The Slow Cancellation of the Future: Where’s the Tomorrow We Once Believed In?
With the risk of sounding like Peter Thiel’s 2013 thesis on the state of technology back then… we were once promised a future filled with flying cars, utopian societies, and social progress that would shatter the outdated structures of the past. Instead, we got Twitter beefs, algorithm-fueled capitalism, and a global economy teetering on the edge. The future, it seems, is not the shining beacon it was supposed to be, but something buried under a pile of failed promises, digital distractions, and mounting disillusionment.
In his seminal work Ghosts of My Life, Mark Fisher famously coined the term “the slow cancellation of the future” to describe this very feeling — that the once-thrilling idea of a better, radically different tomorrow has slowly faded into a recycled present. As Fisher put it, “the future has disappeared,” not in the sense that time itself has stopped, but that our ability to imagine a world distinct from the one we already know has been stunted. We’ve become stuck, not only culturally but politically and economically, trapped in a loop of repetition. The future, as we had once conceived it, has been cancelled.
How We Got Here: A Series of Disappointments
If we are to be completely honest, the present feels like a series of reboots. Culturally, politically, and socially, we’ve been running on the fumes of past promises. Music recycles the same beats from the ’80s, fashion keeps resurrecting old trends, and even political discourse feels like we’re constantly reliving past battles. In many ways, Fisher was right when he said that “capitalist realism isn’t about celebrating capitalism; it’s about limiting our ability to imagine alternatives.” Our systems and structures have locked us into a cycle of stagnation, where meaningful change seems impossible.
Technology, which once promised to lead us into a brighter, more connected future, has also let us down. Sure, we’ve made advancements — AI is smarter and more accessible to the masses than ever, and automation capabilities are cutting-edge — but look around. Social media algorithms prey on our attention spans, surveillance capitalism grows stronger, and instead of liberation, we find ourselves more constrained and boxed in a circuit of monotony and status quo. The tools that were supposed to advance human potential are, in many cases, reinforcing inequalities, deepening political divides, and intensifying our sense of alienation.
Politically, progressivism has struggled to deliver the breakthroughs it promised. Movements that once sparked hope have been hampered by bureaucracy, watered down by compromise, or simply fizzled out in the face of opposition. Heartfelt speeches that resonate with the very core of entire generations are a thing of the past and every single aspiring politician confirms this whenever their latest podium intervention is broadcasted. Fisher’s assertion that “the future is no longer what it used to be” becomes painfully clear — our visions of progress have faltered, and the future we expected remains out of reach. It makes me question if we even really dreamed of it.
So, Where Do We Go From Here?
Here’s me getting hopeful, which is a rare thing. But if life has shown me anything, it’s that when willpower, technology, and curiosity collide, they can ignite a chain reaction that opens up the future in unexpected ways. This combination of human persistence and technological potential reveals the future not as a closed door, but as an open book waiting to be read. It’s a journey toward the light, where the infinite and the finite touch, and our hands become the vessels through which possibility flows.
It’s easy to say it’s too late. That the future we were banking on got lost somewhere between the invention of the iPhone and the rise of the attention economy. But even amidst these disappointments, there’s something shifting beneath the surface. If we look closely, we’ll see that hope lies in the technology emerging today, and in the movements quietly growing. While it may seem like progress has stalled, subtle forces are at work, creating new synapses between our actions and the future we once imagined.
Real change isn’t gone — it’s just waiting to be shaped.
Take AI, for example. While it’s often criticized for its potential to replace jobs or invade privacy, there’s a flip side: it can also be harnessed for incredible good. AI is already revolutionizing healthcare — particularly in oncology, where machine learning models are helping doctors detect cancer earlier and analyze massive datasets more quickly to advance research in treatments. In education, AI-powered tools are providing personalized learning experiences, adapting content to individual student needs in real time, and closing learning gaps. These advancements are redefining how we approach teaching and expanding access to quality education.
But here’s the kicker: it’s not going to happen on its own.
Wake Up, or Get Left Behind
The difference between the future we’re barreling toward and the one we thought we’d have isn’t just about technology. It’s about what we, as individuals and as a collective, are willing to do. If we want to reclaim the future, we have to be willing to fight for it. As Fisher himself suggested, the problem isn’t just with the systems but also with the mindset. We’ve become “locked into a fatalistic sense of inevitability” — the belief that change is beyond our control. But it’s not.
We need to hold technology accountable, ensuring it accelerates in a way that serves people over profits. This doesn’t mean slowing down progress but combining the ideals of accelerationism and progressivism — pushing forward with disruptive systems that challenge the status quo rather than reinforcing it. We have to rethink how we engage with politics, the economy, and society, leveraging rapid technological advancements to create real, lasting change. And yes, that means stepping beyond the comforting haze of digital distraction and doing the hard work of shaping a future that benefits everyone.
The future won’t be handed to us on a silver platter; it’s something we have to shape with our own phalanges. The potential is there — right in front of us — but it’s on us to wake up, grab it, and mold it into what it should have been all along.
It’s Not Too Late
Despite everything, there’s still a shot at a future that’s worth the trouble. The tools are in our hands, but honestly, we’re just stumbling around, trying to figure out how not to screw it up. Sure, we didn’t get the future we were sold in all those shiny ads. We’ve been numbed by convenience, buried under endless scrolling, and distracted into submission. But here’s the kicker: it’s still not too late. As Fisher said, “nothing is inherently fixed.” Things can change — though at this rate, probably not without a little chaos.
In the end, the future is still up for grabs. We can either shape it, or we can just watch it turn into another sequel of the mess we’re in. If we don’t step up, we’ll stay stuck in this loop of disappointments, recycling the same mistakes. But if we do… well, there’s a slim chance we might actually claw our way out of this cycle and into something resembling the future we once dared to dream of. Or, you know, at least something less awful. So, what are we waiting for? Another distraction?
Closing with an appropriate piece by VNV nation:
