Summary: The New York Times, as usual, leads the way into the Crazy Years. They remind us that this is no joke, but a descent into madness – a betrayal of the dreams that motivated so many Americans for two centuries. It is a straw showing a wind blowing us into evil. Do not be deceived by their small steps into belief this is just life as usual.
Six years ago (and many times since) I predicted that we were entering the “Crazy Years”, as predicted by science fiction author Robert Heinlein in 1939 (see below). His start date was fifty years too early, but every day brings new evidence that he was correct – just early. The madness has spread beyond its initial base in academia. Now even the highest echelons of the news media are infected, as we see in this headline to an article by Bonnie Wertheim in yesterday’s New York Times.
“Overlooked No More: Valerie Solanas, Radical Feminist Who Shot Andy Warhol.”
“She made daring arguments in “SCUM Manifesto,” her case for a world without men.
But it was her attack on Warhol that came to define her life.”
Like many violent fanatics, Solanas played the “just kidding” card when caught by outsiders.
“{Shooting Andy Warhol} reduced her to a tabloid headline, but also drew attention to her writing, which is still read in some women and gender studies courses today. Solanas was a radical feminist (though she would say she loathed most feminists), a pioneering queer theorist (at least according to some) and the author of SCUM Manifesto
Ms. Wertheim explains that others on the Left admire Solanas and her daring advocacy of sexism, oppression, and mass murder.
“Solanas inspired fictional works, including an episode of “American Horror Story: Cult,” where she is played by Lena Dunham, and a 2019 novel by the Swedish author Sara Stridsberg, Valerie: or, The Faculty of Dreams
“But it was with the 2014 biography Valerie Solanas: The Defiant Life of the Woman Who Wrote SCUM (and Shot Andy Warhol)
I doubt the NYT’s woke staff would write approvingly of someone advocating these things be done to women or minorities. They have taken to heart to single commandment George Orwell gives in Animal Farm
All people are equal. But some are more equal than others.
The West has spent generations working to break humanity’s habits of discrimination by race and gender – present in almost every society, everywhere and everywhen. Now the Left has abandoned that, again adopting racism and sexism among their core beliefs – stocking hatred and factionalism. There always have been such people, such as those on the far right. But it has been over three-score years since large numbers marched in the streets advocating such things – with the major news media applauding. I have read the NYT for 30+ years. I canceled my subscription today.
Is this article a big event? No. It is just a staw in the wind, showing the trend of events. Worse will come unless we act. Evil cannot be defeated, only restrained. Now we allow its resurgence. Will we see a newspaper headline like this soon?
“He made daring arguments in Mein Kampf
But it was his attack on the nations of Europe that came to define his life.”
Remember that Mein Kamph was not taken seriously in Europe until too late. Surely it was just political rhetoric to gain attention, an emotional reaction to the horrors of Germany’s defeat and the early years of the Weimar Republic. Evil sneaks into our souls during chaotic times.
About the “Crazy Years”
The great science fiction writer Robert Heinlein predicted the Crazy Years. He set the start date 50 years too early.
“The Crazy Years: Considerable technical advance during this period, accompanied by a gradual deterioration of mores, orientation, and social institutions, terminating in mass psychoses in the sixth decade, and the interregnum. …{then there are more phases} followed by the end of human adolescence and the beginning of {the} first mature culture.”
— From Robert Heinlein’s timeline of his future history stories; first published in Astounding Science Fiction, May 1940. This series was published as The Past through Tomorrow
Crazy years are commonplace in human history. The 14th century were crazy years in Europe, brought about by massive social and political changes, plus natural catastrophes (e.g., plague and the onset of the Little Ice Age). For a vivid account of this time see Barbara Tuchman’s A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century
Contest
I will send a copy of Rome’s Last Citizen
For More Information
Ideas! See my recommended books and films at Amazon. For something different, see “The Swallow – a story of the WWII Night Witches.”
I highly recommend Martin van Creveld’s new book, Seeing into the Future: A Short History of Prediction
If you liked this post, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. See all posts about Info & disinformation; about journalism, about political debate, about ways to reform America, and especially these …
- Important: Politics in modern America: A users’ guide for journalists and reformers.
- James Bowman: journalism is triumphant but doomed.
- James Bowman: see journalists’ hypocrisy and self-interest.
- See how journalists work as a pack to manipulate us.
- We can’t reform America without a new news media.
- The NY Times reveals itself and what news we’ll see in 2020.
- The woke generation takes the New York Times.
- A nice demo of modern journalism’s decay.
