Time is Our Fantasy

The Past is Today

Nothing ever changes, even as everything changes … as these quotes show.

1957 and 2023 — Bing Image Creator (DALL-E 3)

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Quotes from 1957

The following “quotes from 1957" were posted on a blog by John P. Pratt in 2002. He received them in an email and could not confirm if they were real, though they seem authentic to that period.

For a little perspective, here are some of the major issues in the US in 1957, 2002, and today.

• 1957 — Viet Cong guerillas attack South Vietnam; Arkansas National Guard prevents 9 African American students from entering a white high school; Asian flu kills 150,000; Cold War with USSR; Suez Crisis (war between Egypt and UK/France); Recession with unemployment reaching 7.5% in 1958; Rapidly rising house prices
• 2002 — Economy is #1 concern in US; Dow Jones lost 27% of value and NSDAQ 44% from 2001 to 2002; Terrorism and security (Post 9/11 2001 War on Terrorism); Potential war with Iraq (Saddam Hussein); AIDS epidemic in Africa; Nuclear weapons proliferation
• 2023 — Inflation and high interest borrowing rates; Federal spending; Wars in Ukraine and Israel/Gaza; Deep political division within US and between…