A Sociological Eye

We've reached the 2020s. The start of a new decade is always a time when people reflect on the past and make predictions for the future. In peacetime, this is usually a happy and effervescent project. For more than a century, it has involved dreaming of flying cars, vacations in space, and robots that take care of us, instead of displacing us from our jobs. But 2020 arrives at a more anxious time. In the U.S., we may not be at war, but we don't feel at peace. This is the context in which I am contemplating our era and writing this post. It will meander rather wryly, and discuss consumer goods, and then there will be a bonus Nazi appearance! Very 2020.   Like many of you, I work long hours. The winter holiday season, when it comes, is a nice respite from the usual hectic pace of work--but it's mostly another flavor of frenetic, traveling to see family, touching base with old friends, and catching up on projects postponed for the "break." I do try to