Josh Kline’s recent essay in October, “New York Real Estate and the Ruin of American Art,” is a solution in search of a problem, perfectly attuned to our presentist zeitgeist. One reads it with a sense of déjà vu—not least because of how closely it resembles the writings of Soviet Constructivists.

Attempting to foretell the next art world trend is a thankless task. I was recently reminded of this as I watched a 1986 appearance by Suzi Gablik on Richard Love’s American Art Forum TV show where she predicted that “militarism, consumerism, and class divisions” characteristic of then-regnant postmodernism would soon be countered by the emerging Aquarian vision of a “more holistic paradigm.” Gablik’s prediction was inspired by Marylin Ferguson’s bestseller The Aquarian Conspiracy, which promoted a hippiesque, interdisciplinary alliance to bring about profound and lasting social change.