Posted on 08/04/2005 2:10:00 AM PDT by YaYa123
It is now becoming ever clearer that the last decade of the 20th century could go down in history as the Decade of Illusions. There was the tech bubble whose detumescence was predicted by some of the very same engineering geniuses who had created the technological marvels that it was based on, for instance, Bob Metcalfe, inventor of Ethernet and a major force in the creation of the Internet. He predicted the bubble's burst almost to the day.
Another of the illusions of the 1990s was that with the fall of communism barbarism vanished. The world would be safe. Our military budget could be trimmed. All that was necessary to deal with those quaint Islamic zanies across the sea was an occasional cruise missile sent their way, preferably when our aggrieved president was about to appear before a grand jury or be impeached. There was also the illusion that a chief executive's lies were harmless and perhaps even a private matter.
(Excerpt) Read more at townhall.com ...
I would add the illusion of $750.000 interest only, nothing down mortgages given to a little better than minimum wage earners. When this American dream-nightmare bubble bursts, the real estaters and banks will be taking more than steriods. (Gee! It sound good.)
Here's a column that addresses just what you mentioned:
"New home sales set record
Report shows market still hotter than bullish forecasts, but prices starting to show softness."
http://money.cnn.com/2005/07/27/news/economy/newhomes/
I don't pretend to understand financial/economic illusions, but any one of us can appreciate, understand, and agree with, Tyrrell's observations on Clinton's decade of decadence.
to get an idea, and make a plan would require thinking, wouldn't it? do they ever do that?
Your link provided a very interesting historical look at the impact group "delusion" has had on history, thanks. But keep in mind, "delusion" is an accidental human condition, while "illusion" implies an intentional attempt to deceive. And like always, Tyrrell does a brilliant job of describing the false illusions that took root during the Clinton decade.
Were steroids banned from MLB during the '90s? I thought they were only recently banned.
The other illusion out there is a decade of college graduates from the nineties who were taught Marxist jive from their perfessers.
I've long been a fan of Bob Tyrrell's.
They denied that the Moon was Stilton; they denied she was even Dutch
They denied that Wishes were Horses; they denied that a Pig had Wings.
So we worshipped the Gods of the Market Who promised these beautiful things."
The Gods of the Copybook Headings. Rudyard Kipling.
Illusion always gets found out.
"As the clever hopes expire
Of a low dishonest decade:" W.H. Auden
Even better.
I appreciate both very appropriate quotes.
(You asked,"Were steroids banned from MLB during the '90s?")
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2013923
"It's hard to ignore that Congress has already convened hearings on steroids at least four times since 1973, and the resulting legislation hasn't stopped the spread of performance-enhancing drugs. In fact, baseball's recent explosion of home runs that now looks so suspicious came after legislators criminalized anabolic steroids in 1990, in the wake of familiar-sounding public hearings in which famous professional and Olympic athletes discussed their own steroid use and that of others."
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2014601
"
"Fans also have concerns about baseball's records, and would like to see those set with the help of performance-enhancing drugs removed from the record books.
Commissioner Bud Selig has already said there will be no asterisks in the record books."
This article, and the comments are worthy of an unabashed bump.
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