Neither Behind Nor Ahead I Look
For this post, I was going to give a recap of the major issues and stories of 2007, and then detail my thoughts about what to expect for 2008.
Ohhhhh, but that would have been nice, wouldn't it?
I mean, picture it: Had I started to rehash all the old roads we traveled down last year, you would have been able to hear something like Billy Joel's We Didn't Start the Fire playing in the background. And had I then segued into an optimistic outlook on the upcoming year . . . well, I'm sure there would have been some inspirational tune to accompany that, too. And possibly dancers, just because I like dancers.
The only problem is, that's what every blogger in the entire blogosphere blogged about in early January blog posts. (By the way, that's the most I've ever used the word "blog" or a variation thereof in a sentence in my entire life, and my hand to god, it's the last time I'll ever do it again.)
Besides, I get the distinct impression that we're all sick of the crap that transpired in 2007 anyway. The war in Iraq presses on without any end in sight. Bin Laden is still at large. Americans remain just a bunch of ultra-consuming fat asses dependent on oil. Brittany is a train wreck that we're forced to watch until we want to step in front of a bus. Baseball is in turmoil and the media that cover it are a joke. Television sucked when the writers were working, and now that they're on strike, it blows. And the presidential candidates started campaigning in 2006, so we've been sick of them. No one wants to hear about this crap anymore.
And 2008?
Well, we can always hope it will better than 2007. I guess we didn't set the mark very high last year, so things are looking good in that regard.
Still, if we've proven one thing over and over again down through the centuries, it's that no matter how many fresh starts we get, we can find a way to screw things up, almost effortlessly. Our affable, "Whoops. My bad" attitude has accompanied us through the years, like a boon companion. We are masters at subverting our potential, and then subverting it again when we get a do-over. Hey, it's just what we do.
And with a US presidential election on the horizon, not to mention a summer Olympics, and the constant, exponential dumbing down of everything in our culture, 2008 is bound to rank right down there with all the other years we've survived.
I don't mean to sound cynical or even pessimistic. I'm just making assumptions based on observations I've made over the years. And even if we do screw everything up, like we have in the past, that's no reason to be down or depressed. Let's face it, our shortcomings and failures are way more entertaining than our successes. And we pretty much have to laugh at the failures that are dangerous or hurtful, because the only other option in those cases is to cry, and no one wants to cry this early in the year. We can wait at least until after Valentine's Day for that, can't we?
So let's just do what we do, and don't anticipate anything grand for 2008. The entertainment value in that approach is built in. And hey, if we do end up achieving something, if we do actually progress human society in some meaningful way, it will be totally unexpected and a completely wonderful surprise.
Ohhhhh, but that would have been nice, wouldn't it?
I mean, picture it: Had I started to rehash all the old roads we traveled down last year, you would have been able to hear something like Billy Joel's We Didn't Start the Fire playing in the background. And had I then segued into an optimistic outlook on the upcoming year . . . well, I'm sure there would have been some inspirational tune to accompany that, too. And possibly dancers, just because I like dancers.
The only problem is, that's what every blogger in the entire blogosphere blogged about in early January blog posts. (By the way, that's the most I've ever used the word "blog" or a variation thereof in a sentence in my entire life, and my hand to god, it's the last time I'll ever do it again.)
Besides, I get the distinct impression that we're all sick of the crap that transpired in 2007 anyway. The war in Iraq presses on without any end in sight. Bin Laden is still at large. Americans remain just a bunch of ultra-consuming fat asses dependent on oil. Brittany is a train wreck that we're forced to watch until we want to step in front of a bus. Baseball is in turmoil and the media that cover it are a joke. Television sucked when the writers were working, and now that they're on strike, it blows. And the presidential candidates started campaigning in 2006, so we've been sick of them. No one wants to hear about this crap anymore.
And 2008?
Well, we can always hope it will better than 2007. I guess we didn't set the mark very high last year, so things are looking good in that regard.
Still, if we've proven one thing over and over again down through the centuries, it's that no matter how many fresh starts we get, we can find a way to screw things up, almost effortlessly. Our affable, "Whoops. My bad" attitude has accompanied us through the years, like a boon companion. We are masters at subverting our potential, and then subverting it again when we get a do-over. Hey, it's just what we do.
And with a US presidential election on the horizon, not to mention a summer Olympics, and the constant, exponential dumbing down of everything in our culture, 2008 is bound to rank right down there with all the other years we've survived.
I don't mean to sound cynical or even pessimistic. I'm just making assumptions based on observations I've made over the years. And even if we do screw everything up, like we have in the past, that's no reason to be down or depressed. Let's face it, our shortcomings and failures are way more entertaining than our successes. And we pretty much have to laugh at the failures that are dangerous or hurtful, because the only other option in those cases is to cry, and no one wants to cry this early in the year. We can wait at least until after Valentine's Day for that, can't we?
So let's just do what we do, and don't anticipate anything grand for 2008. The entertainment value in that approach is built in. And hey, if we do end up achieving something, if we do actually progress human society in some meaningful way, it will be totally unexpected and a completely wonderful surprise.
posted by Sam Ogden at
1:49 PM
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