We’re in a fin de siècle moment, scary in its unknown outcomes as all our certainties vanish; but for what?
First, to really put the frighteners on everyone, in a history repeating itself sense, think back to the 1920’s.
That was a decade of booming prosperity when everything seemed possible, of a new liberality manifesting itself in excess compared with the past. Flappers, fads in every field, new scientific breakthroughs and irrationally over-priced share-markets. Ring a bell? Yes; the decade we’ve just completed.
Then abruptly came the great crash leading to mass unemployment and despair. Liberal democracies were replaced in all but a handful of countries as the masses opted for, or passively accepted, the certainties promised by authoritarian governments.
Ring a bell? Look at Brazil, Hungary, the Philippines, Poland, Egypt etc. etc. Add Trump.
And it all culminated with the greatest disaster in human history, namely the Second World War. So in an age of zillions being wasted on armaments, as in the thirties, well the future looks…. you guess. So that’s something to look forward to.