I was aware of it in specific instances - for example science education after Sputnik- but I don't think I appreciated until recently how much the "cult of smart" in America was an outgrowth of the Cold War and the creation of the postwar national security apparatus.
A lot of 21st century American politics and culture- from Great War on Terror through Great Awokening, from Tiger Moms through LGBTQIA kids - is driven not just by exigencies of demography and technology but a state apparatus looking for new reasons for existence and future goals
As @daily_barbarian points out, there's an argument that the interdependence of the paranoid national security state and children's seemingly organic, enchanted understanding of the world and their development is the real topic of "Stranger Things" mobile.twitter.com
Yes- the technologies created as outgrowth of the Cold War have created new economic and cultural demands that place us in uncertain waters, even as the original institutional demands have retreated. A topic explored well by @jamespoulos 's"Human, Forever"
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