In the late 1950s my parents often had relatives over in the summer. And after supper, my uncles usually played pinochle for a while, then sat outside on the porch below my bedroom window, smoking and drinking beer.
By that time I had gone to bed but could hear their conversations go on into the night. They would rehash WW2 battles and decide where Eisenhower had gone wrong. And inevitably they’d complain about The Communists, both Russian and Chinese. And, uh, racial matters, too. Diseases like polio, TB, and formerly widespread infectious diseases had been thought conquered.
Strictly speaking, we have now only the Chinese communists, now. But they are still a big topic of conversation. Russia is bothersome, too. And … racial matters still exist. But diseases seem to be a new big worry. In the 1950s, the word “pandemic” was not constantly a word in the news.
I predict it will be a familiar word in use a while longer, and also periodically applicable in the future.
martens almost 3 years ago
Sigh. We always have to blame someone no matter what.
PraiseofFolly almost 3 years ago
In the late 1950s my parents often had relatives over in the summer. And after supper, my uncles usually played pinochle for a while, then sat outside on the porch below my bedroom window, smoking and drinking beer.
By that time I had gone to bed but could hear their conversations go on into the night. They would rehash WW2 battles and decide where Eisenhower had gone wrong. And inevitably they’d complain about The Communists, both Russian and Chinese. And, uh, racial matters, too. Diseases like polio, TB, and formerly widespread infectious diseases had been thought conquered.Strictly speaking, we have now only the Chinese communists, now. But they are still a big topic of conversation. Russia is bothersome, too. And … racial matters still exist. But diseases seem to be a new big worry. In the 1950s, the word “pandemic” was not constantly a word in the news.
I predict it will be a familiar word in use a while longer, and also periodically applicable in the future.
Radish the wordsmith almost 3 years ago
You were doing well until the last panel. Why don’t we fix problems instead of creating them?
gopher gofer almost 3 years ago
and in the u.s. there’s the added twist that many think it’s okay to shoot anyone they disagree with…
briangj2 almost 3 years ago
“It is easier to destroy knowledge, Ignosi, than to gather it.“ — H. Rider Haggard, book King Solomon’s Mines (1885), Chapter 15, “Good Falls Sick”
“As a matter of cosmic history, it has always been easier to destroy than to create.” Spock, Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan"
Concretionist almost 3 years ago
Well, that sharp right turn was unexpected. But too damnably true.
apfelzra Premium Member almost 3 years ago
Sort of answered his own question.