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Brave New World
PJ Media, by Victor Davis Hanson

Original Article

Posted By:StormCnter, 2/19/2013 4:54:36 AM

The Revolutions We Missed Sometimes societies just plod along, oblivious that the world is being reinvented right under their noses. In 2000, one never saw pedestrians bumping into themselves as they glued their noses to iPhones. Thirteen years later, it is almost rare to see anyone on the street who is not stumbling about, networking or texting. Yet most of us are scarcely aware of the collective effect of that odd habit repeating itself millions of times over each day, of millions of books not read, of “hellos” not offered, of brains wired to screens rather

  

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Reply 1 - Posted by: Spidey, 2/19/2013 5:10:05 AM     (No. 9184280)

These tech gadgets are creating a whole new realm of obsessive compulsive disorder,like we really needed that.I mean,what´s so damn important that you can´t go 5 minutes without looking at one of these things.

Some where along the line,I missed out on what´s so entertaining about these.I guess if you´re trying to keep track of a BF or GF´s whereabouts,due to mistrust,they come in handy.

I saw something a couple months ago that black 7th graders couldn´t tell time off of a face clock.The left already wants to get rid of cursive writing and now teacher´s unions want to get rid of standardize tests that expose their failures.What they really think is these tests are designed to program people into a white establishment way of education.


Reply 2 - Posted by: Rather Read, 2/19/2013 5:22:03 AM     (No. 9184285)

One of my college students admitted he can´t read cursive writing anymore. He´s an intelligent guy - majoring in biology.


   

 

  


 
Reply 3 - Posted by: srhcb, 2/19/2013 6:23:19 AM     (No. 9184316)

´Tis better to curse The Darkness than go blindly into it.


Reply 4 - Posted by: Rinktum, 2/19/2013 7:18:27 AM     (No. 9184368)

VDH has held a mirror up to the face of the nation with this article. I am just not sure if we are brave enough to take a long look much less to change anything we see. I hope I am wrong but I fear I am not. What was the land of opportunity has become the land of greed, slothfulness, and moral decline. It is going to take an enormous effort to get us back on the track. I am not sure we have the resolve. The progressives have made enormous strides infiltrating every aspect of our lives and are on their way to defeating us from within which is a feat no foreign nation has been able to accomplish.


Reply 5 - Posted by: EnsignO´Toole, 2/19/2013 7:42:50 AM     (No. 9184400)

#2 - I hope your student and others like him don´t plan on going in to pharmacology where, I believe, they need to be able to read cursive writing. I´m never sure when I take a prescription to a pharmacy how on earth the pharmacist can read it, and I sometimes wonder if I got the correct drug.

VDH has given his usual "on-the-money" insight into our world. After reading this excellent article I´ve concluded we are living in Huxley´s "Brave New World".


Reply 6 - Posted by: M2, 2/19/2013 7:57:55 AM     (No. 9184433)

The broader abstract of this article isn´t so much technology as it is culture and ideas. Both have changed under our noses and we have come to accept these "new normals" without firing a shot to defend ourselves.

Hanson says we missed the revolution. He is right. But it isn´t too late. We are not helpless unless we accept all of this without a whimper.

Where´s a huge meteor when we need one. I wonder at times if there is any cause on this earth that would bring all humanity together. If there isn´t, we really are finished and circling the drain.


Reply 7 - Posted by: jgat, 2/19/2013 7:58:57 AM     (No. 9184435)

Absolutely the best description of our present condition I have seen! I recommend Victor David Hanson as our National Historian.


   

 

  


 
Reply 8 - Posted by: HisHandmaiden, 2/19/2013 8:13:41 AM     (No. 9184445)

Sounds like Ecclesiastes from Scripture...
[Where The Answer is too...]


Reply 9 - Posted by: Red Jeep, 2/19/2013 8:24:54 AM     (No. 9184460)

"The media is a Ministry of Truth..." So true. So right on target. The MOT.


Reply 10 - Posted by: MOBeef4u, 2/19/2013 8:34:36 AM     (No. 9184479)

One tiny glimmer of hope is in a recent survey that found that 60+ percent of Facebook users intend to take a break from it for some period of time. Now if we could get most everyone else to do the same from their handheld devices; especially when they´re driving!
Maybe a few are figuring out that that much socializing isn´t as necessary as they once thought. (I can dream, can´t I.)


