Jul

22

I hypothesize that the Scandinavian morality of the top cultural things these days, ( the things E hates and diatribes about), ie " the kids are all right", "cage aux folles", and "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo", the two top grossing mainstream movies, books, and shows, is guaranteed to occur in our kind of economy where the stimuluses and jobs are confined to the organized workers, and greater efficiency for green service buildings.

Bill Rafter writes:

It all very nicely fits into the bread and circuses program.

And one would expect that the entertainment part would get increasingly outlandish– like a bubble.

Q: Are there any examples of entertainment bubbles. The Flapper age? 

Ken Drees write:

I read that explosions in men's fashions were key to tops–a la the 20's– how about dental fashion in the late 90's (grills) and those spinner hub caps on the escalades. 

Pitt T. Maner III writes:

A dystopian vision, not based in reality, that sells well in a gloom and doom environment. Perhaps a thin reed counter indicator:

"With the U.S. release this week of the final installment of Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy, the English-speaking world is again given a chance to indulge in a view of Scandinavia that is entirely dystopian. In Larsson's Sweden, the police are useless where they are not corrupt; the countryside is full of violent drug dealers; the rich are utterly unprincipled. It sounds like Mexico in the snow. This is no longer a clean, well-lighted place for Volvo owners. What went wrong? "

The tax cut argument, Swedish-style. 

More on Andrew Brown and his book, "Fishing in Utopia" and Swedish lessons learned:  

"Fishing in Utopia is a lament for a lost Eden. But it is more than that. Essentially it is a story of modern rootlessness and the search for something to believe in. The fact that that something turns out, absurdly, to be fishing only makes it more tragic."   


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  1. Wasp Industries on July 24, 2010 12:18 am

    The theme of the Millennium Trilogy is not dystopia, rather it is the overcoming of the same. Evil seems omnipresent in all three books until relentless trackers identify the culprits and remove their support systems in which case the criminals are easily dispatched either by the courts or a hollow tip in the frontal lobe. Secondary themes include constant reminders that piercings, tattoos and sexual orientation are not reliable markers of character but to be very careful of old spooks fighting yesterdays wars with jaundiced eyes. If you must rely on something old fashioned make it investigative journalism. Love in its myriad forms is presented as tonic to cynicism and sin.

    Asperger’s syndrome is presented as a cool personality trait - perhaps the ghost of Lon Evans is clouding this review (I kid)…

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