The Future We Didn't Get

[ecosophia]

There are times when I wonder why so many people seem so freaky these days, and then I remember this. 

This is the future we were supposed to get.  Two generations of Americans grew up being told that this was what they could expect, in newspaper ads like this one and in countless other venues. Next time you go for a walk or even look out the window, compare what you see to the image above, and measure the gap between them. The cognitive dissonance between the future we were told we were going to get and the one that's actually arrived is, I think, the single largest cause of the collective nervous breakdown unfolding around us right now. 

Comments

[ecosophia]

Oh, I think sloth gets in there. Think of terms like "couch potato."

[cutekitten]

But a couch potato 🥔 is not held up as an example of virtue, the way a peasant working 3 minimum-wage jobs is.

[ecosophia]

Granted, but it's held up as a desirable state.

[cutekitten]

OK, I agree. Our society is based on ALL SEVEN deadly sins!

We’re number one! We’re number one!

[mollari]

Here in Canada it's often held as a sign of virtue: by being a couch potato you've demonstrated that you can manage your finances and work properly. Sloth may not in and of itself be considered virtuous, but it's considered a sign of it...

[brendhelm]

Sloth gets in through sneaky classism. The poor are supposed to be diligent so that they can someday become rich, and once rich, can be indolent.