What Remains

Creation is truly the most amazing human act, whether it be the creation of an artwork, a building or a human life, something is brought forth (notice the Heidegger, my philosophical fellows) from nothing into Being. And shockingly, what's brought forth from nothingness lasts. The lamp on my desk has been present for years, and the desk for years more. The music I'm listening to, Bruce Springsteen's The Wild, The Innocent, and the E-Street Shuffle, was made in the seventies, first produced by pressing small canyons into a round piece of vinyl, which can still be found, but even the music- the lyrics, the keys, the guitar parts, and the occasional sax solo by the big man- was made to last, not to simply fade away. The other day I was thinking about what's present in our lives as far as creation, and things that are brought forth, that are created, just seem to truly lack any sort of staying power, any sort of presence. We will not-dear god I hope-remember "We R Who We R" years from now (aside-don't watch the video; you will want to murder Ke$ha, and that is $till puni$hable by law, even now). We won't remember most of the movies that are made, the art we see, the buildings we enter. In part, this is of course due simply to human faculties; we are fascinated by the novel, moving immediately from one to the next the newest, but even more than that, we don't create things that last any more, aside from a few things regarded as modern instant classics, e.g. American Beauty, Rushmore, Do the Right Thing, and it has to be more than we simply desire novelty. Nothing is made to be long-lasting anymore. Creation is meant to be created, consumed, and disregarded, be it artistic or useful. One used to be able to buy an appliance and could expect it to last for years, but now, not even a car can be expected to get more than a hundred thousand miles. All this leaves me with this question: when people look at our times, the 90's, 00's, 10's etc., what's going to be remembered, what stands out as the highlights of this decade?