While talking about the Dixon Place Queer Hot Festival, I mentioned that Armen Ra was one of the performers. (See Musto on her.) She performs on the theremin, which is a pretty fascinating instrument invented in 1919.
While contemplating that such an amazing piece of musical technology was invented so long ago, I started to think about the conundrum that is America. What has made us great is the ability to ignore history and forge ahead, more than any culture in history. However, I think this "ahistorical" attitude is also our biggest weakness. We're like children, thinking that each thing we discover is the first time anyone ever thought of it. If we had any idea what other cultures have accomplished, from the Romans, to post-war Europe, which created great welfare states capable of providing basic healthcare for everyone (in countries devastated by war), we could learn from those achievements and build on them.
