Will the 21st century have distinctive decades? (WW2, war, influence)
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I was thinking. Every decade from the 1950s to 1980s had a very distinct flavour. All four of the Cold War decades seem like universes to themselves and the times were changing so rapidly.
However since the early 90s, it seems like cultural evolution has happened more slowly. While the technological changes are still coming quickly, it seems like the exponential growth and change of the 20th century has slowed in the past 20 years. The pop culture of today is essentially washed-out 90s, it would be like if 2002 still had similar pop culture to 1989. The slowing is also showing in other realms, such as population growth. The peak in human population growth was the 1950s to '90s, it will probably take at least 20 more years from now to add another billion, it took 12 years from 1987-1999 and another from 1999-2011 but it's slowed relatively already since there are fewer children per woman being born.
Granted it's not like we're going back to the Dark Ages, the first half of the 20th century doesn't really have distinct decades either. The 1900s and 1910s bleed together and so do the 1920s-30s-40s. But do you think the idea of decades being distinct eras and entities in time is a late 20th century phenomenon only? People barely even seem aware of the '2010s', this era is still just considered the 'new millennium' even though a new decade began in 2010.
I'm guessing you're relatively young and that you're surmising some of what you've stated. Either way, I disagree. I was born in '45, so I can only personally relate to the 50s and later. 1960 did not suddenly introduce a "distinct flavor" as you call it. The early 60s was just like the late 50s. Three things in the 60s changed our lives dramatically -- "The Pill", Vietnam and Civil Rights. All became major factors more towards the middle of the decade. Nam was never a popular war and almost immediately brought protests, which was the beginning of the hippie movement (which lasted until the mid-70s). The Pill brought about the sexual revolution, and the Civil Rights Act brought about real change in the racial wars.
The "flavor" of each decade often spills into the next, and I think we'll continue to attribute events to whole decades. This decade has barely begun. We don't yet know what it will bring.
I'm guessing you're relatively young and that you're surmising some of what you've stated. Either way, I disagree. I was born in '45, so I can only personally relate to the 50s and later. 1960 did not suddenly introduce a "distinct flavor" as you call it. The early 60s was just like the late 50s. Three things in the 60s changed our lives dramatically -- "The Pill", Vietnam and Civil Rights. All became major factors more towards the middle of the decade. Nam was never a popular war and almost immediately brought protests, which was the beginning of the hippie movement (which lasted until the mid-70s). The Pill brought about the sexual revolution, and the Civil Rights Act brought about real change in the racial wars.
The "flavor" of each decade often spills into the next, and I think we'll continue to attribute events to whole decades. This decade has barely begun. We don't yet know what it will bring.
I agree, the decades were more like 1947-62, 1963-70, 1971-79, 1980-91, 1992-00, and 01-present. The thing is though, there's not really even a sign that the 10's will be different from the 00's. and the 00s were pretty similar to the 90s all the way through to 2009.
I disagree. I think the last decade was marked by 9/11 and the war on terror as well as the internet coming into its own and the birth of many of its institutions (Youtube, Captions, Facebook).
This decade seems like it will be marked by economic crisis and the social responses to it, the rise of the third world and China, the birth of 3D printing, political change in the Arab world, and the growing popularity of indie rock, dubstep, and the hipster aesthetic.
I was thinking. Every decade from the 1950s to 1980s had a very distinct flavour. All four of the Cold War decades seem like universes to themselves and the times were changing so rapidly.
However since the early 90s, it seems like cultural evolution has happened more slowly. While the technological changes are still coming quickly, it seems like the exponential growth and change of the 20th century has slowed in the past 20 years. The pop culture of today is essentially washed-out 90s, it would be like if 2002 still had similar pop culture to 1989. The slowing is also showing in other realms, such as population growth. The peak in human population growth was the 1950s to '90s, it will probably take at least 20 more years from now to add another billion, it took 12 years from 1987-1999 and another from 1999-2011 but it's slowed relatively already since there are fewer children per woman being born.
