When We Were Kings

American automobile design in the 50's, 60's, and 70's was the Vanguard. It was high art; the classic Ford Mustang, Mercury Cougar, Chevrolet Camaro, Ford Fairlane, etc., etc.. These were truly distinctive moving monuments to American greatness. It ennobled the simple acts of daily life. And, the middle class could afford these symbols of American ingenuity. Now, American car manufacturers are an embarrassment to the brand. America hasn't done anything collectively breathtaking since we sent a manned rocket to the moon and back 52 years ago.

Rarely am I awed by new architecture being built. We used to get Penn Station, Grand Central Terminal, Union Station, the Chrysler Building...now, we get the Staples Center in Los Angeles; a grey concrete box that is not dissimilar from a Staples store itself: institutional and sterile. We get pale pink strip malls to string together countless chain stores like Bed, Bath, and Beyond, Subway, and Starbucks. Think of a beautiful public space built in the last 50 years. We aren't magnificent!

We "billionairize"someone who ships you everyday goods in boxes faster than his competitors. You used to have to build the railroads to walk on those clouds. We used to have Walt Disney and now it's lawyers and marketing executives and Jeff Bezos who call the shots. Mark Zuckerberg is one of the richest men in the world and he has arguably created a super highway for societal polarization and corruption that we could never have imagined a few decades ago. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Facebook has (and is) putting our democracy at risk. He does this with impugnity and recklessness and apathy. Maybe the fire extinguisher should have been invented before fire.

Creativity in Hollywood has long sold out to Blockbuster Marvel movies. Quality is a lost value. Money (and fame) are the new "values".

When was the last time this country built something great? We haven't built a great university or college in over a century. We build Apps now. We are selling out our National Parks to privatization. We don't build beautiful public spaces or parks, or bridges, like we once did. Central Park was built in the 1860's. Brooklyn Bridge was completed in 1883. The Golden Gate Bridge was built in the 1930’s. Fixing potholes in the road is all the national ambition and budget will tolerate.

We won WWII by collectively sacrificing for a common, noble goal. Now, we can't even embrace basic science to beat a global pandemic or save the planet. We have more "conveniences" now and that is how we define progress. We used to look dignified in a suit when we went out in public. Now, we all wear flip flops and printed T-shirts with inane slogans. We used to "dress up" for life.

Airplane travel used to be glorious. We spared no expense in designing and building our airports to be reflections of modernity. It was dignified to travel in a plane. Now, it's little more than loading and unloading.

I see more American flags flying than ever before (by far). We must think that putting an American flag on everything is a substitute for actual greatness. We fly more flags now than the day we helped to defeat the Nazis and liberate Europe and the concentrations camps. We are way more "full of ourselves" now and we have nothing to show for it. Maybe we shouldn't act so proudly just because we make more billionaires but lead the developed world in childhood poverty, obesity, mass incarceration, homicides, arrogance, etc..

What happened?