“In general modern man has no solutions”

Wrote Alexander Herzan (one of the gaggle of {always} men noodling around philosophical challenges of living in an age they determined didn’t fit - or wasn’t fit - for the purpose) in the middle of the 19th Century. 

Interestingly (for me) was why he should choose to think so, given he seemed full of solutions… but, as always, with answers that few were interested in applying. Because there’s always ’this isn’t the time…’

It’s an interesting conundrum. 

To be full of ideas and yet not to be able to bring them to bear on situations to hand. 

I guess it’s the Hand-Wringing lot of thinkers - while mere designers, having thought, dismiss the idea of it and move on to tackle the problem they’ve been re-set :) Commerce is always gonna commerce.

Herzan solved his dilemma, retreating into self-imposed exile and exposing small-scale communal living -

“the protection of individual liberty by a non-interventionist government”

- a proto anarcho-punk, possibly?

Having had my attention drawn, he also had published ‘Who is to blame?’ (published in 1847) - O tempora, o mores! cried the designers - in which he draws out the character of the ’superfluous man’. 

I’m sure you know at least one of the type (of any gender);

“unmindful, indifferent or unempathetic with society's issues and (who) can carelessly distress others with (their) actions, despite (their) position of power.”

Remind you of anyone or the type?

Having picked up this thread on a rather dour note (and along the usual lines of ‘all those old guys stole our best ideas…’), let’s take comfort in the fact that generalisations are just that - generally lazy takes on the situation.

My experience was (and continues to be) that there’s always people around who will have have good ideas. 

And we’ll always be stumbling on neat solutions. 

After all, we’re not called the ‘clever human’ for nothing.

Now, off you go and find the answer.