Granted it's not like we're going back to the Dark Ages, the first half of the 20th century doesn't really have distinct decades either. The 1900s and 1910s bleed together and so do the 1920s-30s-40s. But do you think the idea of decades being distinct eras and entities in time is a late 20th century phenomenon only? People barely even seem aware of the '2010s', this era is still just considered the 'new millennium' even though a new decade began in 2010.
I think it's all perspective based as to how we view and relate to the times we live in and also how we view the past. The past is very influenced by how much one studies it and what periods they study.
For instance, your statement that the 1920's, 30's and 40's all blend together is something I totally disagree with. The 1920's aka "The Roaring Twenties" is very distinct and different from the 1930's era with the Great Depression. That is then different and distinct from the 1940's which was very obviously dominated by WW2 and the formation of the post-war world.
The 1900's saw the rise of New Imperialism, the widespread adaptation of internal combustion engine cars, the first airplanes, etc. The 1910's were obviously dominated by WW1, but we have the Titanic disaster, Spanush flu pandemic, opening of the Panama Canal, Irish Independence, Bolshevik Revolution, etc.
I do agree that since what I perceive as a noticeable change post 9/11 things seem rather similar for the past 11 years or so. However, that is not out of the realm of normal cultural decades. It will only take one major event to begin changing our perceptions and the tone of the world and place this current decade into context. I don't want to speculate, but perhaps major events in the Middle East or Europe will spark the change. I think the next period will be demarcated by the moment the US realizes it is no longer the world's lone super power. That could be predicated economically by a spill over from the collapse of the Eurozone, putting China ahead of us, or a waning of our global influence when we find our hands tied by the interests of other powers as is starting to happen in the Middle East.
Well if historians cease to exist I suppose that the 21st century will go without an distinctive decade, but I tend to think that 2001-2009 have been rich with historical points.
Global terrorism, and the a global financial collapse are hard things to for historians to miss.
Of course it will. Every time period does in one way or another.
However, I completely disagree with you that the 1920s-40s decades all "blended" into each other. The 1920s were marked by a great social liberation, more rights for women and an overall partying atmosphere. The 30s were defined by the Great Depression and other eocnomic hardships while the fourties on the other hand were defined by WWII, rationining, etc.
None of these decades were alike, except maybe certain attitudes of the former decade lingered into the early parts of the next decade. For instance, the more liberated attitudes towards sex and what have you of the mid and late 1920s still lingered somewhat up until 1934 ish, when Hayes Code was put into effect. Another example of this would be that the early 1960s were still very much like the late 1950s and the enlightened attitudes and roaring economy of the 1990s still lingered in the early 2000s, up until the 9/11 attack.
I think I've just figured out the "flavor" of any given decade is decided by popular culture about 15-20 years after it's over and isn't necessarily rooted in the reality of the times.
I'm guessing you're relatively young and that you're surmising some of what you've stated. Either way, I disagree. I was born in '45, so I can only personally relate to the 50s and later. 1960 did not suddenly introduce a "distinct flavor" as you call it. The early 60s was just like the late 50s. Three things in the 60s changed our lives dramatically -- "The Pill", Vietnam and Civil Rights. All became major factors more towards the middle of the decade. Nam was never a popular war and almost immediately brought protests, which was the beginning of the hippie movement (which lasted until the mid-70s). The Pill brought about the sexual revolution, and the Civil Rights Act brought about real change in the racial wars.
The "flavor" of each decade often spills into the next, and I think we'll continue to attribute events to whole decades. This decade has barely begun. We don't yet know what it will bring.
I was born in 1938, and I see the "decades" in a similar way, I think. The Fifties were still alive and well for a number of years in the early 1960's, as you have said. And I see other eras bridging the various decades.
On the other hand, the OP's remarks about the current popular culture did make me do something of a double-take. My own impression of American life since the 1990's is that of putty being squeezed out of a tube....it all seems to just go on and on and look pretty much the same, regardless of the amount of tech innovations. Yes, there are new wars on the news, but even that seems part of a long, never-ending squeeze of sameness, and all the stunning new architecture around the world looks just like all the other stunning new architecture around the world.....
I completely disagree with you that the 1920s-40s decades all "blended" into each other.
And I completely agree with you. The Depression alone separates the '20s from the war years of the '40s.
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