The 20th century
Telling time 19th century: pocket watch 20th century: wrist watch 21st century: clock on your cellphone in your pocket
%
Anonymity 19th century: due to transportation, small towns with no anonymity; everyone knows you and what you do 20th century: easy to be anonymous, commute, correspond remotely 21st century: Google, Facebook: no anonymity.
%
Musician income. 19th century: Live performance. 20th century: Recordings. 21st century: Live performance due to the profit having been taken out of recordings, which in turn is due to near-zero cost.
%
Political discussion.
19th century: Numerous overtly biased newspapers and town hall
meetings.
20th century: Few television and newspaper conglomerates;
newspapers supposedly “neutral point of view”, a Progressive Era
invention, but in actuality rarely criticize government or large
corporations.
21st century: Numerous overtly biased blogs, which
provide for both publication and discussion
%
U.S. political parties 19th centuryFederalist/Whig/Republican vs. Democratic-Republican. I.e. Hamilton vs. Jefferson. I.e. centralized power vs. local power. 20th century Republican vs. Democrat. The Democratic Party got seduced by utopian Communism at the turn of the century and dominated the first half of the century. The Republicans in the second half of the century sold themselves as the anti-Communists and pretended to be for local power when in practice they were for centralized power. I.e. the choice at the ballot box was between fascism and communism. 21st century Ascendency of Ron Paul, Rand Paul, and other libertarians, due to the naked power grab by the Bush administration (and continuance by the Obama administration) and the power of the Internet mentioned above.
%
European Political Alignment 19th century Empires 20th century: Separate countries 21st century EU
%
Wires 19th century No need 20th century: Electrical, stereo, cable TV, and Internet wires everywhere 21st century: Everything is wireless now except for electricity, and even that is going wireless now through inductive surfaces for low-power DC
%
Money 19th century Gold standard 20th century Paper money not backed by gold 21st century Due to collapsing dollar, we will be back on the gold standard whether in a planned or an unplanned manner
%
Transportation and Land Use Patterns 19th century Walking, streetcar, and carriage. Buildings multi-level and close together to keep walking distances shorter. 20th century: Automobile. Buildings far apart to allow for parking lots and because the automobile supposedly provided for the best of the city and country in suburbanism, which instead ended up being the worst of both. 21st century Walking and streetcar are making a comeback, and “New Urbanism” projects that accommodate all forms of transportation without giving precedence to the automobile.
%
Education Ownership 19th century Private schools and private tutors 20th century Public schools 21st century: A million children are now homeschooled, and the numbers are growing.
%
Reading Pedagogy 19th century Phonics 20th century Whole word 21st century: Phonics
%
Catholic Mass 19th century Traditional Latin 20th century Novus Ordo 21st century: Traditional Latin
%
Labor 19th century Self-employed or work for small business; corporations only just starting to be allowed 20th century: Immortal multi-state and multi-national corporations with limited liability but the Constitutional privileges of a person 21st century: Small businesses account for 60% of all new jobs
%
Stage Theatres 19th century: Only type of theatre 20th century: Converted to cinemas 21st century: Converted back to stage theatres
%
Energy 19th century: Burn coal or wood at home 20th century: Delivered over electrical wires 21st century: Solar at home
%