23. But it's not as if earlier times didn't know perpetual war, disaster and the massacre of innocents.

【分析】復合句。主句是主系表結構，as if引導表語從句。在表語從句中，主語是earlier times,隱含的是the people in earlier times;謂語是didn’t know;賓語是三個并列的名詞及名詞短語。
【譯文】但這不是說以前的時代沒有經(jīng)歷過連續(xù)不斷的戰(zhàn)爭、災難和濫殺無辜。

24. The rise of anti-happy art almost exactly tracks the emergence of mass media, and with it, a commercial culture in which happiness is not just an ideal but an ideology.

【分析】簡單句。句子主干為The rise of anti-happy art ... tracks the emergence of mass media and ... a commercial culture。with it 中 it 指代 the emergence of mass media。which引導的定語從句修飾先行詞a commercial culture,其中使用了 not…but…結構。
【譯文】反快樂藝術的興起幾乎完全可以追溯到大眾傳媒的出現(xiàn)，以及隨之興起的商業(yè)文化,在這種文化中，快樂不僅僅是一個理想，而且是一種意識形態(tài)。