To have a future, we have to believe a good one exists.

Blogs are an endless source of surprises: sometimes one finds a real gem amid the gravel. The author at this link comments on how so many Americans seem to have lost a sense that doing things--whether raising children or building factories or bridges--is worth doing.

Blogger Richard Fernandez notes that our self-proclaimed "elites" seem to be united in their view that America is in decline. Further, these "elites" believe this is because of some alleged sin the nation committed at some point in our past. He notes that all through history, many philosophers have struggled with the same question for their own societies. And if one doesn't find an answer, it becomes very hard to keep getting up in the morning.

Fernandez disagrees with this position, and the debate is stimulating. A sample:

[Elites enjoy the idea] that for many in the West, the future has ceased to exist. It is no longer worth saving for, planning against or dreaming of. All that we have is an addiction to instant gratification. Yet despite the fact that experiences are intensified into the present with all the compression of a car crash, the resulting moments become far from satisfying.... We rush and once we get to where we were hurrying, can hardly wait to leave it. Life becomes and endless series of novelties, each palliated by the next. We entertain ourselves to forget our last entertainments.

This probably seems unreal to most of us in flyover country, because we still seem to be firmly anchored in religious beliefs and the fundamental goodness of this country. But apparently many of those living in headier places lack the moral grounding most flyover residents have.

Anyway, I promise that the essay won't down you out--the author is a strong believer in God, goodness and the value of ethics. I thought it was a most impressive piece.