Were They The Really Good Days?

[dr_phil_physics]

A Convoluted Route

This is a nice essay! Found while going through yuki_onna's LJ, after hearing about Jim C. Hines and Catherynne M. Valente giving the Writing Workshop at this year's Penguicon.

Whew. Anyway, the essay is about an America which doesn't exist anymore in the Rustbelts of Ohio and Detroit and the seacoasts of Maine, except in the minds of an older generation. And, especially in some of the comments, about how the younger generations have to make their own America with their own expectations.

You know, Penguicon used to be just a couple of weeks after ConFusion, and traveling across the state in February is not an inviting prospect, after doing it in January. But if Penguicon 7.0 is in early May -- and WisCon is already sold out of the main hotel -- maybe I should plan on some Linux and SF conning... Wil Wheaton and Spider Robinson are amongst the GoH's.

Dr. Phil

Comments

[dr-phil-physics.livejournal.com]

The dream of home ownership has been exploited by the consumer demand people. Buy a bigger house. Get a bigger/plasma TV. Build a home theatre. Put in the granite kitchen counters and the faux pro-grade stainless steel oven and refrigerator. Get that home equity/improvement loan -- and then roll in a vacation to Hawaii while you're at it.

It was all insane and has damaged people. But it also makes a younger generation who doesn't think about "lifetime employment" with just one company, assume that home ownership isn't for them. Yea, they even reject the endless winding subdivision neighborhoods in the suburbs, all without sidewalks and a walking or porch culture.

Sometimes I think I'm an Edwardian at heart. 1900-1914. "Even God cannot sink that culture!"

Dr. Phil