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What The Past Predicted We'd Live Like Today?

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“If the past equaled the future, then your windshield would be of no use to you; you would simply drive your car with your eyes glued to the rear view. But driving this way—looking only behind you—is a surefire way to crash. Instead, it’s important to occasionally acknowledge your past—to check your rearview from time to time—while staying focused on the road in front of you.” (Millburn and Nicodemus), with this quote it can help us learn to look towards our future. The only thing we can do as people in the present, is to allow ourselves to trust our decisions and choices in the past and to continue on, with our eyes looking into the windshield.

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Most people think that our past can control our present. Your past can only control you today, if you allow it to. We make decisions in our past that might not necessarily be for the best, but it helps us learn for our future based on this quote, “You needn’t be defined by your past. And certainly, your future does not have to look like your past, unless you allow it to.” (Millburn and Nicodemus), this quote generalizes Faulkner’s idea, with its idea of letting your past take over your present. While contemplating on the past, it can possibly refrain you from being able to do the very things you were meant to.

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Faulkner’s quote even addresses the past from over 224 years ago. In Thomas Paine’s Rights Of Man, he claims “If there is a country in the world where concord, according to common calculation, would be least expected, it is America. Made up as it is of people from different nations, accustomed to different forms and habits of government, speaking different languages, and more different in their modes of worship, it would appear that the union of such a people was impracticable…” (Paine). When Paine addresses“of people from different nations” (Paine) his claim is still quite relevant till today. Immigration has continued to increase over the years drastically based on this quote, “The U.S. immigrant population stood at more than 42.4 million, or 13.3 percent, of the total U.S. population of 318.9 million in 2014…. Immigrants in the United States and their U.S.-born children now number approximately 81 million people, or 26 percent of the overall U.S. population.” (Batalova and Zong).

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Paine addresses another idea that seems to still continue on today.  Today the amount religious diversity continues to grow immensely “There is a wide range of racial and ethnic diversity among U.S. religious groups and denominations.” (Lipka). America was founded for the very sole reason of finding a place that allowed freedom for religion, and its practice. To which further proves Faulkner idea that our past does not die.

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Batalova, Jeanne, and Jie Zong. "Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States." Migrationpolicy.org. Migration Policy Institute, 26 May 2016. Web. 23 Oct. 2016.

By and With the Poet Laureate. "Mayor's Task Force On Immigration." - Office of the Mayor. Connecticut Government, 11 May 2012. Web. 08 Nov. 2016.

Grandin, Greg. "How Slavery Made the Modern World." The Nation. The Nation, 24 Feb. 2014. Web. 24 Oct. 2016.

Historians Against Slavery. "Connecting Slavery Then with Slavery Now: Part 2 - End Slavery Now." Connecting Slavery Then with Slavery Now: Part 2 - End Slavery Now. End Slavery Now, 22 Apr. 2015. Web. 08 Nov. 2016.

Lipka, Michael. "10 Facts about Religion in America." Pew Research Center RSS. Pew Research Center RSS, 27 Aug. 2015. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.

Millburn, Joshua Fields, and Ryan Nicodemus. "Your Past Does Not Equal Your Future | The Minimalists." The Minimalists. Spyr, 14 Oct. 2015. Web. 27 Oct. 2016

Paine, Thomas, “Rights of Man” Rights Of Man. New York: Heritage, 1961. Print. 24 Oct. 2016.

Soldner, By Leavitt Yamane &. "Windshield Smartphone Projection Technology: Is It Really A Good Thing?" Leavitt, Yamane & Soldner. Lyslaw, 09 Dec. 2013. Web. 08 Nov. 2016.

"William Faulkner - Biographical". Nobelprize.org. Nobel Media AB 2014. Web. 8 Nov 2016.

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Throughout our history, we have seen and heard about the decisions we took in order to make America, America. Take slavery, it had transformed our poor country into one of the top continents for trade in goods. Slavery, although a horrific time period, defined our America still to this day. In this quote we see such evidence,“ In the realm of economics, the importance of slaves went well beyond the wealth generated from their uncompensated labor. Slavery was the flywheel on which America’s market revolution turned—not just in the United States, but in all of the Americas…Slavery was central to the establishment of the industries that today dominate the US economy: finance, insurance, and real estate.” (Grandin), this quote just further proves my idea. Slavery is just one of many examples on how our past continues on to our future.

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The past is a continuous factor within the present, and even in our future. We are continuously reminded of our past. Although we want to avoid our past, sometimes we need to learn to use these memories as a lesson. An example of this, is “ The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”, Faulkner speaks to America today.