The New Vertigo Years
July 5, 2025 11:04 AM Subscribe
Over a century ago, the world felt anxious and unsettled much like today. The years between 1900 and 1914 have been called the "vertigo years" by historian Philipp Blom. As this essay walks though, the transformative period had some surprising parallels to our own time. Today as the new vertigo years?
lalochezia: consider furry porn
posted by egypturnash at 12:45 PM on July 5 [4 favorites]
posted by egypturnash at 12:45 PM on July 5 [4 favorites]
Well, at least we got out of the vertigo years post-1914 with a minimum of fuss and bother, right?
Right?
posted by Justinian at 1:18 PM on July 5 [10 favorites]
Right?
posted by Justinian at 1:18 PM on July 5 [10 favorites]
Not long after the election, I read two books that very much evoked for me the feeling of our time. This isn't exactly comfort reading! But one was Lenin's Tomb: The Collapse of the Soviet Empire by David Remnick. He covers—exhaustively—much Soviet history, but what stood out to me as feeling very much like what we're experiencing in the US right now was the period between Glasnost and Yeltsin's reign, as all kinds of things that had been liberalized began to be lost—the story of a gay magazine in Moscow stands out in my memory.
The other was The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson, which covers (quite exhaustively!) the period between Lincoln's election and the first shots at Fort Sumter. How people reacted to and dealt with the experience of the looming war was very reminiscent of our time—some people terrified, some in denial, some trying to stop it, so many believing that if it happened, it just wouldn't be that bad.
As I said, it wasn't comforting. But it was weirdly helpful to me to know that other people had been through something very much like what we're going through now, with the uncertainty, the fear, the grief, the confusion and doubt about what to do, about what can be done, the foolish optimism.
posted by Well I never at 1:36 PM on July 5 [7 favorites]
The other was The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson, which covers (quite exhaustively!) the period between Lincoln's election and the first shots at Fort Sumter. How people reacted to and dealt with the experience of the looming war was very reminiscent of our time—some people terrified, some in denial, some trying to stop it, so many believing that if it happened, it just wouldn't be that bad.
As I said, it wasn't comforting. But it was weirdly helpful to me to know that other people had been through something very much like what we're going through now, with the uncertainty, the fear, the grief, the confusion and doubt about what to do, about what can be done, the foolish optimism.
posted by Well I never at 1:36 PM on July 5 [7 favorites]
Boy, next time I'm feeling irrationally exuberant I know where to come: Here. Brung down to usual hopelessness in seconds!
posted by y2karl at 1:36 PM on July 5 [3 favorites]
posted by y2karl at 1:36 PM on July 5 [3 favorites]
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There's lots of kitsch Bad AI art, and lots of transparently low fash art/culture (maga aesthetic, aligator alcatraz caps etc), but where is the TASTE?
posted by lalochezia at 12:12 PM on July 5 [1 favorite]