The "Good Old Days" Are Lies with a Bit of Truth - Talha Hasan

My grandparents used to say how much better it was during their times. They'd recall their golden days, the days that are lost forever. According to them, they lived in the best of times, and human civilization is regressing.

Of course, it's all lies. Human civilization is progressing rapidly. We have so much more freedom and comfort. We are going to Mars! The world is changing fast and we are seeing a bigger future in front of our eyes.

But let's look back for a moment: before getting back to the future, let's look at our past for some time. Let's hear what our grandparents have to say. Why do they think the world is getting worse?

The answers are individualism and materialism. No! No! Wait! Individualism is amazing! It's one of the best things we've learned so far. But, (yes, there's a but!) are we becoming selfish by focusing on the individual interest too often? Are we becoming too materialistic in this capitalist world?

Individualism is great. We need to focus on our needs to live better, but while doing that, we are often forgetting our family and friends. We are too materialistic. We don't have fun through human connections anymore. We don't experience the world outside of social media. We don't like intimate relationships with fellow humans. The world is becoming narcissistic and we are to blame for it. We don't live in the present anymore. We live in the future now. It's all about getting satisfaction, even at the expense of others.

There was a time when there wasn't any internet, social media, or obsession with self-interest. How did we have fun then? How were we alive then? It seems impossible to live like that now. We cannot know how it feels to live in a world where everything you have is intimate because it's the only thing there.

Our world has gotten bigger and it's all in our hands. We can have anything we want! We are trying to do everything possible. It's all about us now. It's all about one individual now. And that individual is me, me, me.

Human beings are not to be taken for granted. Time once lost is lost forever. And that's where our grandparents are right. In this fast-moving materialistic and narcissistic world, we are choosing individualistic capitalism. To win the race of individual satisfaction, we are forgetting our close ones. We are forgetting our family. We are forgetting our friends. The more progressive the world gets, the less human we become. We are turning into plastics. We exist but we don't live anymore.

So yeah, the world has gotten so much better than our grandparents'. We have so much ease and materials. But in this world full of privileges, we are getting lost inside of ourselves. We have everything but we have intimate connections to nothing. If we can't make any intimate harmony with anyone, then the greatest liberties and gratifications of our present and future are not worth it. A life without intimacy is not meaningful and a life that is not meaningful is not worth living.

In the end, we realize that we are living in a nicer world. The old days weren't better than now. The only side effect is that we are losing humanity. We are forgetting intimacy. But can we change this?

We, the inhabitants of the present and future, have the power to do anything and everything. And so yes, we also have the ability to reject materialistic individualism. So let's do it. Let's end capitalist narcissism and create better moments for humanity, building intimate bridges between us. Then, no one will complain and cry about the good old days.