Did we forget...

I sometimes wonder what people will say in hindsight when they talk about the end of the nineties and the beginning of the new millennium. I wonder if they will see it as period of enlightenment or a necessary evil. I keep looking at the western culture that I guess I'm a part of, and that seems to be dictating what the world should look like or how it should be ruled. Don't take this an outright criticism of democracy, equal rights for everybody and women in particular, that I feel is essential in our society. But sometimes I wonder if with all this that we think is right and civilised, has led us to forget to know when we might be wrong. Have we stopped questioning ourselves or our way of life? When radical Muslims say that they are in a war towards the corruption that the western and the American (in particular) way of life represents. Maybe they hold some truth? I mean its probably not as bad as they portray it, but could some of it be right? Most criticism holds some kind of truth. I mean we have a loss of interest in our democratic processes. Most people agree that we have become more and more egoistic. Have we forgotten some of the fundamentals? Is it more important to work then to take care of your family. Could there be prestige in humanity instead of in titles? Sometimes when I look at the time I'm living in I wonder what we have contributed in terms of the development of the human thought, the human spirit. Are there other ways of living or thinking then we do. For generations before us great men and women have asked questions about our existence. Today asking questions seems dangerous (or dumb). I wonder if we've forgotten to doubt.