As tickets are going fast for the New Kids On The Block tour, Harrison Ford is starring as Indiana Jones in the summer's first blockbuster and a movie about Batman and the Joker nears premiere. Big hair is in and we await a President named George Bush out. There's conflict in the Middle East and a Mars Lander set to explore the red planet. Paula Abdul is driving the music industry, Madonna is topping billboard charts, and J. Crew's promoting jelly shoes as the summer's hottest accessory.
Oh. And it's 2008 this time around.
Now that I'm in my late 20's looking back at the sunset of the 1980's, I can't help but recognize that the more things change, the more they stay the same. And despite all the dismal news about our environment everyday, I suspect that the planet will be alright if we make smart, informed decisions in policy and practice right now.
Yes, over time the world will evolve into a very different earth than we've known, but like Doc once told Marty, our future hasn't been written yet. No one's has. Our future is whatever we make it. So let's make it a good one.
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Don't forget that the Police are touring again....
Sheril,
Your writings almost always brighten my day. Your last few lines from Back To The Future is exactly how we all should feel.
The Back to the Future town square was destroyed in the Universal Studios fire yesterday.
So, Miss Sheril, what future should we create? Which future do we need to create? And at what level will we create that future - local citizen, national politician, world corporation? It is these questions taht both vex and excite me. You too I suspect.
Things are better now: violent crime is at an all-time low, declining for 15 years. There are no more crack wars. Teen pregnancy's also at all-time low, declining for years. Gangsta rap died two years ago, and hip-hop / r&b are back to the hedonistic good ol' days of disco and '80s rap.
I haven't seen big hair become popular, but I'm in the Mountain Time Zone, so it may take away for the epidemic to spread here. Jelly shoes -- ditto. Were the original jelly shoes $45, though? Jesus.
I just pray we don't have another '90s decade where identity politics, PC, and mopey music strangled popular culture.
Ah, the 80s -- the decade of gleeful overconsumption being hailed as good, because it made us feel good about ourselves; not to mention crushing national debt, irresponsible fiscal policy, and an international policy which a few years later came back to bite us in a big way. I was in my late teens/early 20s those years, and although I remember how fun it all was, I remember the darker side of it as well.
Sorry to rain on the nostalgia parade. I've just come back from viewing one hell of a lot of bleached coral and crushing poverty around Mombasa. I suspect this sours my attitude somewhat.