Devolution

A very interesting article in the most recent Vanity Fair by Kurt Anderson about cultural stagnancy. His argument is that American culture has plateaued and that nothing much has changed in the past 20 years--Madonna has morphed into Lady Gaga etc. and overall things have remained on a constant. He comments that, "Maybe this is the way that western civilisation declines, not with a bang but with a long, slow nostalgic whimper.”

This article comes on the heels of the much touted Simon Reynolds book, Retromania, which argues that we can define the past decade or two as the remix age where everything old is new again--something I wrote about in my doctoral dissertation as that idea pertained to religion, Christianity in particular.

Anderson's article contrasts with a Guardian piece by Jonathan Jones this past weekend. Jones cites Anderson and contrasts his essay with his own view on the difference between the two cultures in the current moment.

Comments

[John]

These four references provide a unique Understanding of why the past is merely repeating itself, and with deadly effect.

http://www.dabase.org/p2anthro.htm
http://www.dabase.org/not2p1.htm

Re the boring Spiritually dead sameness of conventional exoteric religiosity

http://www.beezone.com/up/propheticcriticismreligions.html

http://www.adidam.org/teaching/gnosticon/universal-scientism.aspx