{"id":822,"date":"2013-01-09T00:54:50","date_gmt":"2013-01-08T22:54:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/?p=822"},"modified":"2015-04-07T01:00:57","modified_gmt":"2015-04-06T23:00:57","slug":"halfway-into-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/halfway-into-the-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Halfway into the future"},"content":{"rendered":"

This column was meant for September, but as fate<\/span> would have it, a few other things got in the way \u2014 the presidential election<\/a>, various school shootings<\/a>, the demise<\/span> of Twinkies<\/a> \u2014 that deserved some commentary. However, the start of a new year is just as good a time to talk about this subject: the future.<\/p>\n

What was special about September? A groundbreaking science-fiction cartoon, The Jetsons<\/i>, was first broadcast<\/span> on September 23, 1962. The world it described \u2014 the flying-car future<\/a> \u2014 was that of 2062. So September 2012 was right in between. We’re halfway there. Yippee!<\/span><\/p>\n

The series is an ode to progress. The Jetsons \u2014 everyman George Jetson; Jane, his wife; his boy, Elroy; and daughter Judy \u2014 live in a building that looks like the Seattle Space Needle<\/a> (which opened five months before the series went on the air<\/span>). Moving sidewalks and moving furniture take them wherever they want to go, and machines do nearly all of their work. When they’re functioning properly, that is \u2014 the series is also a satire.<\/p>\n