Weblog conversations
I hate when weblogs have “conversations” with other weblogs by responding to something on them, but…
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I thought this was interesting from kottke.org. Jason states:
“People have been trying to figure out what the 90’s were all about. The 70’s decade is referred to as the ‘Me Decade’ and the 80’s were the ‘Greed Decade’. What about the 90's? I would like to propose that the 90’s were the ‘Where’s That From? Decade’ or, alternatively, the ‘Meta Decade’.”
While I agree that the 90’s were sort of an aggregate of past decades in some superficial ways like, clothing styles, movies, and music, I don’t think there was any great change in the mindset of the average person*. I think that, beginning in the 60’s, the average American thinks almost solely of themselves (and at a distant second, is their family). The “Me” and “Greed” decades simply gave way to the “I” decade of the 90’s. The sensitive 90’s man is encouraged to state things like “I think” this or “I feel” that. Image means more today than ever before, it’s all about the individual now. I don’t think this was always the case.
I wonder if there was a moment in time somewhere that could be pinpointed to as when the American public lost its sense of community, its sense of being together in some great endeavor. Granted there were a lot of bad things that were still far more prevalent in the 50’s: racism, sexism, etc. I still believe however that something was lost. Something changed in the way people feel and act toward each other and this new manner of interaction has persisted for the last 30+ years. Comments?
* the average person is defined for my purposes as a U.S. citizen.
