Sliding back

Posted on June 7, 2005 by Gene

I’ve probably written about this before, but here goes: I’m watching a documentary about the Concorde and it’s last flight, and it occurs to me that this planet is beginning a backward slide, in technology and culture.
It’s the year 2005, and we can no longer go to the moon. Supersonic passenger transport has stopped. Not only is there no Hilton on it, but the International Space Station is on the verge of closure and we haven’t had any shuttle flights in years… and the shuttle itself is rather pointless.
The only promising new medical breakthrough — stem cells — has been squashed by backwards-looking politicians. What few life-saving drugs are out there are incredibly expensive, paying for research on new medicines to keep old men erect.
Is our civilization stagnating and starting to move backwards? Is there no progression in our technology other than ways to distribute porn and entertainment more efficiently?
What happened to the future?