Introduction
Many people believe that the past is different from the present. Others feel that the present and modern society are positioned better compared to the past. This could be far from the truth. Contemporary society could be quite ahead of history due to the new inventions made. For instance, the level of technology keeps on improving from time to time. Therefore, the current period portrays a better picture of development compared to the past. But the present society is only a result of the change. There has been a significant change from the past way of doing things. As much as the transition is referred to as a change, there have been the bases on which they have been made. Everything must have a source. For instance, children come from their parents. Depending on the time that they are born, children tend to be more knowledgeable than their parents. However, they cannot claim to be their self-origin, parents take the entire honor for bringing them into being. This is the same way that the past is related to the present. All the inventions, innovations, and ideas develop identified in modern society trace their roots to the past. This argument is supported by various examples as elaborated below.
First, the issue of religious freedom is one of the most contentious issues in the current world. People are fighting day in and day out to have their rights of worship recognized. The world is striving to ensure that there is harmony among all people practicing different forms of worship. Countries that are most hit by the issue of terrorism suffer the most at the hands of the terrorists. They use the aspect of religion to divide people. However, the war is on to ensure that people across the world have the freedom to worship in their ways. America is not left behind in such cases. There have been various issues of discrimination based on the religion that one professes. As such, activists have been advocating for equal rights for all citizens exercising different forms of worship (Heijden 1408). The fight for religious equality has not started today. It is something that has taken place for a long time. Generations after generations have had to fight for the upholding of religious rights across the board. Human rights activists such as Martin Luther King fought for such rights in the past. However, his sentiments, as well as those of the rest of the activists, paved the way for the current world struggle for justice. This is a sign that the past has determined the ideas developed today.
The issue of education also started a long time ago. During the world war struggles, it later emerged that people could best succeed by gaining knowledge rather than engaging in wars. For this reason, educational systems were put in place. Over the years, the quality of education has always been a point of concern for various governments. In modern society, education is taken to be an essential need for one to be able to lead a comfortable life. It has been raised beyond the levels that the past ideologies placed it. More and more children go to school in modern society than it was in the past. However, the education factor is a factor of the past. This is not something that has started in the modern world. It started a long time ago. The only change made entails the various policies guiding the educational programs. This also proves that the past connects to the current world. Besides, it becomes clear that the present does not stand in isolation but on the platform set by the past.
Technology is the other aspect that indicates the role played by the past in the current society. Many of the present issues involving the use of technology were started in the past but were not conclusive. Technology keeps on changing from time to time. For instance, the need for transport has been there for ages. This led to the development of transport means such as carts. They were used by people to enhance mobility from one point to another (House 252). In the modern world, the need for transport is still there and more defined than in the past. The current ideologies have led to the development of better cars, ships, aircraft as well as trains. The latter is the current world means of transport. However, the entire transport technology started way back. This is an indication that the past directly connects to the present. The current methods of transportation are not new in any way. They are the only advancement of what was started ages ago. The past, therefore, defines the present. There cannot be presents where there has not been a past.
Social culture is another aspect that relates to the integration between the past and modern society. The traditional communities valued the need for people to get together, exchange ideas, and implement them as a group. In many communities, the need to consult on various aspects was highly appreciated. For example, issues regarding marriages required that a person involves all the family members and the members of the community before getting to the last stage. Therefore, all the activities that people are involved in require togetherness (Kahn 1073). Also, people seemed to be quite united in times of grief. They believed that one requires the rest of the society members when he or she is in mourning. This is the same reflection in the current world. Most people value the need to involve people in various activities. The only difference between the past and the present is the way that people interact. In the current world, people interact over social media and share ideas. Technology has enhanced the ability of people to interact over long distances. Though communication platforms have improved, the basic idea of communication remains. Therefore, the past connects with the present directly.
On the issue of leadership, the current world borrows a lot from the past. Past ideologies have played a major role in the decisions made by the current leaders. In the past, many communities believed that there have to be someone to lead the rest in the right direction. Such people would be entrusted with the role of managing the resources of society. The current world has borrowed this in a major way in that there is the so-called government that manages the resources of the citizens. The past form of leadership paved the way for the current form of leadership and politics.
Conclusion
There is nothing new in the modern world. Everything that exists has its past. One thing leads to the other and comes from another. Life is a process, and therefore no one point is more valuable than the other. As seen in the examples, the current technology, ideas, people, businesses, and aspects of leadership are subject to what happened in the past. Therefore, the past is all the reason for the occurrences of this day. There is, therefore, no doubt that the past directly connects to the modern world.
Works Cited
Heijden, Marcel GA, et al. “Mycorrhizal ecology and evolution: the past, the present, and the future.” New Phytologist 205.4 (2015): 1406-1423.
House, Juliane. “Translation quality assessment: Past and present.” Translation: A multidisciplinary approach. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2014. 241-264.
Kahn, Steven E., Mark E. Cooper, and Stefano Del Prato. “Pathophysiology and treatment of type 2 diabetes: perspectives on the past, present, and future.” The Lancet383.9922 (2014): 1068-1083.
