Hell No, WTO! by MICHAEL WOLFF
Will we all look back on the Battle in Seattle as the first eruption of the anti-brand revolution, or was it just a nostalgic moment?
What if the nineties are actually the fifties, and here, as the decade turns, we are looking at the first sign of the sixties, the turn against prosperity and mindless commerciality (mindless e-commerciality) and anti-intellectuality and the endless stupefying banality and conformity of fast food and malls and dot-coms (and just when you were thinking prosperity was fun)?
On the other hand, speaking of globalism, my favorite restaurant in the world is a chain restaurant — a highway restaurant called the Autogrill, which spans the coming and going lanes of Italy’s Autostrade. It’s an imitation of U.S. highway fast-food franchisees. Except that the food in these places in Italy is the most delicious (for the most reasonable price) I’ve ever had. Big pots of risotto. Mountains of mozzarella. Come-hither figs…
It is a scarry thought that the 90’s are being compared to the 50’s. Might explain why so many of my Highschool friends are trying to live a “traditional” Leave It to Beaver family when they start their own.
[via Robot Wisdom]