Strip was written long ago but it made me think of this song – “I thought the future would be cooler” – 80’s retro… https://open.spotify.com/track/4yYxzEEW9uZwNfpKx3cNSH?si=kBaM_9MuQHeRuV8yOs4Yog
I remember reading this strip nearly thirty years ago. Nowadays, reading these reprints gives me some idea of the nostalgia which my parents must have felt when they watched old animated cartoons from about thirty years ago with me.
We tend to nostalgiacize. Those simple 50s. The flower power 60s., The your-place-or-mine 70s. And so forth. (For me it’s the 90s and 2000s.). Will anyone nostalgicize 2020?
Some of the root cause is subtlely called out here; Calvin expects the world to improve without HIM having to put in his share of the hard work to get it there. That’s as responsible for our failures to improve than anything. If nobody is putting in that hard and ongoing effort to be better and to give better to the world they live in, the world doesn’t tend to improve.
If the world isn’t improving as you’d like, get off your behind and be the change you want to see as the old saying goes.
BE THIS GUY over 3 years ago
I thought Dad would be receptive to some helpful advice.
Renatus Profuturus Frigeridus Premium Member over 3 years ago
It could be worse: it could rain .
jvo over 3 years ago
Not much has changed since this was penned 25 years ago, except now, there is not even fresh snow to walk in at New Year’s Day. :(
mattro65 over 3 years ago
There will be one big improvement in a little more than three weeks, one that we can all be thankful for.
jagedlo over 3 years ago
“re”-again : anew “solution”-: an action or process of solving a problem…so in essence, trying to solve the same problem again…
in.amongst over 3 years ago
How true Hobbes – and Present is hardly ever a gift, is it!?!
Robin Harwood over 3 years ago
You are beginning to catch on, Calvin. They are conning you. It isn’t a new year. It’s just the old one repeated with a different label.
Bilan over 3 years ago
The future keeps turning into the present? I thought the present turns into the past.
Does that mean the future is the past?
Aussie Down Under over 3 years ago
Very deep & profound comment by Hobbes.
codycab over 3 years ago
Since when do you care, Calvin?
Johnny Q Premium Member over 3 years ago
Be happy if things don’t get worse!
desvarzil over 3 years ago
Truer words were never spoken, Hobbes.
californiamonty over 3 years ago
Too true, Hobbes. Too true.
VegaAlopex over 3 years ago
The problem with the future is that faith without works is dead.
admiree2 over 3 years ago
You haven’t seen 2020 yet, Calvin.
GabryelFrost over 3 years ago
To Calvin: Get a grip, Greta !
PS Just litteraly forgot Greta Thurnbegs` name so I googled “obnoxious swedish girl.”
Janos over 3 years ago
Everything is still the same. Even Calvin is still 6 years old. How many years have passed?
Cpeckbourlioux over 3 years ago
Do people live in the past because you can’t remember the present?
posse1 Premium Member over 3 years ago
The first 2 panels are classic!
Ralph Newbill over 3 years ago
Here’s to another 2020?!
jpayne4040 over 3 years ago
This is why I love Hobbes! He often sums things up in the most profound way! I love this one!
MS72 over 3 years ago
What’s so bad? Didn’t you get Disney+ this year? :-)
DadToFivePlus over 3 years ago
Yep. Powerful observation. The calendar is not what needs adjustment; it is our hearts.
ACK! Premium Member over 3 years ago
“The future isn’t what it used to be.” (Often attributed to Yogi Berra, but even he admitted it wasn’t original.)
kartis over 3 years ago
Strip was written long ago but it made me think of this song – “I thought the future would be cooler” – 80’s retro… https://open.spotify.com/track/4yYxzEEW9uZwNfpKx3cNSH?si=kBaM_9MuQHeRuV8yOs4Yog
moonfrogger over 3 years ago
Well this year was certainly a lousy present.
boydjb47 over 3 years ago
Worldwide poverty and hunger are way down in the past 25 years.
The Fly Hunter over 3 years ago
The future ain’t what it used to be!
