Twenty-Five Years Ago in Reason

From the November 2002 issue

"Consider that the physician has taken over much of the 'business' of religion. He or she presides over the previously sacred acts of birth and death, even over sex and madness. People believe more in his power to heal than in God's."

--Howard Maccabee, "Political Nemesis"

"Pessimism, the more provocative the better, has always been lent an ear."

--Jerome Tuccille, "Doomsday Criers and Technocrats"

"The 55 mile-per-hour speed limit is apparently becoming a settled aspect of American life....This may not seem to matter to anyone who is not a driving enthusiast, but for the millions who do like to drive, much of the fun has been lost."

--James Dale Davidson, "Nowhere Fast"

"The country is literally overrun by liberal robots, emitting their latest trendy responses; by conservative robots emitting the entrenched prejudices of their grandfathers; and by socialist robots, consumerist robots, Black Panther robots, etc. etc.--all reciting their sacred texts."

--Edith Efron, "Secular Fundamentalism"