Reviews Of The closing century in recent books and documentaries resemble Charles Dickens's view of late eighteenth-century Europe. In Biblical cadence, A Tale of Two Cities begins: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,...it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness...."
Today's Journal readers know the twentieth century's extraordinary seasons of light and darkness. We've seen improvements in human rights and the spread of democracy, and we've seen tyrannies and genocides. We've witnessed remarkable economic gains, and increased economic volatility. The century's hallmark scientific and technological advances also have brought dark-side developments, nuclear fission casting the longest shadow.
We may wonder what actually constitutes progress. The same computer revolution that launched totally new forms or work, play, commerce, and communication has also spawned new means to sin unseen; there are cyber forms of pornography, crime, terrorism, and hate-mongering. And the gap between those living in the electronically networked world and the billions who live in the "unwired" world seems to be rapidly expanding.