Calvinist1966 over 3 years ago
I remember reading this strip nearly thirty years ago. Nowadays, reading these reprints gives me some idea of the nostalgia which my parents must have felt when they watched old animated cartoons from about thirty years ago with me.
carlzr over 3 years ago
Poor Calvin. You can’t do anything about war and pollution. Greed on the other hand …
vaughnrl2003 Premium Member over 3 years ago
Concentrate on the good, keep an eye on the bad and hope for the best.
awcoffman over 3 years ago
From a song I wrote: “yesterday’s dreans…..turn to memories”
Troglodyte over 3 years ago
Grin and bear it, or better still, tiger it!
tripwire45 over 3 years ago
Human nature being what it is…
A Hip loving Canadian... over 3 years ago
The present for Dad is a little peace and quiet while it lasts.
jrankin1959 over 3 years ago
…and we still don’t have our flying cars or jetpacks.
WoodstockJack over 3 years ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ftvh9eWkAc
Tallguy over 3 years ago
2020 was JUST like 2019.
Also: Ask Calvin if he’s worried about polio.
KEA over 3 years ago
This is so relevant it makes me ill
DondiDoo over 3 years ago
The problem with the future is that people still populate it.
BiggerNate91 over 3 years ago
This is the reality people that think 2021 will be better are going to have to wake up to.
outgolfing over 3 years ago
Hobbes is such a philosopher.
DCBakerEsq over 3 years ago
Today is the first day of the rest of your life. But, then again, so was yesterday.
marilynnbyerly over 3 years ago
The sad thing is that Calvin will grow up to be another jerk narcissist who will make things worse.
Otis Rufus Driftwood over 3 years ago
We really missed some opportunities in the past 30 years, haven’t we?
donwestonmysteries over 3 years ago
Calvin should be an expert at this with all the New Years he has experienced.
mistercatworks over 3 years ago
Making a Year New takes more than wishful thinking. 2021 isn’t a new Millennium, it’s just another chance to get things right.
willie_mctell over 3 years ago
Progress is an illusion. It’s only motion, folks.
StevePappas over 3 years ago
He should be!
Gretchen's Mom over 3 years ago
Well, no one will EVER be able to accuse 2020 of being the same as 2019, that’s for sure! :-/
Marko56 over 3 years ago
And the Present is just a continuation of Yesterday.
swanridge over 3 years ago
:-(
maverick.kaminski over 3 years ago
Where’s my hovercar?
Earnestly Frank over 3 years ago
As Calvin never seems to age, it appears to be Groundhog Year for him.
vjorgensen54 over 3 years ago
and with crazy little maniacs like you calvin, nothing is going to get better.
anomaly over 3 years ago
The future is better. The problem is that we only ever have the present.
Publius10608218 over 3 years ago
Scenery may change, characters stay the same.
spaced man spliff over 3 years ago
We tend to nostalgiacize. Those simple 50s. The flower power 60s., The your-place-or-mine 70s. And so forth. (For me it’s the 90s and 2000s.). Will anyone nostalgicize 2020?
Ka`ōnōhi`ula`okahōkūmiomio`ehiku Premium Member over 3 years ago
On January 1st, 2021, it will be the first time in history when we can honestly look back with 2020 hindsight.
MCProfessor over 3 years ago
New Year would be great except for people.
NoLongerWandering over 3 years ago
The future just ain’t what it used to be.
lindz.coop Premium Member over 3 years ago
There’s still covid.
kaladorn over 3 years ago
Some of the root cause is subtlely called out here; Calvin expects the world to improve without HIM having to put in his share of the hard work to get it there. That’s as responsible for our failures to improve than anything. If nobody is putting in that hard and ongoing effort to be better and to give better to the world they live in, the world doesn’t tend to improve.
If the world isn’t improving as you’d like, get off your behind and be the change you want to see as the old saying goes.
Le'Roy Hawkins over 3 years ago
If you think there’s stupidity now, just wait.
Bring da bling almost 3 years ago
Eventually that will become the past, the present too, and the future