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In 1999, I was 16 and thought the world was run mostly by idiots, scumbags, and criminals, and that it was going to fall to pieces within a few years. Everyone
by pwnstigator 17y ago
In 1999, I was 16 and thought the world was run mostly by idiots, scumbags, and criminals, and that it was going to fall to pieces within a few years. Everyone thought I was just expressing "teenage angst" and that I'd be proven wrong by maturity. By 2008, these sentiments-- established to be largely true-- were common knowledge.
Even the liberals of the time (e.g. Clinton) had a steadfast belief in corporate benevolence as a general principle. You were seen as a whiner and a loser (envious, insecure) if you suggested otherwise. Now? Turns out the "whiners" were right.
- pavel_lishin 17y agoIn 1999, I was 16 and thought that the world wasn't being run at all.
- darien 17y agoIn 1999, I was 13 and thought Y2K was a computer virus.
- foldr 17y agoI think the truth is somewhere in the middle. You were just expressing teenage angst, but by coincidence you happened to be right :)
- pwnstigator 17y agoFair enough. I was expressing teenage angst, in part, because I knew things were going wrong. The angst might have been there even if society had been in a better state. It certainly was better than it is now.
- roc 17y agoI think it's more 'by definition' than 'by coincidence': the world has always been run by idiots, scumbags and criminals and it falls to pieces every decade or two like clockwork. Youthful angst is just a condition where you think no-one else notices and that the problem is solvable. Maturity is when you realize that anyone paying attention has always known and simply decided that playing along leaves more time to get on with life than railing against the game.
- foldr 17y ago>I think it's more 'by definition' than 'by coincidence': the world has always been run by idiots Maybe so, but it's certainly not run by idiots "by definition", if you have the normal meaning of the phrase in mind.
- roc 17y agoI didn't mean to suggest that every person 'running things' was accurately described by each label. I meant "idiots, scumbags and criminals" as a domain. I wouldn't even rule out that an exception or two might not fit into any of those labels. I just don't think they're statistically significant.
- foldr 17y agoI just mean that I don't see that he was right by definition. That would mean that the world is run by idiots by definition, which is obviously false (that fact, if it is a fact, doesn't follow from the definitions of any of those words).
- sethg 17y agoThere’s a wonderful line in a Matt Groenig comic strip that goes something like this: “The jocks, bullies, and tattletales that tormented you all through your school years grow up to be the people who turn you down for jobs, explain why your broken products are no longer covered by their warranties, and announce that your country has just declared war.” Only he said it much much better.