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Reflections on the 21st Century
Three factors — war, inequality, and popular opposition — that have shaped our lives so far this century.
On a personal level, the dawn of the third decade of the 21st century fills me with a kind of awe. This is the usual “where does the time go?” sensation that we all have as we age.
This year marks 20 years since I graduated with my bachelor’s degree. I’ve raised a family, established a career (such as it is), married, bought a house and ran through several cars.
But behind all the personal life events, the big social and political events rage. This has been a big era, inaugurated in the US by the “stolen election” of 2000 and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
It’s been an era of digital revolution, market bubbles, and war. And these are global processes, with global consequences. Just look at the strikes and yellow vest protests across France in the past year — and how the French government and police respond — and it’s clear that something’s gotta give. We’re heading into choppy waters.
It’s appropriate, as innumerable commentaries have done, to consider at the beginning of the new year, the general course of events over the past year and decade. But when I think of this period, I can’t help but widen…
