In one of the most impasÂsioned and beauÂtiÂfulÂly writÂten defensÂes of Burkean conÂserÂvatism I have ever read, the poet WenÂdell Berry took govÂernÂment projects of both the left and right to task, proÂclaimÂing in 1968 that the emerÂgence of a masÂsive bureauÂcraÂcy was a tragÂic sign of the “loss of the future.” His arguÂment is simÂiÂlar to one made over twenÂty years earÂliÂer by the TrotÂskyÂist-turned-conÂserÂvÂaÂtive writer James BurnÂham, whose 1941 book The ManÂageÂrÂiÂal RevÂoÂluÂtion preÂdictÂed “at each point,” wrote George Orwell in a thorÂough review, “a conÂtinÂuÂaÂtion of the thing that is hapÂpenÂing.” A “manÂageÂrÂiÂal” cenÂtral state, BurnÂham also argued, inevitably brought about a “loss of the future.”
NeiÂther the conÂtemÂplaÂtive Berry nor the inciÂsive BurnÂham have been able to account for one hisÂtorÂiÂcalÂly inescapable fact: the periÂods in which 20th cenÂtuÂry sociÂeties imagÂined the future most vividÂly were those most domÂiÂnatÂed by bureauÂcratÂic, techÂnoÂcratÂic, cenÂtralÂized politÂiÂcal economies. This is true under conÂserÂvÂaÂtive govÂernÂments like that of the U.S. under EisenÂhowÂer, in which huge infraÂstrucÂture projects—from the highÂway sysÂtem to hydroÂelecÂtric dams— rearranged the lives of milÂlions.
And it was true under Khrushchev’s SoviÂet state, whose VirÂgin Lands camÂpaign did the same. Indeed, mid-cenÂtuÂry SoviÂet “expecÂtaÂtions were pretÂty simÂiÂlar to the futurÂisÂtic preÂdicÂtions of AmerÂiÂcans,” writes Matt Novak, “with a touch more ComÂmuÂnism, of course.” UnsurÂprisÂing, perÂhaps, givÂen that the two nations were locked in comÂpeÂtiÂtion over the domÂiÂnaÂtion of both earth and space.
Novak’s underÂstateÂment is fulÂly warÂrantÂed. Although the peoÂple in images like those you see here tend to appear in more colÂlecÂtive arrangeÂments, their sci-fi surÂroundÂings almost mirÂror those in the images from the U.S. that were parÂoÂdied by The JetÂsons two years after this 1960 colÂlecÂtion. These detailed sceÂnarÂios come from a “retro-futurÂisÂtic filmÂstrip, which would have been played through a Diafilm,” a kind of slide proÂjecÂtor. It’s a vision, it just so hapÂpens, of our time, 2017, but it looks backÂward to get there, both in its techÂnolÂoÂgy and its design. The illusÂtraÂtion above, for examÂple, “was almost cerÂtainÂly inspired by the FutuÂraÂma exhibÂit from the 1939 New York World’s Fair.” (Itself built, we may note, on the shoulÂders of Roosevelt’s New Deal.)
You can see many more of these illusÂtraÂtions at PaleÂoÂfuÂture, and at the top of the post watch a video verÂsion with “jazzy music and star wipes.” You may find these visions quaint, charmÂing in their naivetĂ© and inaccuracy—yet often quaintÂly preÂscient as well. Retro-futurism’s appeal to us seems to rest prinÂciÂpalÂly in how silÂly it can seem in hindÂsight, even when it gets things right. PerÂhaps it is the case that the most fulÂly-realÂized, totalÂizÂing visions of tomorÂrow are as far-fetched as the conÂtrolÂling sociÂeties that proÂduce them are unsusÂtainÂable. As Bob DugÂgan writes at Big Think, for examÂple, we are bound to assoÂciate the “undead art moveÂment” of ItalÂian FuturÂism with the very short-lived regime of ItalÂian FasÂcism. Maybe the degree to which a govÂernÂment lacks a future is in inverse proÂporÂtion to the intenÂsiÂty of its retro-futurÂism.
So what exactÂly is the relaÂtionÂship between state powÂer and utopiÂan futurÂism? The quesÂtion invites a disÂserÂtaÂtion, and sureÂly many have been writÂten, as they have on the sympÂtoÂmolÂoÂgy of the techÂno-dystopiÂan and urban apocÂaÂlypÂtic forms of futurÂism. We might begin by wonÂderÂing what our actuÂal 2017 will look like 57 years from now. What will peoÂple in 2074 make of our endÂless culÂture of revivalÂism, from zomÂbie steamÂpunk to retreads and remakes of everyÂthing from Ghost in the Shell, to The Matrix, to Star Wars? Who can say. PerÂhaps, for whatÂevÂer sociÂoÂlogÂiÂcal reaÂson, we are sufÂferÂing, as Berry put it, from a loss of the future.
RelatÂed ConÂtent:
SoviÂet Artists EnviÂsion a ComÂmuÂnist Utopia in OutÂer Space
Josh Jones is a writer and musiÂcian based in Durham, NC. FolÂlow him at @jdmagness
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