Once upon a time, forces long thought to be in hot opposition to each other made a common bed together.
Political/economic elites united with scientific elites - and the two united in both private enterprise and in command economies such as Nazi Germany and the USSR.
They all shared a common vision and the few individuals opposed to that vision (for to claim the critics as 'forces' would greatly exaggerate their strength and unity of purpose) found little foothold among the public to share their reasoned opposition to that vision.
Huge, highly expensive and risky super-projects would be undertaken by the scientific elites, paid for by monies raised diverted by the political and economic worlds.
The rare unity across CP Snow's cultural divide and the even rarer willingness to divert monies into wild and wooly schemes happened because these super projects were judged essential for a nation-state's very survival, let alone also ensuring it remaining as a super nation in an age of super modernity and super men.
The apogee of this super or hyper modern faith in scientism was the New York World's Fair of 1939-1940.
My cohort (those born between 1940 and 1956) , the transitional cohort between modernity and the times after modernity, never knew first hand of the excited expectations thrown up by this famous fair.
But our parents, teachers and employers did ....
Showing posts with label supermodernity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label supermodernity. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Monday, December 8, 2014
the Super-Modern Era : the hyper-arrogant era of Supermen and Ubermensch
The current term 'Super Heroes', though not the age old concept , first fully emerged at the apogee of the super-modern era (the New York's World Fair ,circa 1939-1940) and have tagged along with us ever since.
Their continuing popularity - and not just among 15 year old boys - is a useful measure of the strength of belief in Super-Modern ideas , 70 years into this era of the post-Modern.
The other measure is, of course, support for the climate deniers.
Their chief funders and cheerleaders are old men (born on both sides of 1930) who were those same young 15 year old boys who first read of the original comic book super heroes.
Gosh Koch : comic books form the deep ideology of the climate denying network ?
Who would ever have thought that ?
Their continuing popularity - and not just among 15 year old boys - is a useful measure of the strength of belief in Super-Modern ideas , 70 years into this era of the post-Modern.
The other measure is, of course, support for the climate deniers.
Their chief funders and cheerleaders are old men (born on both sides of 1930) who were those same young 15 year old boys who first read of the original comic book super heroes.
Gosh Koch : comic books form the deep ideology of the climate denying network ?
Who would ever have thought that ?
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