old future

[nimsooze]

"But if forecasting the future with the benefit of backward glance ,lends a spurious inevitability to what need never have come about in the first place,it does so for the sake of reminding us that not any old future will do ."
Imagine that I am a 7 years old kid and please tell me what that says.

[Barb_D]

Not any old X will do = X needs to be very special.

I am looking for a new dress, but not any old dress will do. It must be a special dress. I must feel like a princess when I wear it, with a pretty color and a flattering fit, and just a bit of sexiness but nothing trashy.

My daughter wants a new bike, but not any old bike! She wants a ten-speed, with a comfort seat, and a rack for her water bottle, and a place to store stuff while she rides. (Good thing she's paying for it herself.)

As we try to picture the future, not just any old future will do. The future we envision must be... [whatever it is the author thinks it must be].

[nimsooze]

Thanks a lot mom!
Your explanation was very eloquent.But it remains one thing:OLD FUTURE.Isn't it a little contradictory? can any future be OLD? what does "old" mean here?

[nimsooze]

Old future???

[Barb_D]

The parsing is not "old future." The "old" goes with "not just any old."

[not just any old] [future].

Just like the new bike. Not just any old bike = it must be a very special bike.

It doesn't matter what comes after it -- "not just any old" stays together.