A Dream

The future looks bleak. A neoliberal dystopia of megacities ruled by huge, faceless and merciless corporations. Powerful technocrats drowning in excessive decadence while ordinary people starve. Different shades of grey and sharp emptiness of what passes for minimalism. Even the superheroes of our modern mythology that used to defend life now kill without mercy. There is no escape from this future of collapsing ecosystems, wars and spreading plagues. Or is there?

The future of engineering is also bleak. Libraries that are built on frameworks are built on other frameworks and run in sandboxes that run in containers. Those run on layers upon layers of a chaotic infrastructure designed for profit and controlled by faceless corporations. Levels of abstraction that go so deep that they completely lose touch with reality. Crowds of opportunists with superficial knowledge of APIs but no understanding of the underlying truth. Mismanaged projects that could never be successful. Large language models that only spit out code that should never be written. Disposable, inferior and fragile hardware with planned obsolescence that should never be made in the first place. Very few engineers are still proud of their work. That's just the way things are. But does it have to be like this?

If we, the people, decide to change the future, then we will do it. What is the most powerful company without its employees? An empty idea and a dead god. What is the richest and most powerful man if we do not obey? A senile old man. What is the most powerful military if we simply refuse to kill? What is money in the face of true humanity? Just a meaningless number on a screen. That is why it is so important, indeed crucial, that our future looks bleak. If there is no other option, then we submit to the powers that be. Every revolution began with a dream. And we need more people who still dream of a better world.

I want a better dream and a better future. I dream of a future where people can sit face to face and enjoy each other's company. Where things are made to last. Where the world is colourful and beautiful for its own sake. Where no one is illegal. Where we do things because we want them done. And done well. I dream of a future where love triumphs over fear. I want a future where roses grow.