Opinion
 

Progress just an illusion

Joshua Curry

There's a little story about a little society you hear about while studying culture. It goes a little something like this: There were egalitarian groups of people coexisting peacefully because they were the same. As technological advancement began, however, divided classes emerged. These societies, of course, relied on each other due to their differences and found unity in this balance. 

The story explains very distinctly the course of human progress. Yet, it is missing something. Social differences are often not embraced today. This can be deduced because most social problems are filibustered by our leaders in favor of more important topics like the immorality of fast food. 

I had a very backward view of societal progress in my childhood that I'm still trying to adhere to today. I saw progress on a plane of social change. I learned that the most probable future state of my country was that people would eventually live in harmony, accepting all eccentricities, social abnormalities and minorities as equal, and dance together around a big globe of the world in metaphorical euphoria. But now, I am becoming increasingly aware that no, this is not the case.

Essentially, people create new things. Let us assume that new ideas are usually fostered by one mind. People give ideas to society by pairing with whoever owns the resources, and in return they are levitated into a higher class of people. That is a watered-down description of the American dream, or copyright and patent laws. For a price, you can borrow ideas. Otherwise, you just marvel at them. Yet somehow many of these idea spawners hate you because you want something from them when all they ever wanted was something from you. 

It sucks the beauty right out of life, having it explained this way, but I think greed takes over humanity all the time. Most American mothers love to tell their children they can be anything in life they want to, just as long as their young'uns have dreams of being the president or an astronaut. If we start handing out equal rights to everybody, what will happen to our taxes? How could we ever pay those outrageous bills and simultaneously feel glad for underdogs?

Even now, we have ways of getting around the hard work that financial dreams used to require. You can sue McDonald's and get something for a ruined dress or a dress that no longer fits. You can sue your medical practitioner for bad luck and indirectly hurt other people struggling to pay ridiculous medical insurance deductibles and keep doctors in their hospitals. Still, corporations can rent out city services to avoid taxes as if they didn't already receive generous tax cuts. Quality of life seems to go hand in hand with money, and that's the biggest bandwagon we've got.

There's this artist called DJ Danger Mouse who took the Beatles' White Album and used samples from it to make beats. He then laid vocals from Jay-Z's Black Album over the top of it. It's called the Grey Album and it is good -- really good. Perhaps even original. Of course, he couldn't sell it because the rights of the White Album are carefully protected. He posted it on the Internet and Sony tried to take down the server. It is now moved to a safe Web site dedicated to the distribution of free and illegal art. He had a great idea, but to get it up off the ground was troublesome. 

Ideas are not free, even if you're not looking to make money with them. If science was anything like business, how would we ever have gotten to see that ugly head the technology business rears at the drop of a hat? We need to hold on to art, it is what future generations deserve.

Curry, a columnist for The Daily Cougar, 
can be reached at barelyafloat@hotmail.com.