Throwback Thursday: Making Better Mistakes Tomorrow For Over 100 Years

MOTUS A.D. ^ | 1-9-20 | MOTUS

[NOBO2012]

“It was characteristic of the Jazz Age that it had no interest in politics at all. It was an age of miracles, it was an age of art, it was an age of excess, and it was an age of satire.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald, writing about the Twenties in 1931

This year Throwback Thursdays will be dedicated to a look back at how we have changed – or not – during the past century. 

First I would update Fitzgerald’s quote for the Roaring Twenties of the 21st century:

“It was characteristic of the Jazzed Age that it had no interest at all other than politics. It was an age of miracles, it was an age of pseudo-art, it was an age of excess and it was the end of satire.”

It’s scary if you allow yourself to reflect too long: all of the excess, decadence  and modernity, but none of the fun. And this time instead of bathtub gin and bootlegged liquor it’s fueled by both legal booze AND weed!

What could possibly go wrong?

I strongly suspect this century’s Roaring Twenties will, once again, be chalked up as the Decade Dedicated to  Making Better Mistakes Tomorrow.

1920:

‘No throat irritation or cough’  but your lungs? Toasted.

2020…

Throat irritation, check, lung irritation, check, cough, check, brain…toasted

Posted from: MOTUS A.D.

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[GOPJ]

The 1918 flu pandemic caused the excessives of the 1920’s by redistributing and concentrating wealth - from the elderly (who died in large numbers) to the healthy and financially gullible young.

[Buttons12]

The way I heard it, the flu hit (and killed) young healthy adults worse than any other category. Something to do with immune system overreaction.
But war and disease certainly had its consequences.
So did motion pictures. Sudden wealth in Hollywood led to excesses onscreen and off, and the films affected fashion and morals.
Also, war got women out of the house and into the work force.

[hanamizu]

A good vid explaining the ‘Spanish Flu’, including why it was called the Spanish Flu can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sE0-WWqhFls&t=124s&frags=pl%2Cwn

Young and healthy were particularly hard hit, partially because older adults had been exposed/survived a related strain years earlier.

[GOPJ]

The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, the deadliest in history, infected an estimated 500 million people worldwide—about one-third of the planet's population—and killed an estimated 20 million to 50 million victims, including some 675,000 Americans.Oct 12, 2010 wiki

You're right about the groups hardest hit by the disease - it was young adults... I remember from family stories a long time ago about the concentration of wealth which fueled much of the roaring twenties. Of course those family members have been dead for decades. I should have researched this a little before making a comment.