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parent: 20th Century. Lets Reminisce.

Re: 20th Century. Lets Reminisce. by Amelia on 2000-05-16 16:55:18

Wow, Kid, I really resonate with the bus thing -- my commute is an hour each way. Except I just sleep most of the time. Otherwise I would have to go to bed at 9:00 just to get in time to go to work.
Anyway, thanks for launching a serious topic for a change.

1. While I appreciate your hometown boosterism, I don't think that England in the 1960s was really a leader in much of anything except pop music and fashion. I'm afraid that if you want Englishman for the role, you would have to go with Churchill, as the most influential in defeating Hitler. I have little doubt that WWII will be remembered as the key event of the 20th Century in the future.
2. Disney is a surprisingly daring choice. But I am actually going to say Gene Rodenberry. The original Star Trek was cheesy as anything, but it made a lot of people think, and has had many real repurcussions in the design of how we live now.
3. Ella Fitzgerald. If any explanation is required, refer to The Cole Porter Songbook.
4. As with #1, I feel that MLK is really a bit provincial. For the sheer number of people whose lives he changed, I would say Ghandi. (Hitler and Mao were actually more influential, but you have insisted that they be "good.")
5. Steve Jobs. This is my own provincialism at work, but I don't care.

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Comments:
Re: Re: 20th Century. Lets Reminisce. by Gene Roddenberry - Walt Disney. on 2000-05-17 08:16:14  |  Reply to this
  I spent a while thinking about Mr. Roddenbury (I am a trekkie, though not devout) and I came to the conclusion that he has inspired only a small group of people (compared to world population). I understand the point of view, but I just feel Disney has done more, and would be better recognised. Still, I can't argue with opinion...
Walt vs. Gene by Amelia on 2000-05-18 10:00:51  |  Reply to this
  Disney definitely has a formative effect on a lot of people, especially since we are mostly exposed to his work at a very tender age. But the world of Disney is really a very narrow one, with extremely old-fashioned moral values, an very little opportunity for personal creativity. All the magic is pre-defined.

Star Trek, besides being much more politically liberal, is an open-ended construct that encourages people to play along and extrapolate new ideas and interpretations. The Star Trek philosophy also has a more lasting legacy at second hand. Many of the people who have created the high tech world where we meet and express ourselves were strongly influenced by Star Trek and incorporated many of its precepts into the structure of the operatings systems and networks we use today.

Hitler? by Kid Loco on 2000-05-18 07:49:36  |  Reply to this
  I did actually consider him for a while, but as you say, he wasn't really 'good'.