As an “old guy,”I am absolutely blown away by magnitude of the changes I see around me when I compare American life and culture in 2013 with what I remember of say, 1958, the year of my college graduation. Never mind contemplating life in 1776 which I only experienced as a historian through diaries and other primary sources.
In this NY Times op-ed piece, Krugman has put his finger on several of the most obvious differences, and they are certainly notable. It’s hard for me as a semi-aware and mostly “with it” Senior not to feel increasingly out of date and irrelevant. I wonder which, if any, of my ancestors might have felt this way.
I’m going to try and think seriously about that question in the weeks ahead as I make use of my Apple devices to explore the universe through the orbiting Hubble telescope controlled from Baltimore and Munich, appreciate art in the Louvre, listen to original concerts by Dylan and the Beetles on YouTube, do research in the Smithsonian, learn how to make Lemon Tarts from culinary experts in Scotland, watch House of Cards and the 2012 Broncos at Sports Authority Field, keep my ancient mind flexible by trying to solve the puzzles on Lumosity, check on the weather in New England where my daughters live, investigate what might have caused the train wreck in Spain or what color little Prince George’s hair will be, find out what my friends are eating and reading, and even locate and see a photograph of the grave site of a distant ancestor in a cemetery in Royal Tunbridge Wells south of London.
And all this while not moving more than my fingers to stroke the alphabetical keys on a composite keyboard (made of rare metals from all over the world), designed by adolescents in California, assembled in China, and shipped in a Japanese container ship powered by shale oil from Canada.
And that’s but a microdot of the change that’s around me. No wonder I’m feeling out of it!
OP-ED COLUMNIST
E Pluribus Unum
By PAUL KRUGMAN Published: July 4, 2013 449 Comments
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It’s that time of year — the long weekend when we gather with friends and family to celebrate hot dogs, potato salad and, yes, the founding of our nation. And it’s also a time for some of us to wax a bit philosophical, to wonder what, exactly, we’re celebrating. Is America in 2013, in any meaningful sense, the same country that declared independence in 1776?
A version of this op-ed appeared in print on July 5, 2013, on page A19 of the New York edition with the headline: E Pluribus Unum.
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