SOURCE: Bethell, Tom. “Back to the Future.” American Spectator 33, no. 4 (May 2000): 16-17.

In the following excerpt, Bethell observes that, contrary to Toffler's thesis in Future Shock, current advances in technology have not profoundly altered human life.

I remember, around 1970, wondering what the year 2000 would be like and whether I would still be here. When you do that, you imagine the future in a very hazy, unfocused way, but at least it is different out there. Now here we are. And why is everything so much the same? That's what I didn't foresee. There is Ann, walking her dog. Here is the D.C. bus, lumbering up the hill, still belching smoke. This too-solid flesh (and more of it every year!) imposes its own continuity to a greater extent than futurists ever imagine. The small adjustments brought by the new technology seem rather minor by comparison.

As it happens...