It Was the ? of Times…
I read an article recently that puts a magnifying glass up to a small chunk of the zeitgeist, wondering aloud (or on paper, at least) whether we’re living in the worst of times. Granted, these are not the best of times. Katrina, the Boxing Day tsunami, global warming, torrential downpours and flooding in the Midwest that match earlier torrential downpours and flooding in central Europe, and the recent China quake would all seem to indicate that we’re in a darker-than-usual period in our history, to the point where some are taking recent events as signs that we are, indeed, living in the End Times.
But then, a little perspective may be in order. After all, when have we ever lived in the best of times? The idea that we don’t live in the best of times is as central to American identity as, say, apple pie. Let me explain.
No matter how good our standards of living, economic indicators, or moral standard may be, they’re never as good as they were in some nebulous “good old days.” We were kinder, purer, better then, before the long now stepped in and made a mess of everything. It’s the Liberals, or the Conservatives, or those darned kids. The only thing that gets a pass is science, which smiles condescendingly at human folly and stands in quiet amazement at the fact that we, and our shockingly primitive forebears–who, remember, hadn’t sequenced the genome/split the atom/invented digital wristwatches–ever made it this far. And they can’t wait to tell you what the future, thanks to the miracle of science, or better living through chemistry, will look like.
But I digress. What I’m getting at here is that every point in our past has, in an important sense, been the worst of times. I mean, you think we have it bad now, try on the Black Death for size. Or any given point between 1914 and 1945. Or the Mesozoic Era, which gets a free pass only because there were no people around to whine about it.
And the future doesn’t help things any. Our yesterdays are full of brighter tomorrows, from Verne (who, admittedly, seemed to be tempered by a screaming case of the heebie jeebies) to the industrial-strength optimism of the 1939 World’s Fair. All that’s good in life seems to exist only in the margins; we had it in the past, lost it, and will only see it again in the future. Cargo cultism for everyone!
On the other hand, of course this is the best of times. I don’t mean that in some Panglossian sense, but think about this for a second. No matter how much we romanticize the past, it’s not all that great. A nice place to visit, as the saying goes, but you wouldn’t want to live there. As for the future, sure, we always want the next big thing. Ezra Pound may not have been referring directly to human nature when he quoted the edict, “Make it new!” but it could easily stand in for the way we tend to look at life. It’s what we have, and do, in the here and now–and its power to shape a brighter future for ourselves and those who’ll follow us–that make it the best of all possible times.
Just a momentary lapse into optimism. We’ll be back to our old, pessimistic, selves in no time. –Ed.
Tags: history, Politics, prognostication
June 25th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
I recently looked up the word consumption, as used in old movies (”She’s got consumption”). I found out it meant tuberculosis, a disease that hasn’t affected me or anyone else I know, other than a TB tine test when I was a kid. So I was pretty shocked to read that at the turn of the century, 80% of Americans under 20 had contracted this disease, and it was the #1 cause of death. Take *that*, heart disease!
So, yeah, I certainly don’t think we’re in the worst of it. I often feel we’re already living in the future, and don’t feel compelled to return to the past unless it’s to get a do-over.