SCI-FI of the cold war era.

It was different reading SCI-FI in the 60’s and 70’s than it is today. Memories of the world war, the vietnam era, the cold war and space race provided context for them. The promise of a star trek future more so. Watergate, Vietnam Exit, and The oil crisis was a death blow. And so these things made us look for options. Which is why we threw ourselves at technology. when princess leah said “you are our only hope” that reflected our perception of the age of computers. So we had star wars, alien, Reagan Revolution, and the age of computers to run to. When I found neuromancer (1981 or 82) and then Snow Crash that was the future most of us went out to build. Why? unlike the cold war which was out of our control, building the world of Neuromancer was WITHIN our control… so we live it today.

What I notice most is that the time for contemplation (demand for self entertainment when bored) is gone, and we pay the price for it. Good trade maybe. But the ‘pace’ of the world is insane by those standards, and even then, the adults thought the pace of the world compared to the war era was insane. My grandmother had a red-x painted on the door, and neighbors dropped off deliveries at the end of the property, and people hitched up horses to go to town for what they needed. A generation before that was without electricity or running water.