387- When World’s Fairs Invented the Future – Which is Now (Free)

How many are aware that there is currently a World’s Fair in Dubai? Interestingly, it still carries the 2020 date, though it will end in Spring of 2022. One might wonder what history will recall about this event and the actual date 50 years from now. If the past is any indicator, World’s Fairs and Expositions are perplexing when examined after the fact. So many questions and so few answers, and yet, these Expositions are billed as world-wide events, which might lead one to believe that a detailed historical account is available to answer the endless questions. If we look at the Chicago World’s Fair alone, just the building of it seems impossible, and of course, it was all but demolished almost as quickly as it ended. There are exceptions, as we see in San Diego’s Balboa Park, where impressive structures stand to this day, left over from a so-called Exposition. We examine the numerous inconsistencies that show themselves as we break down multiple facets of these supposed very large gatherings that were hastily put up and just as soon destroyed, moving on to the next one, and nearly all of them losing money along the way.