The Moth and the Candle

Before I was blind and now I can see
Before I was weak and now I am strong
Before I was foolish and now I am wise
History laid bare as a process of improvement

Things were better then than they are now
Which is, apparently, in the nature of things
Things were cheaper, better quality, better made
Less sordid, more worthwhile and they lasted
History exposed as a process of decay

Can both of these positions be reconciled?
To produce a less fragmented view of history
In our past lies the key to understanding our future
What follows on is dependent on what went before
History as structural foundation, not just process

We are not victims held in the glare of historical inevitability
Nor are we slaves to the false god of predestination
But we are creatures of time and thus of linear history
So we are part of the past as it is part of us