Reply 11 - Posted by: rlwo, 2/19/2013 8:37:46 AM     (No. 9184487)

A lot of them are going to Google+, #10.


Reply 12 - Posted by: WAN2, 2/19/2013 8:51:31 AM     (No. 9184504)

I would so love a peak in Mr. Hanson´s basement for weaponry. Or freeze-dried meals. THEN we would know his mind.


   

 



 
Reply 13 - Posted by: Belle, 2/19/2013 9:05:30 AM     (No. 9184528)

Definite Must Read!


Reply 14 - Posted by: nightvision, 2/19/2013 9:07:54 AM     (No. 9184533)

#6, "I wonder at times if there is any cause on this earth that would bring all humanity together."

Excellent question. If there IS one, I can´t imagine what it might be.


Reply 15 - Posted by: Bad Dog, 2/19/2013 9:13:47 AM     (No. 9184545)

FTA: ...´´do we shrug and just accept it....´´?

In our case, hubby and I HAVE shrugged, in the Atlas sense. We won´t play this game. We ARE preparing for the ultimate showdown. It will come. We cannot accept it.

I keep praying some talented writer is committing this ´new normal´ to a new or updated Atlas Shrugged for future generations. To mix the metaphors - we are through the Lookingglass.

Meanwhile, hubby and I will stay in our personal GG.


Reply 16 - Posted by: catbird, 2/19/2013 9:15:11 AM     (No. 9184549)

The other day I watched a couple in a restaurant. She was engrossed in her laptop, he in his smart phone. They exchanged nary a word and only one glance during the entire meal. Made me wonder why they bothered to have lunch together.


Reply 17 - Posted by: altoona, 2/19/2013 9:38:01 AM     (No. 9184586)

VDH tells the ugly truth, beautifully.


   

 

  


 
Reply 18 - Posted by: krause, 2/19/2013 9:41:18 AM     (No. 9184590)

I´ve come to the realization that those on the left are shallow thinkers. As long as it´s against the rich, conservatives, rule of law, or personal responsibility, they will go all in, not thinking about any unintended consequences or long term effect.


Reply 19 - Posted by: Melody, 2/19/2013 9:41:43 AM     (No. 9184591)

It isn´t Monday morning, but it feels as if it were, after the holiday yesterday. The accumulation of truth in this article feels like a hit to the solar plexus on a Monday morning.

Yes, we need to recognize where we are, what has happened. But, Mr. Hanson, did your parents choose your name ´´Victor´´ for a reason? I hope they had a mission in mind when they picked it out.

All is in flux? It may feel like it, but don´t forget that there is a solid rock, and that´s where we must plant our feet. You want an unshakeable kingdom. The good news is, there is one. No, it´s not in the current culture here. But when we´ve reached the end of our resources, God hasn´t even begun with His. Won´t it be exciting to see how He what He is going to do next? I have a feeling it may start with the sound of a trumpet.


Reply 20 - Posted by: thelmalou, 2/19/2013 9:44:35 AM     (No. 9184598)

Yowsa...brilliant observations, even for VDH. I love this man.


Reply 21 - Posted by: stryker714, 2/19/2013 9:53:44 AM     (No. 9184611)

So #12 did you even get the gyst of the article? Are you one of those propagandists from other blogs that likes to make fun of the doomsday preppers and imply anyone who isn´t a liberal must fall into a doomsday prepper category? Weapons and freeze dried food? Puh-leez. Send the author an email, surely you can work out a visit if that´s all you derive from the article.

The article accurately body slams the status quo. What a nice collage, a kaleidoscope of all the crazy aspects of today´s society.


Reply 22 - Posted by: mc squared, 2/19/2013 9:59:20 AM     (No. 9184629)

I agree with the idea that technology is having it´s effects but don´t forget to read the entire column.

The entire society is fraying. It went into overdrive about 4 years ago and the parallels to mid-wars Europe are astounding.


   

 



 
Reply 23 - Posted by: Me?Opinionated?Nah!, 2/19/2013 10:15:27 AM     (No. 9184666)

“Don´t know much about History
Don´t know much Biology
Don´t know much about Science book
Don´t know much about the French I took.
But, I do know that I love you, and I know that if you loved me too, what a wonderful world this would be.”

