Modern Life: A Relentless Assault On Common Decency.

This Isn’t the Future I Asked For

Now, I’ve seen a lot of things in my time. Been writing for Jape News for… well, let’s just say a good long while. I thought I was prepared for anything. Flying cars? Sure, bring ‘em on. Robot butlers? A little unsettling, perhaps, but progress is progress. But this…this is something else entirely.

I recently came across a piece by a young fella named Leo Parks. Published last August, and frankly, it’s been gnawing at me ever since. Now, this Parks, he’s one of those… feeling types. Lots of descriptions of, well, feelings. But buried in all the artistic fluff, there’s a real sentiment that I think a lot of us are starting to share.

He talks about how things just… are. Not in a good way, mind you. Not like a sturdy oak tree standing strong against the elements. More like…a balloon being overfilled. He says it “feels…loud. Not with sound, exactly.” Loud without sound? Sounds like one of those modern art exhibits if you ask me. But he explains it as a “fullness, a constant pressure of…everything.”

Everything. That’s the key word, isn’t it? We used to have problems you could solve. A broken fence, a leaky roof, a troublesome neighbor. Now? It’s just…everything happening all at once. News cycles that spin so fast you can’t keep up. Opinions flying around like angry wasps. A constant barrage of…stuff.

Parks seems disappointed. Disappointed! I wouldn’t say disappointed. I’d say concerned. Concerned that we’ve built ourselves a world where there’s no breathing room, no quiet moments, no opportunity to simply…be.

I remember a time when a man could sit on his porch, sip his lemonade, and watch the world go by without feeling like the weight of the entire world was on his shoulders. A simpler time. A time when folks actually talked to each other, not just at each other through these glowing screens.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I appreciate innovation. I really do. But what good is all this progress if it leaves you feeling…hollow? If it leaves you longing for a time when things were slower, quieter, more manageable?

Parks doesn’t offer any solutions, which I find a little frustrating. Just a lot of lamenting and describing feelings. But maybe, just maybe, acknowledging the problem is the first step. Maybe we need to take a long, hard look at what we’ve built and ask ourselves: is this really the future we wanted?

Because frankly, this isn’t the future I asked for. And I suspect, deep down, it isn't the future many of us envisioned. It’s time we started reclaiming a little peace and quiet, a little common sense, and a little bit of the good old days before we’re completely swallowed up by…everything.

You can find more articles on related topics here: https://jape.news/?tag=mental%20health