing to believe they are free when, in fact they are trapped and buying into the illusion of freedom. The human species appears to be a species of illusionists because we often alter our reality in order to feel content with it. It is easy to understand why we continue to trick ourselves and that is because the reality of this world is a hard thing to cope with (no surprise, right?). But remember that feeling sick is not actually being sick, which is why there is the term hypochondriac.

People will believe what they want and if that belief makes them feel better about life then what's the harm? Some will say none, but if a belief is unfounded and irrational then, in the long run it will prove more detrimental than beneficial; and that is the true nature of hope. In the end hope will never improve our actual existence; only in a superficial sense and currently our generation seems to be fine with superficiality. Hell, reality television is a perfect example of that mentality. The name in itself is a joke as reality television is often far from reality as it is set in a controlled environment that has scripted segments yet our culture is fascinated with this. Some watch it for the irony; however, others watch it religiously and hope that one day they can be a participant. Are we so obsessed with fantasy that we are willing to let writers create our reality? Unfortunately it seems that way and the only solution is to have a serious culture overhaul. But like all things that are worth it, it will be a hard and lengthy process that will need to be devoid of all illusions like hope and faith. Hope is for those who can only sit back and watch; it is for spectators. If you want to spend the rest of your life watching others do then so be it, but remember one thing: hope won't do anything.