Great escapes

I was out at pizza night with Fermius, and we came to an odd piece of chat about escaping reality by romanticizing other historical times. But we forget all the crappy bits to make them all sound wonderful.

It's the 21st century, and many people fantasize about being pirates (stinky mostly-starving criminals) or living in the wonderful Middle Ages (with all the dirt & disease, tyrants & vermin).

But the people in the Middle Ages were probably fantasizing about living in ancient Rome, with things like plumbing and flying go-carts. Maybe that's not so bad.

But the people in Greek and Roman times were pining for an earlier day, a simpler age, where men could be men (and attack their neighbors) who could be men (pawns of the gods). And get attacked by their neighbors.

Civilized people may have cursed the invention of farming and wished they were free to graze among the daffodils.

Iron Age people wished they were living in the Stone Age.

Stone Agers must have dreamed of the good old days, living in their caves, eating popcorn with bears.

Cavemen must have dreamed of swinging from trees and saying "Umph."

Apes fight all day and throw their poo around.

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2/1/06 - a conversation gone awry, then captured (for better or worse)

now, future people can dream of the lovely month of January 2006 where Exxon-Mobil just posted astronomical profits by a consumer ripoff of epic proportions.