I have always prided myself on being someone who kept up with pop culture and who could relate to what went on in this country in terms of music, movies, television, literature, politics, etc.. But not anymore. Now that I have reached my 70's, I find myself drifting to the periphery of pop culture. I feel increasingly like an outsider looking in, unable to fully relate to what I see and hear around me.
Take movies, for instance. Ever since I was a youngster of 4 or 5 I have been a big movie fan, a love implanted by my mother, who was also a huge fan and often took me along to see her favorite movies and stars. I have seen thousands of films over the years, comedies and dramas, big spectaculars and obscure independent films. Today I scan the movie listings and yawn with boredom. I recall the edgy and innovative films of Scorcese, Altman, Coppola, and a host of other young directors from the 60's and 70's. These were productions that created cutting portrayals of the human condition, both funny and tragic. Today, Hollywood offers up a menu of preposterous super heroes from some alternate universe, cartoonish comic book figures in preposterous plots aimed at adolescent mentalities.
Turn on the TV and it's more of the same. Superheroes, comic book characters, and the sophomoric and silly antics of 20 somethings written by sophomoric 20 somethings for 20 somethings.
The casting of movies and television ooze with political correctness. Stories are no longer cast with actors who would be most proficient for that role. Instead, actors are cast to fill diversity requirements to meet some unwritten diversity quota.
Even one of my favorite magazines-Entertainment Weekly-has begun to lose my interest. When I first became a subscriber 20 years ago, the magazine took a serious approach at all aspects of the entertainment world. Today the magazine is all about superheroes, comic books, ComicCon and an editorial policy aimed at people under the age of 25.
The music scene has also changed, and not always for the better. Listen to the top 20 songs and all you will hear is slow and moderate tempo music. Gone are the rockers like "Jumpin' Jack Flash", "I Saw Her Standing There," or one of the up temp jams by Chuck Berry or Little Richard. Hip hop, rap and EDM dominate the charts, all of them done by artists with identical voices and singing styles.
Maybe a growing sense of cultural alienation and detachment is inevitable.As the years mount, so does my distance from the youth that shapes and dominates our culture. In truth, 2 generations separate me from this under 30 group. The old cliché says time marches on, and as it does, it moves past the older generation and doesn't look back. It also means I do not have to follow if I dislike the direction on which they're headed.
Sunday, January 28, 2018
Saturday, January 20, 2018
THE NEXT GREAT POPULATION SHIFT
As we approach the end of the second decade of the 21st century, we may be witnessing the beginning of a trend that could reshape the human population of our planet. Not since the "out of Africa" migration a million years ago have humans undergone such a species altering shift in population patterns,
Caucasians have been the dominant species for approximately the last ten thousand years. Virtually every major event during this time span, both good and bad, has been the result of Caucasian culture.
Greece, Rome, the Renaissance, the industrial revolution, the rise of farming, the rise of cities, the creation of the first real democracy in America can all be attributed to Caucasians. And yes, wars and brutal regimes are part of that legacy. The modern world as we know it, including the USA, has its roots in western European culture, be it science, medicine, the arts, religion, etc.. It now appears that this dominance may be on the wane and headed for complete dissolution.
The demographic numbers tell the story. When John F. Kennedy took office in January of 1961, the United States was 80% white. Today it is 65% white, and experts predict that by the middle of this century the US will be 45% white. For the first time in our history the white population would no longer be in the majority.
Over in Europe the shift is even more pronounced. People of English descent are actually a minority in London. The mayor of that city is a Muslim of Middle Eastern descent. The most popular boy's name in England the last two years is Mohammed. Mohammed is also the most popular name of newborn males in Holland.
In Italy, the population growth among Italians has fallen right off the table, an interesting irony for a country that is the capital of worldwide Catholicism, a religion that is firmly opposed to birth control. Experts predict that by 2080, Italians will be a minority in their own country, with 52% of the population comprised of Africans and Middle Easterners.
Throughout other regions of Europe, like Germany and Scandinavia, Middle Easterners and Africans dominate large swathes of the major cities.
As European and American birthrates either stagnate or plummet, the birthrates in the Middle East and Africa soar, as millions of their citizens migrate to the west. These numbers and trends may not only foretell the end of Caucasian dominance and influence in the world, but also its total demise.
These sorts of shifts in the human population occur at a glacial pace. It won't happen in the next hundred years, but perhaps within the next thousand years. In the far future, Caucasians may be reduced to a barely perceptible minority, or perhaps because of low birthrates and inter breeding, the race may cease to exist entirely.
Whether such events would have a positive or negative effect on the human race no one can predict. What one can predict is a future generation looking back at the 21st century as the turning point for a new phase of the human experience.
Caucasians have been the dominant species for approximately the last ten thousand years. Virtually every major event during this time span, both good and bad, has been the result of Caucasian culture.
Greece, Rome, the Renaissance, the industrial revolution, the rise of farming, the rise of cities, the creation of the first real democracy in America can all be attributed to Caucasians. And yes, wars and brutal regimes are part of that legacy. The modern world as we know it, including the USA, has its roots in western European culture, be it science, medicine, the arts, religion, etc.. It now appears that this dominance may be on the wane and headed for complete dissolution.
The demographic numbers tell the story. When John F. Kennedy took office in January of 1961, the United States was 80% white. Today it is 65% white, and experts predict that by the middle of this century the US will be 45% white. For the first time in our history the white population would no longer be in the majority.
Over in Europe the shift is even more pronounced. People of English descent are actually a minority in London. The mayor of that city is a Muslim of Middle Eastern descent. The most popular boy's name in England the last two years is Mohammed. Mohammed is also the most popular name of newborn males in Holland.
In Italy, the population growth among Italians has fallen right off the table, an interesting irony for a country that is the capital of worldwide Catholicism, a religion that is firmly opposed to birth control. Experts predict that by 2080, Italians will be a minority in their own country, with 52% of the population comprised of Africans and Middle Easterners.
Throughout other regions of Europe, like Germany and Scandinavia, Middle Easterners and Africans dominate large swathes of the major cities.
As European and American birthrates either stagnate or plummet, the birthrates in the Middle East and Africa soar, as millions of their citizens migrate to the west. These numbers and trends may not only foretell the end of Caucasian dominance and influence in the world, but also its total demise.
These sorts of shifts in the human population occur at a glacial pace. It won't happen in the next hundred years, but perhaps within the next thousand years. In the far future, Caucasians may be reduced to a barely perceptible minority, or perhaps because of low birthrates and inter breeding, the race may cease to exist entirely.
Whether such events would have a positive or negative effect on the human race no one can predict. What one can predict is a future generation looking back at the 21st century as the turning point for a new phase of the human experience.
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