I'm sure I am not the first to observe this, but it seems Robert A. Heinlein was on to something when he conceived of “The Crazy Years” as a condition American society found itself in as it absorbed technological, demographic, and economic changes into the whole of our civilization.
Selected Headlines From Heinlein’s Crazy Years
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BABY BILL BREAKS BANK
2-year toddler youngest winner $1,000,000 TV jackpot
White House phones congrats
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COURT ORDERS STATEHOUSE SOLD
Colorado Supreme Bench Rules State Old Age Pension Has First Lien All State Property
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N.Y. YOUTH MEET DEMANDS UPPER LIMIT ON FRANCHISE
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"U.S. BIRTH RATE ‘TOP SECRET’”—DEFENSE SEC
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CAROLINA CONGRESSMAN COPS BEAUTY CROWN
“Available for draft for President” she announces while starting tour to show her qualifications
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IOWA RAISES VOTING AGE TO FORTY-ONE
Rioting on Des Moines Campus
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EARTH-EATING FAD MOVES WEST: CHICAGO PARSON EATS CLAY SANDWICH IN PULPIT
“Back to simple things,” he advises flock
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LOS ANGELES HI-SCHOOL MOB DEFIES SCHOOL BOARD
“Higher Pay, Shorter Hours, no Homework—We Demand Our Right to Elect Teachers, Coaches.”
-- Excerpts From Methuselah's Children
Admittedly, these fictional headlines are on a different level from what we are experiencing today. However, if Heinlein were to imagine our lives today, I'll bet his headlines would read along these lines:
GANGSTER EX-PRESIDENT DARES FEDS: “COME AND GET ME!"
Pledges lives of followers to defend him in Florida mansion — "It's a witch hunt!” Ex-Pres declares
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UNARMED PEACEFUL PROTESTERS BEATEN BY POLICE AT BLM RALLY AGAINST POLICE VIOLENCE
Police side with white supremacist counter-protesters' demands — “It was antifa!” wild-eyed Police Chief claims
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MILLIONS REFUSE LIFE SAVING VACCINE AS DEADLY PANDEMIC SWEEPS COUNTRY AGAIN
"Science doesn't know anything!” crowds scream at riots outside Capital buildings across Red States
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GOP CONGRESSMAN CAUGHT UP IN SORDID UNDERAGE SEX-TRAFFICKING RING
“It was antifa!” wild-eyed Congressman claims at America First campaign fundraiser
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"THEY WERE FRIENDLY TOURISTS,” EXCLAIM REPUBLICAN SENATORS AND CONGRESSMEN
Insurrection on Jan 6th still being denied by GOP — No investigation planned despite deaths
Life, is far stranger than fiction, I suppose. Alright, that first headline hasn't happened yet, though I would entertain bets on it coming about. And I'm not sure about that fourth headline deck either, but I don't doubt it could have happened.
My friends, we, are living in some crazy times. Woo-hoo!! As to why, well, Heinlein probably got the main forces at work to put us here, correct in his story. The craziness is upon us, and in Heinlein's story, the craziness on display seems to be the product of fact not matching up with chosen worldview.
Or as writer John C. Wright puts it, the craziness we are seeing can be traced back to “maladaptive behavior” which has been adopted by a measurable portion of a society:
The behavior the society uses to solve one kind of problem, when applied to an incorrect category, disorients it. When this happens the whole society, even if some members are aware of the disorientation, cannot reach the correct conclusion, or react in a fashion that preserves society from harm...
...as if society were a dolphin that called itself a fish: when it suffered the sensation of drowning, it would dive. But a dolphin is a mammal, a member of a different category of being. When dolphins are low on air, they surface, rather than dive. Putting yourself in the wrong category leads to the wrong behavior.
Sounds disturbingly accurate to our present circumstance, does it not? Especially considering how the unvaccinated risk all of us as COVID-19 continues to find opportunities amongst them to mutate into something even worse as the rest of us stand helplessly by, forced to simply endure our horror, our outrage.
So, what came next for America after Heinlein's “Crazy Years” ended? Why, a theocratic dictatorship, of course. Sure hope he got that part wrong.
Anyhoo, I guess I'll leave this little exercise for minds wiser than mine, and close with one of my favorite Heinlein quotes from Time Enough For Love, which seems particularly apropos to the times we live in:
“Never underestimate the power of human stupidity."