Friday, December 18, 2009

Calling Dr. Pangloss

We never had it so good – right?

by Justin Raimondo, December 18, 2009

"I thought it might – just might – be a parody, a spoof, a weak attempt at irony. But no, it turns out that Nick Gillespie, the former editor of Reason magazine, and now chief honcho over at something called "ReasonTV," is absolutely and incredibly serious about his contention that We Never Had It So Good. And why, pray tell, are we supposedly so blessed? Well, it seems that nerdy geeky-looking white kids now have some really really cool computer games to play, while their parents make the rounds looking for work during the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. And – hey look! – we have Netflix, not to mention all those hundreds of new television stations: the vast wasteland has assumed continental proportions. Hurrah! And computers are here, they’re inexpensive, and the government can spy on us oh so much more efficiently now than ever before. Isn’t progress wonderful? I’m sure Dr. Pangloss would agree. ....

Yes, "change" is surely in the air, but decline, too, is change. So get out those video games, turn on the television, and contemplate the prospect of a long and vacuous existence – because you’re going to need all the diversions you can get.

We are in the midst of – or, really, at the doorstep of – one of the most volatile, and potentially destructive periods in our history as a nation. That anyone can even think of peddling some Panglossian vision of unlimited "progress" and smug complacency at such a moment is proof positive that no idea is so absurd that it cannot inspire adherents."

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