See a dark past to foresee our future
The Founders looked to the Roman Republic for ideas and inspiration. In this time of peril, we too can do so. See two books about the people who were the poles of the forces that could have saved the Republic, but instead destroyed it.
Caesar – a biography by Christian Meier
Rome’s Last Citizen
I don’t think that Heinlein was wrong with his timing, I thought the crazyness did begin back then. I met plenty of people back then who already embraced it, but privately, it’s just that now the mask is off. I know that younger people think fondly of the 80’s and 90’s, but the rot was already setting in.
We moved away from California in the 90’s to get away from the growing craziness. Now it’s at 90’s levels here. Still no drag queen story time at the Library, no homeless camps, there were no riots here, etc. However, like last time, I see the rot setting in again. I also think that it will take less than 20 years get to the crazy years here.
What can be done? My siblings have procured foreign passports based on our ancestry. But will the “old country” (where we do not fit in at all) be a place where one can hide from the crazy years? I have my doubts about that.
I also am not optimistic that humanity will somehow “grow up” and will usher in some kind of Star Trek like utopia where enduring peace and prosperity are finally achieved.
Frank,
“I know that younger people think fondly of the 80’s and 90’s, but the rot was already setting in.”
Heinlein set the start of the Crazy Year in the 1960s. But the 1960s and 1970s, despite the exciting but rare events during that era, look like old-home-week compared to our society today. As you note, the big changes began to appear in the 1980s – and are now bearing fruit.
Start dates in history are always arbitrary – since societies change only slowly, so any clear inflection point results from decades or generations of prior change.
Larry, in the summer of 1970 I stayed with family in Miami for a summer. My aunt was a PhD in psychology. I was appalled at what persons my age thought were fun and acceptable. She stated that it was Europe 40 years ago, California 20 years ago, Miami now, and in twenty years would be in South Carolina. That Heinlein was off about how fast the disease became prevalent is understandable. IMO, with our recent experience with the math of contagion, I think we should be amazed at how accurate his prediction on time actually was.
YMMV
You may like a Book by Satijit Das, A Banquet of Consequences.
Just a guy,
The quote (so often used) is attributed to Robert Louis Stevenson.
It was released in the US as The Age of Stagnation.
He’s a smart guy, and has been predicting crashes for a long time. See his Bloomberg articles.
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I assume you’ve read The Fourth Turning?
Jeff,
The Wikipedia entry gives a good description of experts’ reviews of The Fourth Turning.
The links are well worth reading, more informative imo than the book.
The genre is always popular, however, going back well into the 19th century. In my younger days there was Alan Toffler’s book Future Shock. We were agog at his brilliance!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_Shock
The key success for these writers is simplistic nifty description of yesterday and today, so that people don’t question the nifty (and usually wrong) forecasts.
You are right Larry we are all seeing change in many areas that worry us. We can see the issues, the question is when can we no longer kick them down the road.
Personally, I fear the answer is not much longer ….
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I don’t think Heinlein was early. It’s just that the truly critical changes that took place in his time frame needed a generation to play out and a second generation to watch that play out enter what we are now realizing the “crazy years”.
The truly critical changes by my reckoning:
the birth control pill
This unhinged female sexuality away from motherhood and into the open with consequences to the present day.
the Great Society and no fault divorce
This was the flip side of the Pill in that it unhinged fathers from their families. And we’re seeing the effects of that magnified today. Think missing black fathers could have helped matters? Heck, missing fathers period.
the Hart-Celler Act
This is responsible for the changing population demographics that have only in recent times become extremely visible. We were promised there wouldn’t be any substantial change; well we were lied to. Assimilation is a lot easier when there aren’t so many newcomers and it is they who have to adjust to our culture. Instead they arrive in numbers large enough that it becomes less necessary for them to adjust to us.
Nearly two thirds of primary public school attendees in the Los Angeles Unified School District now have a first language other than English. Spanish will likely become the number one spoken language in California by 2040. India Indians are already the dominant presence in IT nationwide and that’s only going to get worse with Big Tech and the Chamber of Commerce overwhelmingly prioritizing a compliant workforce over native born citizens. We’re rapidly heading into an era when identity will take priority over ideology; the signs of that are all around us. Into an era where the Founding Fathers are increasingly irrelevant to the new waves of immigrants. So statues of dead white guys? They can all go. And likely will in many jurisdictions.
These three “crazy years” themes came out of actions we took in the 1960’s. There are others. Like the MIC’s open interference both domestic and foreign dates from this period.