Atonal

[rinue]

The tone of the twentieth century was set by three things: Sigmund Freud, Jack the Ripper, and the Russian Revolution. Almost any definitive historical event can be traced to one of them, or more often to all three. From Jack comes the sexualization of violence, sensationalist news as entertainment, the idea that the rich should care for the unfortunate, conspiracy theories as common trade, and the notion that the bad guys get away with it. From the revolution, you get class struggle on a large scale, the end of aristocracy, equality among all classes, war conducted on and by civilians, Josef Stalin, and the Cold War. The two combined birthed Hitler, nationalism, and paranoia. Freud rounded us out with sexual liberation, psychotherapy, blaming our parents, and the preeminence of the brain.

I'm not saying that none of these concepts existed before, but that these three factors drove them home and influenced everyone so profoundly -- whether directly or indirectly -- that they can be given almost full credit for the last century. They were definitive.

I strongly suspect that September 11th set the tone for the twenty first century. Much as I'm tired of hearing about it and talking about it, the fact that it is still so present throughout the world speaks to its effect. I think this will be a century of uncertainty and fear, but with a sense of unity that I hope will prove more powerful.

Fuck, I'm not saying this right and I sound like a high school philsopher. Stop listening to me explain it and just think. Speculate.

Comments

[okoge.livejournal.com]

Freud, definitely.
What about Darwin?

[keieru.livejournal.com]

fascinating. Out of curiousity, which would you attribute the scientific revolution to? Not Newton's, but Einstein's: the replacement of the existing logical, mechanistic worldview with the current weirdass quantum uncertanties. I mean, to a certain extent, most new technologies can be traced to nationalism (computers, cryptosystems, atom bombs, space travel, etc), but what about the more neutral advances like relativity and particle dynamics? They required a major leap in thinking from the 19th century school of thought.

I definitely agree about Sept 11th. It'll be interesting to see what kind of long-term global effects we end up with. (For instance, I don't think this paranoia thing will go away any time soon.)

[hipgunslinger.livejournal.com]

I hate to bring something new up, and in what seems like such an uneducated light, but it's my honest opinion that so much of the 20th century was ruled by the concepts of efficiency and convenience.
I've no real idea who could be held responsible for this... but despite the fact that it doesn't appear as an international concept (I will stipulate that most of these trends being discussed here are mostly for the luxury of first world countries - which on a national scale would make me feel that there was less of a Russian Revolution equalizing of the classes occurring) it just seems to me to be too prevalent an undertone to ignore in the spirit of the discussion.
And now I'm going to have a drink and TRY to go to bed. I can't sleep worth a damn, so if this sounds dumb, it's just because I was lonely and sleepless.

[deche.livejournal.com]

d'oh! Ok I think I'll go back to doodling in my sketch book now. you guys have gone way beyond my mental capabilities... that or, I tend to not give a shit about the rest of the world and whatever the hell goes on in it and/or why.