Friday, June 13, 2008

What's the next great party in the world?

There are a few events which truly cause large, nationwide (sometimes international) parties. I am talking the types of parties that transcend everything...politics, race, class, religion, etc.

There are a few obvious examples: The end of World War II was a big one. I remember in college thinking I would have given ANYTHING to be in Germany the day the Berlin Wall fell, knowing that I was missing what was probably the biggest spontaneous party likely to occur in my lifetime.

Events like that are exceptionally rare. Do I have a chance of seeing one in my lifetime? What event could possibly spark such a celebration in the next forty years or so?

3 comments:

OrbsCorbs said...

Man, Hale-Bopp, that's a thinker. Putting humans on Mars might do it. Or maybe if a magic bullet cure were discovered for all forms of cancer or something similar.

But I can't think of a political event that enough people agree on to do it.

hale-bopp said...

I thought of the humans on Mars one. However, I think part of what made the Moon landing great was the US-USSR rivalry. Unless we get into a space race with China or something, I am not sure it will have the same impact.

It doesn't have to be a political event...oh well, looks like I won't get my big party.

kkdither said...

You never know hale. You may just get a 'surprise' party. That is the cool thing about these things. They can come on without you even realizing their significance.

I would have to say in my lifetime...so far, the biggies are:
*the space race,
*the expansion of travel- both international and coast-to-coast *expansion of television and immediate news reporting
*microwave cooking
*advances in medicine
*computers and the internet

I'm sure I've omitted some because we just take them for granted. We can have that party anytime.