The Volokh Conspiracy

Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independent

Everything Old Is New Again, Part 322

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I have two sons, one a senior in high school and one a junior. The senior, I'm pleased to say, has just gotten into a university that we think will work very well for him. As you might gather, the application process (and the years of preparation beforehand) that is customary for people of our circle has involved much effort, planning, and anxiety for my wife and him and me, but finally that's over—as to the senior, that is: There's still the junior to shepherd through the process.

And it hit me the other day that I'm just like the mother in an 1800s English novel:

"Thank God, we got our older daughter married off; now we just need to do that for our younger."

Which in turn made me wonder: Will people in 2222 look back on the obsessions, mores, and pecking orders of early 21st century upper-middle-class life the way we look back on the early 19th?