Golden age

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Culture:
The Golden Past was never the Golden Present.
—attributed to Benjamin Franklin

A golden age is a mythical time period which is held to be the ideal state of humanity. In a smaller sense, it is used by many cultures when they idealise a particular period of their history - usually one of great prosperity, military power, territory or creativity. In its most reduced form, it can be seen in an inclination to think fondly of "the good ol' days," when life was simpler. It may be noted, however, that such thinking vanishes like a morning mist when the subject at hand is medicine.

The most well known golden age is the story of Adam and Eve, who lived in a beautiful, peaceful garden but fell from grace due to temptation.

Modern idolisations of the past are sometimes harmless - Tolkien was a peddler - but the theme is also an undercurrent of nationalism. A desire to turn back the clock on social development is a continuing part of conservative thinking - George H. W. Bush's quote that "we need more families like The Waltons and fewer like The Simpsons" being a prime example.

[edit] Examples

The Arthurian legends are an idealised version of the "age of chivalry," when anyone who wasn't a king or a knight was covered in dung bravery and honesty were the standard of behaviour and people fought dragons and rode around on white horses and somehow were still interesting.

The American Revolution was a high point of political and scientific thought, when "the loudest yelps for liberty [came from] the drivers of negroes,"[1] and an uprising of people who didn't like paying tax led to independence, and equal rights for all white, male landowners. The late 19th century was also a golden age, except for the banking crises, the KKK and whatnot. There was definitely nothing wrong with 50s, though.

Among comic book afficionados, the Golden Age stretched from 1938 (the year of Superman's debut) to 1950 (the year Justice Society of America ended). A Silver Age followed in 1956.

In the former East Germany, there is a movement known as "Ostalgie" among people with a soft spot for the German Democratic Republic. Conveniently forgotten are things like the Stasi and the Berlin Wall.

1979 was the best year ever in popular music that wasn't 1956. Many fresh "new wave" or "punk" bands released seminal albums, to wit...[2]

[edit] See also

[edit] Footnotes

  1. According to Samuel Johnson
  2. This observation has nothing to do with the writer having been 19 in 1979! Really.
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