Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Are we really in a cultural golden age? (The AV Club)

First, why - other than the natural laziness that informs most nostalgia - do so many people think that the culture is in decline? Why is the belief that things were better in the mysterious “before” so common that it jumps from generation to generation, like baldness or a bad ticker? While the tendency to be politically conservative knows no particular age, cultural conservatism is as predictable as prostate cancer. Why hasn’t this changed since Sallust’s time?
I could give you a list of 1,000 reasons why culture is in decline, but we don't have time for that - instead here's three: most Fox movies (no offense to those of you involved in making them), famous people only famous because they're famous, and the acceptance of the f-bomb as a word to be used in everyday vocabulary.
However! The man does have a point, and so I encourage you to take a look at the article. (And no, I don't know who Sallust is either. See? Case in point!)
Read the full article here.

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