Makes you think

I was sitting around at a bar last night (SPRING BREAK!) and was engaging in some small talk with the locals. My bar stool neighbor noticed the drinking age sign that said you must be born on this date in 1987. We thought, wow 1987, think of how young that is. (Fact, that makes them 21 years old) We then thought about everything someone born in 1987 would have missed in the world. We thought about the "Big" events of the 1980's and discussed the two biggest: The Challenger Exploding and the Fall of the Berlin Wall. Those two of huge events that everyone remembers "where they were when..." These kids born in 1987 don't have this.

Our discussion then went into what are the 2-3 biggest events from each decade. 1980's were those two mentioned and we add a split between E.T. being released and MTV debuting. We then turned to the 1990's and really couldn't think of anything in terms of one moment when people ask: "where were you when..." The closest we got was The OJ chase, Rodney King Riots, and invading Iraq in 1990. None of which were one particular moment in history. In the 2000s all we could think of was September 11 and capturing Saddam Hussein.

We then discussed why this is. Why are there so many big historical moments in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, but really only one since (September 11th)? My barmate broke it down to the fact that news is everywhere nowadays. There are 4+ 24-hour news channels and the limitless Internets (there is more than porno apparently). He argues that if we were not constantly bombarded with news coverage at every corner world events, such as Fidel Castro resigning, were hold more weight and would seem more important to the world around. I think this is an interesting point to be made. Twenty years ago the only way to know what was going on in the world was to either read the morning paper (most people are illiterate) or watch the evening news, which was only on at 5 and 10. Today you can turn on TV at any hour and know what is going on in the world in less than 5 minutes (yet most people watch American Idol anyways). I think we get tired of hearing constantly how f**ked up the world is and get turned off from the whole thing after awhile.