I hate to burst anyone s bubble, but 2000 is just another year. Another year based on an arbitrary approximation of Jesus Christ s birth and death. I read somewhere that according to the actual dates of his life, we should currently be in the year 1976. See, it s arbitrary. It s not the end of the world, nor is it the beginning of a new dawn.
History progresses, it doesn t just start over with no regard to what came before it.
I have lived less than a quarter of the 20th century, but I think I ve figured out some stuff about it. And now that I think about it, I think I ve figured some stuff out about the 21st century too. I propose that the major phenomena that have shaped the course of the 20th century in the US and abroad are communism, war, economic ruin, and civil rights. These are not distinct categories, nor did they have the same effects across the globe. They irreparably shaped the world in which we live, and they endure in the American subconscious.