"The Simulacrum of Utopian Decay" (A.Glass 2020)

 

"...Yet, our cities, now within the 21st Century, have sociologically continued on into what
may be deemed as a cultural template, perceived today in its pharos of innovation, social
and environmental awareness. This evolving towards the modern city, I feel was not
orchestrated as such by the city planners, but more from the wishes of a society, in its
global connectivity, to attain a Utopia. And when studied, something very interesting has
occurred over the last three decades. More so from the onset of the internet and the digital
communication links, the freeing up of international trade agreements, the opening of
China, a stern central planning economy to become a consumption engine for the Western
economies. An investor into cities throughout the world, to which the West has heavily
invested into the Chinese mainland industries. All in line to assist China's desire to grow
and become a modernized urban aesthetic. Never before in history has such an ability of
instant inflows and outflows of cash, the liquidity that drives the economic engines of a city
has been so readily available, it is an unprecedented aspect of globalization. But, this vade
mecum has actually occurred before.

In 1949, America not only began to imprint itself as a nuclear super power, it also created
something very unique for a country that built itself on capitalism as an ideology of
production, that occurred after decades of depression and a global war, to which American
infrastructure remained intact, but its economy had suffered. A baby boom began in 1947,
attributed also throughout the West with an average of 3 babies born per woman, there
was of course the stability of post war recovery, particularly in America, where jobs were
plentiful. Yet, this hyper consumption, was also referred to as 'Pragmatic Spending', in a
period of 1945 to 1949, Americans bought mostly the necessities for family life,
refrigerators, stoves and cars. This is, under a modernist template, very much embraced
the family values, over any excesses of opulence. There was a fear, very similar in
sentiment to what was occurring in Communist Russia at the same time, that over
indulgence would lead to a societal decadence. However, the difference was split between
the two ideologies, one faith based, via the American Christian ethos, the other as
paranoia that a society will see itself purely as a commodity based product. This may be
simple in its basis of retrospection and observation of consumption, when it is regulated
by, either an ideology or moral Christian belief, the reality was the statistics of what was
consumed at that time. So, when the model of 1950s consumption is studied, there is
something very curious in its reflection. A similarity of a society now..."
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The Simulacrum of Utopian Decay (A.Glass 2020)