Would be? Could be? Could it be that it was Sam Cooke who knew all the answers all along? Could it be that the dumbing-down of the world has finally hit bottom? Perhaps not. But, it sure as shootin’ appears to be getting close, doesn’t it?


Reply 24 - Posted by: LZK, 2/19/2013 10:16:30 AM     (No. 9184670)

I remember while in grammar school in the 50´s reading how Socrates bemoaned the "young people" for their lack of courtesy and concern for their elderly....

So what if it´s a "brave new world" -- join in and have a ball. I´m an ole grannie who just got a iphone from my son. OMG it´s the most fun I´ve had in years. I learn something new every day....

Stop with the "sky is fallin" crap......

LZK


Reply 25 - Posted by: Felixcat, 2/19/2013 10:28:57 AM     (No. 9184696)

Agree 100% Dr. Hanson. I think the porblem is that up until the 1960s and the hippie movement, most Americans had some shared cultural heritage, morals, etc. But that has changed. There are two Americas - in the worse sense; those identified as "good" and those as "evil." And the evil ones are really the good guys - us and we´re losing - fast.


Reply 26 - Posted by: WAN2, 2/19/2013 10:45:05 AM     (No. 9184736)

#22. My purpose was to decipher just how bad the brilliant VDH thinks it is after reading his cogent but depressing words. If and when does HE contemplate bugging out? And what does he think we should watch for as the linchpin? This does not sound like an ignorant/unreasonable query.


Reply 27 - Posted by: Chuzzles, 2/19/2013 11:24:37 AM     (No. 9184829)

#17, my folks always made it clear to my kids that when they are in grammpy´s house they play by his rules. I totally agree. Next time your daughter and grandchild come for a visit and you take them somewhere, tell them ok but the electronics stay home.

Your house, your rules grammpy.


Reply 28 - Posted by: HisHandmaiden, 2/19/2013 11:43:15 AM     (No. 9184881)

We Conservatives know why this has happened... and what needs to be done about it...

And #29 is correct... your house/car, your rules...
Both parents and grandparents need a backbone...
Even 28-year-old IT consultant Daughter has rules with her team at dinner... No Gadgets!

#26, wanna´ play Words with Friends/Scrabble?
Email is on profile!


Reply 29 - Posted by: larryp, 2/19/2013 1:07:27 PM     (No. 9185055)

I thought the Merchandising award of the century would go to the person who figured out to replace the $1.59 hair-brush in 14yr old girls´ hands, with a $300.00 cell phone!


Reply 30 - Posted by: lonestarm3, 2/19/2013 1:30:17 PM     (No. 9185104)

The parallels between the collective mental state of Americans today and Germans in the late 1930´s is appalling.
(Oops....forgot. Not supposed to even hint at the truth.)

VDH nails it, but in truth a country that has universal suffrage and elects a government like we have today and even worse adapts to it -- deserves (or at least the majority, however thin, deserves) exactly what it gets.

VDH is saying today much and more of what Rudyard Kipling was saying in 1909 in his poem, "City of Brass"


Reply 31 - Posted by: Getagrip19, 2/19/2013 1:51:36 PM     (No. 9185145)

Shut up everyone and take your SOMA....


Reply 32 - Posted by: AutumnJoy, 2/19/2013 3:31:53 PM     (No. 9185314)

#26; "So what if it is a Brave New World?...Have fun" Proof positive that the author and his premise demonstrate that we are doomed.


Reply 33 - Posted by: seenitallbefore, 2/19/2013 6:35:58 PM     (No. 9185622)

Three words describe the 21st Century:
Morons with Gadgets


Reply 34 - Posted by: susieq1, 2/19/2013 7:37:33 PM     (No. 9185689)

Thinking along those same lines #20. Found an awesome bible study online and none of the gadgets of today can match that.


Reply 35 - Posted by: Ida Lil, 2/19/2013 9:40:38 PM     (No. 9185823)

Well at least one poster has read huxley´s demeaning book. This article misses the entire point of that tome a thinly veiled extreme of racism and elitist right to power.
This article just invites the tired and supposedly humble peons to merely give up and accept the dominance.
Only a Hillary clinton could ever considered it so profound that living in their world is the end desired.
As for me i read that book at 18 too and vowed to never give away freedom and knuckle under to elitists.



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