This reminds me of the concept of hauntology [1] [2] - the return of elements of the past as symbolic ghosts, haunting our current world. It's strange since thi

This reminds me of the concept of hauntology [1] [2] - the return of elements of the past as symbolic ghosts, haunting our current world. It's strange since this concept was introduced in philosophy by Derrida in the 90s, and further studied by cultural theorists such as Simon Reynolds and Mark Fisher - but Gibson seems to nail this phenomenon in his short story a decade earlier. And this phenomenon is perhaps most exacerbated today, as we are experiencing a gradual but terminal decline of former capitalist empires, but nobody can imagine a new revolutionary path out (as Mark Fisher would say, "the slow cancellation of the future") Ghostly ideologies from the past (communism, fascism) are quickly recycled on the Internet for their nostalgic sign value, but as it is quickly consumed and commoditized it fails to offer a solution for the problems of our current world. And more people are listening to music [3] that admittedly makes them feel "nostalgic for a past that does not exist". [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hauntology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hauntology [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hauntology_(music) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hauntology_(music) [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaporwave https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaporwave