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Question: The 1950s/1960s produced people of iconic status masters in their particular field - why not recently!?
The Beatles!. Muhammad Ali!. George Best!. Dr Martin Luther King!. Gandhi !.JFK!. Che Guevara!.Fidel Castro!. Elvis!. Regardless of your like or dislike of these people they have made an enormous impact on our world and top any list!. Why is it we dont produce "great" people over recent times!. Nelson Mandela is the only one I can think of, but then he started in the fifties!. Apologies if I missed your favourite from my list!.Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
because capitalism has sucked much of the soul out of life

look at the 'icons' of today - posh spice, jordan, jade goody, etc etc!. what do they symbolise!? great music!? art!? politics!? no, they symbolise ignorance and the shameless pursuit of personal wealth

no wonder the rest of europe laughs at dumbed down britainWww@QuestionHome@Com

I think it was us who produced icons not that those people were inherently iconic - There were probably as many others that coudl have filled th evacancies - but at that time we wanted icons -

I guess they just lived their lives and woke up one day realising that they had been iconised!.

We seem to have embraced postmodernism and come up with ironic making icons of ordinary sloblets who haven't done anything amazing and are living ordinary lives - It is always hard to understand the zeitgeist of the time we are living within - it has to be lived forwards and understood backwards!.

I am not sure that these people quoted were in fact the best - soem were pretty pathetic but were maybe the ones most able to handle being give the iconic status -

In Family therapy it is said we give the scapegoat status to the strongest member of the family - not the one who deserves it (If indeed anyone would) Its a subconsciously negotiated postition!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Well, lets see!. The Beatles, Elvis!.!.!. Madonna!? Michael Jackson!? Metallica!? (hey, they all start with M!. Completely coincidental)!.
George Best!.!.!. Ronaldo (fat brazilian one), Ronaldinho, Zinedine Zidane, Eric Cantona!?
Martin Luther King, Gandhi - Nelson Mandela, as you say, how bout Desmond Tutu, Aung San Suu Kyi, Xanana Gusmao!?
Che Guevara!.!.!. er, Osama bin Laden!? (I'm sorry if that offends those of you with a romanticised notion of old Che, but he was ultimately little more than a terrorist/mercenary in the end)
JFK!.!.!. (arguable probably) Tony Blair
Fidel Castro!. I have to admit I'm struggling with coming up with a crusty bearded bloke who took over a country and bored it's citizens to tears by talking to them for 15 hours straight or whatever he used to do!. Nope got one - Saddam Hussein!. Didn't have a beard though!.

I guess the point is that the world is full of people doing what your icons of yesteryear did, the difference is you don't really notice until after they've done it!. Hindsight is marvellous isn't it!?Www@QuestionHome@Com

Hm!. Interesting question!. I suppose you could say Bill Gates revolutionised the world, but that started back in the eighties!. (OK, OK, and Steve Jobs!. Happy!?)

Perhaps the West just isn't ripe for revolution!. Maybe we've grown old, fat and complacent and are going to spend the next fifty years watching China and India take over as the principal world powers while sitting around and worrying about whether the word "infanticide" is offensive to cider!.

Maybe we've more or less reached the peak of human evolutionary potential and all further developments wil merely be refinements or rehashes of existing ideas!.

Probably not that last one, though, as it's clearly nonsense!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Over time i guess i would say that, I'm young an like the older music and if we still had the greatest singers and producers we had back then we would still have that great music and impact on our lives!. I can't think of anyone now that has done this so far!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Because of the people who control the media!. They brainwash everyone into thinking that its wrong to be different!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

cus now there all on booze and crack, humanity is wasted!. literally!. Www@QuestionHome@Com