Wizard of Id Classics by Parker and Hart for November 19, 2020

If you want to feel old just remember that 2000 was 20 years ago.

If you don’t want to give the Fink an answer, soot yourself!

I presume everyone’s noted that the date on the strip is November 23, 1970. It doesn’t say much for the effectiveness of Gypsy Rose’s crystal ball…

So, that’s why we need the masks?

the ball runs cobol?

There is guessing the future and there is predicting the outcome of a specific action. The two are not the same. Increased pollution was predictable – action/reaction. Politics never was – knee jerk action/jerk reaction

Soot was what I breathed growing up, burning coal for heat….Oy

It’s not specified what the King is imagining, but he looks hopeful.

In 1970, when this first ran, many of us still had wide-eyed, rosy ideas about 2000. Would we be living almost like Jetsons? Nothing seemed more likely! We happily chose to see the Fuuuuutuuuuure as a steady, unbroken line of forward progress. We don’t like to foresee reactionaries trying to drag us backwards,

In the 1940s, THE SPIRIT pictured the 70s as a utopia of glass bubble-buildings in the sky, over a land with no crime or poverty. In the 90s, creator Will Eisner admitted that many had felt that way. We continually think that our higher natures are calling us toward a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow, only to end up wallowing in ANIMAL FARM again and again,

Time to guess whether the author was making a statement about pollution or nuclear war.

Some context: With smog, environmental degradation and burning rivers becoming commonplace, Congress passed the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, which President Nixon signed on Jan 1, 1970. Nixon proposed consolidating all the environmental executive responsibilities into one organization, the Environmental Protection Agency. Congress approved this and the EPA opened its door the week after this strip appeared.

In our near future, the 6-3 reactionary Supreme Court is likely to hear a case that will overturn the doctrine of ‘Chevron deference.’ This would eviscerate the ability of Federal and State agencies such as the EPA to regulate industry.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_U.S.A.,Inc.v._Natural_Resources_DefenseCouncil,Inc.

If you visit American city,You will find it very pretty.Just two things of which you must beware:Don’t drink the water and don’t breathe the air!Pollution, pollution!They got smog and sewage and mud.Turn on your tapAnd get hot and cold running crud!

Even the crystal is suffering burnout…

Must be a California smog joke.