The long-term problem in which I am interested is to construct a general framework for non-equilibrium statistical mechanics. Presently, te field of non-equilibrium statistical mechanics consists of a collection of individual methods and models that provide descriptions of phenomena of very limited types, generally near equilibrium. I believe that the fundamental problem in this regard is that the existing theories of non-equilibrium statistical mechanics have been formulated through analogy to the equilibrium theory and/or with the assumption that the systems under consideration are near equilibrium. While the theories that have been constructed in this manner are useful, they have not gotten us any closer to realizing a truly non-equilibrium framework of general validity. I believe that, rather than relying on analogies to and extrapolations from the equilibrium theory, which rely on generalizations of equilibrium concepts, we should seek novel types of inherently non-equilibrium phenomena and new theoretical concepts that can be used in their description.