Ostinato Destino 1992- | Bonus Inside

Because closing the loop would require a decision. In music, an ostinato must be broken by a cadenza —a solo that stops the repetition. In history, cadenzas look like revolution, war, or radical policy.

This is why the dash after 1992 is the most violent punctuation mark in history. It suggests that 1992 never ended. We are still living in the aftermath of the Cold War's end, still using the same economic software (neoliberal capitalism), still arguing about the same culture wars (identity vs. class), still watching the same weather get hotter. Ostinato Destino 1992-

The 1990s gave us Groundhog Day (1993)—a film about living the same day forever. By the 2020s, we got Don't Look Up (2021), a film about watching the asteroid hit while scrolling past it. The protagonist of modern life is not a hero; it is a user scrolling through a feed of infinite tragedies, pausing only to like a recipe for sourdough. Because closing the loop would require a decision

To be continued... indefinitely. Elena Marchetti is the author of "The Loop of History: Why the 1990s Never Ended" (University of Chicago Press, 2023). This is why the dash after 1992 is