Millennium

[athelind]

In the last years of the 20th Century, my friend kolchis and I, like so many others, would opccasionally debate just which year counted as the last year. Kolchis subscribed to the pedantic view that, "since there was no year zero", then the proper start of the New Millennium was the year 2001, and that the year 2000 (or "Y2K", as we fondly called it) was relegated to the ancient history of the Old. I, on the other claw, agreed with Stephen Jay Gould, aruging that, given all the other arbitrary factors, the culturally important moment was when the "odometer" rolled over from 1999 to 2000.

I now concede the argument.

The "culturally important moment" that marked the dawn of the New Millennium did, indeed, fall in 2001.

It did not, however, fall on New Year's Day.

Comments

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

I had a history professor in University who said that culturally and intellectually speaking, the eighteenth century ended in 1789, and the nineteenth was born amid twenty-five years of war. The spirit of the nineteenth century did not end until 1914, and the twentieth century, again, was born in blood and fire. At that time, in 1996, he claimed that the 21st century had been born in 1989, with the fall of Communism and the Berlin Wall. I wonder if he has revised that date since I took his class?

I tend to agree with you; the advent of the anti-terrorist culture in the West - that is, the culture which places premium importance on preventing, protecting from, and recovering from terrorism - will likely define this century. As such, the new millenium is now exactly three years old.

[kynn.livejournal.com]

I think it actually dates to January 20, 2001 (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/01/).

velvetpage wrote:
I tend to agree with you; the advent of the anti-terrorist culture in the West - that is, the culture which places premium importance on preventing, protecting from, and recovering from terrorism - will likely define this century.

Our society has nothing to do with that, even after 9/11. It's all empty rhetoric. Really we've become a culture of fear and anger, lashing out against perceived enemies. This is a momentous time, yes, but it will be remembered as the start of fascism in America.

--Kynn

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

It occured to me that I may have been almost right. 9/11 could never have happened during the Cold War; it only became possible because of the power vacuum left by the fall of the Soviet regime. In that sense, the 21st century did indeed begin in 1989, with a childhood of twelve years. The election of Bush, and the events of September 11, defined the politic of fear and anger which we now accept as normal.

Whether you call it the anti-terrorist movement or the beginning of fascism in America, it amounts to the same thing. Bush, like all of us, is a product of his times. The popular trends which created his brand of conservativism were a response to the same world changes that set the stage for the terrorist attacks. They're part and parcel of the same events.

I find it interesting to note, though, that this brand of ultra-conservative has not changed Canadian society nearly as much as it has American society. In fact, the political climate in Canada for the last fifteen years has basically been to weather the current storm until things get back to "normal". The fact that weathering the current storm has become the new normal - well, that doesn't seem to worry anybody.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

According to this theory, the French Revolution could be said to have started nearly a year before July 14, 1789, when the Three Estates met to discuss what to do with France. The cahiers of suggestions that came out of that were thoroughly ignored by the other two estates, and the anger over that combined with a food shortage in Paris combined to give France its Revolution. Which date really marked the beginning? Some political event or series of events, in the months leading up to July 1789, or the rather cataclysmic events of that month and the several years following it?

I don't believe that it's empty rhetoric when two wars have been fought over it, two governments deposed, and when the resulting international debate has irrevocably changed U.S. foreign relations, and not for the better. Like it or lump it, September 11 changed our world because it changed the outlook and goals of the American government and people. The events may have started before 9/11, but they were defined by it nonetheless.

[drleo.livejournal.com]

I wanna go back to before.

[r-caton.livejournal.com]

Don't we all....
In the UK one could put dates to the following stages....
1980...Thatcher gets into stride, UK becomes "Me Me Me society over next decade...
1990...Thatcher toppled, resigns to promote John Major as PM rather than Heseltine who would have got in had she been forced out via the ballots...she thought, I think, he would accept direction...too late she found he wouldn't....
1992 chance of toppling Tories over Maastricht fails due to deal cooked up with Ulster Unionists, Major stays and John Smith fails...
1997 Enter Tony "Devil Eyes" Blair with New Labour...starts with handgun ban after Dunblaine incident....
and descends into a government characterised by a desire for monuments both half baked and badly planned...the Dome, The Millenium Bridge that wobbled until reworked...Diana's memorial fountain opened and closed and opened and closed etc ....
A government that thrives on lies promoted until and sometimes even after proof provided to the contrary (WMDs that can threaten UK in 45 minutes anyone?), that wants surveillance of all for common security (we've got more CCTVs than the USA!) but won't answer questions (DID baby Leo have the MMD triple jab?won't tell, take it as a no under Blair's do as I say not as I do because Blair is always right)
Government policy is promoted by leaks....leak a new idea, and yea/nay depending on the reaction of the Murdoch press!

The UK is being split into small insignificant chunks by small insignificant people with small insignificant minds....

I, Too, Have a Concession to Make.

[kolchis.livejournal.com]

While I have a tendency towards pedantry (given that I'm a teacher, it's a natural one, I think), I willingly concede the argument back to Athelind - he's right. The Millennium did start late.

However, I would suggest that the World has not so much changed for the USA... as the US has joined the rest of the world, in what most countries understand to be the norm - that their peace of mind can be shattered at will by zealots with a cause to kill for.

We were so lucky... but we never realized as a culture, until that awful day three years ago, how truly lucky we were - and now it's over.