No Punk, No Disco, Yes Suffering
It doesn’t seem like anyone is having a superfly time during our 1970s throwback. The return of everything regrettable with none of the style prevents a groovy vibe. Broke people worried about the last of their stuff getting pinched can’t even appreciate active nostalgia ironically. This decade’s victims are too worried about muggers commandeering the bags full of cash it takes to buy a bag of apples.
Browsing through a nostalgic Instagram account sharing iconic moments from half a century ago offers momentary distraction from an economy whose stagnation approaches permanence. The thorough lack of an identifiable cultural character makes regression feel banal.
The lack of creativity spurred by present decline is the most glaring part. We won’t even get the gritty reality of punk or decadent fantasy of disco out of sinking. The good and bad news is present future-dwellers can hide inside with a bit more than four channels and all our stuff brought to the doorstep. The persistent urge to shied ourselves from harm undoubtedly means prosperity permeates.
Bringing to mind classic sitcom moments only offers so much comfort. Shoppers feel like Mary Tyler Moore exasperatingly putting beef that’s way too costly into her cart. We’re not getting the charmingly hilarious look at a modern career woman forging her path. You have some nerve presuming someone’s gender, sexist. The latest understanding of biology doesn’t exactly seem advanced.
How far will harkening go? I fear they’ll bring 8-tracks back. The prototypical clunky format is almost as inconvenient as inflation. Geezers who like browsing a mighty shelf of music think would be nice to have tangible items again, although they’ll probably just get ripped off. Humans who turned out to be unreasonably optimistic thought we cured brutes taking what belongs to others. Rampant thievery’s return is like polio making as comeback. The experiment’s conclusions getting replicated shocks those who claim to align with science.
There are better ways to get thrills than using sidewalks. Cities are back to making forests seem safe in a reminder of just how close civilization teeters to chaos. Ceding territory to the criminally insane has failed to inspire fond reminiscing. You’ll notice that those who adoringly call garbage-strewn street photos gritty aren’t presently inhabiting the ominous scenes. Fools seduced by decay daftly try their best to recreate them. There are better ways to get thrills than making the Upper West Side dangerous again.
Taking away the barriers to chaos turns out to cause more of it. I am also shocked. You’d think that might be a lesson worth retaining. But the worst part of widely challenging times half a century ago was not remembering why life was a downer. There sure doesn’t seem to be as much progress as anticipated.
Advanced times feature countless surprises that shouldn’t be such. Tolerating quality of life crimes lowers quality of life. Foes of the crime against humanity known as cash bail are the only ones shocked. An alarming percentage of vertical surfaces are covered in graffiti that’s not quite as festive as fans of antisocial behavior claimed. Alleged artists can’t paint with consent.
Very sweet kids who think progress is inevitable have prevented it. Modern folks suffer just like our polyester-clad ancestors. Today is much worse because of the precedent. Our ancestors already endured avoidable agonies so we didn’t have to, which makes neglecting difficult lessons even more insulting to previous generations.
The job is too big for one person, as long as it’s the kind of person who somehow gets elected. A series of presidents who shrugged as events they spurred spun out of control have claimed there’s nothing to be done. The limply powerful either hope voters don’t remember or don’t care as they already got hired. An all-powerful government can’t do anything right and inflicts plenty of wrong.
Presuming intervention is simply part of life as it makes same life a hassle is the sort of exhausting surrender that itself exposed all to danger. Government meddles with ordinary business as it lets felons practice their unsavory trade, which at least isn’t as awful as diabolical Earth menacing. Evil on a smaller scale is the closest the beleaguered get to relief.
The Cold War is back in an annoying variation. Acting as if the Berlin Wall is still in place is the only thing worse than accepting it as permanent when it stood. The existence of evil regimes is accepted as inevitable by those possessing the unused power to confront them. It’s tough to use imperialist mean American might for those who think the commies had a point about communal good over greed. We’re all sharing empty shelves like the gray section of Germany’s most prominent city.
Getting ripped off in multiple senses is even worse when everything’s boring. Our present advanced and regressive age lacks the distinct style of the dangerous decade we’re copying. Our world is in worse shape even if we avoid Bread. Carbohydrates are a luxury.
A person who lived through it doesn’t seem to remember what he’s presently eating for lunch, much less how much hurting his lame thoughts inflict in practice. Retro doofus Joe Biden was already haunting the Senate not learning how deleterious liberal infiltration is. Maintaining principles is unwise if they’re daft. Endorsing every rotten notion was unfortunate when they were obviously bad ideas.
Innumerable examples in the meantime just make his drive to spread inflation and global woe that much sadder. Half a century spent not learning is even more regrettable than avocado appliances.
