Life & Change in the 20th Cent
Life in the Twentieth Century is Characterized by Changing Patterns of Choice The above statement is, indubitably, true. Life is based upon an individual's choices; upon their concept of the world. Beginning with the time of birth to the time of death, everyone spends every minute in life making a choice about one thing or another. One could imagine life as a long, winding road with infinite roads branching off in infinite directions. Robert Frost wrote in The Road Not Taken, 'I took the one less travelled by. And that has made all the difference.'Allen Jesson described it best in his poem Change, saying 'When the world is changing, why should people say the same?' He depicts life as a wave we can not possibly hope to stop. We must learn to go with the flow because 'those who won't move forward, will perish and are surely doomed.' Sure, we may get hurt along the way, but, if we do not continually strive towards perfection, we may as well lay ourselves in the ground.Through greater knowledge and understanding of our world, its people and how it works, people's perceptions have changed. We have moved away from the predominant 'herd mentality', brought about by the subjugation and manipulation of government and religious gro
Since the day we are born, we are bombarded and besieged with information from television, radio, books and magazines. 'If they have to be forced to come over here, they won't be much use' became a common sentiment, especially on the front line. Recruitment posters were distibuted using national icons to influence the people. We were asked to vote on conscription, which is ironic because the very concept of consciption takes away our right to choose. Camus, Dostoyevsky, and Nietszche all seem to believe that it matters little what reason we continue to struggle, so long as we testify man's allegiance to man and not to abstractions and 'absolutes'. This relatively new form of government has brought about many new concepts, most importantly a great inclination towards free will, which is, literally, freedom of choice. We have become more indulgent, yet less satisfied. Friedrich Nietzsche, the famous existentialist philosopher, predicted that, during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, our traditional set of beliefs would be questioned and subsequently abandoned. The changing pattern of choice in the last century has been influenced mainly by our technological progress, which has made our lives easier and brought, through advanced communication and globilisation, awareness of other choices we may make. However, the people, when they discovered the truth with regard to the war, protested that decision until it was abolished. ups, and sought our own purpose in life. We are not stifled by economic disadvantage or bound by an oppressive government, we are free to choose our own religion, and we are blessed with a myriad of conveniences by our technologically advanced society. On account of this newfound free will we, as individuals, are able to form our own choices, just as our choices form who we are. We have been cursed with a wealth of advantages and lack of restrictions.
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