History of the Future : AKA Deja News

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As crazy as it is today,  it was equally crazy in the late 60’s, and so much is the same, with a new face. The thing that intensely magnifies everything today is the incredible span of information input.  Hundreds of news sources; millions of bloggers and podcasters; an infinite internet.   Mass insanity isn’t brought to you at 5pm and 10pm,  it’s slammed in your eyes, ears and brains 24/7.    Information is the new rock n roll—- it’s what’s driving culture.   Here is an arguable list of then and nows.  Much of it is Deja News.



THEN: OLD GENERATION APPALLED BY HIPPIES
NOW: OLD GENERATION APPALLED BY HOMIES

THEN: NATION DIVIDED BY SOCIAL POV
NOW: NATION DIVIDED BY POLITICAL POV

THEN:  GUN ASSASSINATIONS
NOW: CHARACTER ASSASSINATIONS 

THEN: THE AMERICAN POV
NOW: THE GLOBAL POV

THEN: AN END TO WAR
NOW: AN END TO RACISM

THEN:  YIPPIES
NOW  ANTIFA

THEN:  CIVIL UNREST BASED ON WAR
NOW: CIVIL UNREST BASED ON RACISM

THEN: FM BECOMING MASS APPEAL 
NOW:  STREAMING BECOMING MASS APPEAL

THEN: STRAIGHT SEXUAL REVOLUTION
NOW:  LGBT REVOLUTION

THEN: HONG KING FLU 
NOW:  COVID 19

THEN: COOL STEREOS 
NOW:  COOL DEVICES

THEN: MIDDLE EASY CONFLICT 
NOW:  MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT

THEN: TARGET MOON 
NOW:  TARGET MARS

THEN: CHINA MAO 
NOW:  CHINA TRADE

THEN: VIET CONG
NOW:  TALIBAN

THEN: NIXON
NOW:  TRUMP

THEN: MCCARTHY 
NOW:  SANDERS

THEN: AT&T 
NOW:  APPLE

THEN: SHOPPING  MALLS 
NOW:  AMAZON

THEN: WOMANS LIBERATION 
NOW:  LIBERATION OF WOMEN 

THEN: A NEW MAINSTREAM EMERGES 
NOW:  A NEW MAINSTREAM EMERGES

....and that’s only a glimpse.

You could easily argue that it’s worse now,  but IMHO I believe the over proliferation of unreliable and skewed information is the culprit.  We read papers and watched the news once a day,  now we’re pummeled by it 24/7. The 60’s were a period of massive cultural reorganization— it’s happening again.  It’s up to us to be the good guys that help create positivity out of chaos.  With every revolution there’s an evolution...that’s a good thing to be part of.

 
Lee Abrams