Deep Thunder, Habermas

“But these forward gropings, this anticipation of an undefined future and the cult of the new, mean in fact the exaltation of the present.” – Habermas

I agree with most of what is said in “Modernity- An Incomplete Project” except for this statement. I feel that although we do glorify the new, which in turn glorifies the present, we further glorify the future. It is the future that lies before us, a universe of creativity and promise that lies with her feet up in stirrups, ready to deliver the new, tomorrow’s new. And isn’t that all what we are “anticipating” when we join the cult of the new? Belonging to the cult of the new implies that you also expect the present to be improved upon. After all, if you were one to glorify the present, what was wrong with carrying the present of yesterday into today? No, one waits in anticipation for an improvement on today. What is purchased today is done so in the best possible way to facilitate a better tomorrow. We buy the latest video game system in anticipation of the wonderful new games that will come out (tomorrow). The ipod in our pockets waits hungrily to consume the hits of tomorrow. We buy cars that are new and special because they are versatile and can react to alternative fuel sources (of tomorrow). We make sure that our new handheld computer has all the right communication tools to communicate with what will come out next. When one subscribes to this “cult of the new” one joins a religion that is embedded with a promise, like most monotheistic faiths, that they will be rewarded for their deeds not in anticipation of the future, but in exaltation.