Has Civilization already peaked?
Game over, man! Life was best for our parents' generation.
A few years ago, a friend of mine shocked me by saying that our parents' generation had it best. He said quality of life was better, society was better. There was a sense of community where people looked after each other. Life in general was affordable. Gas and food prices were low. People were stronger and less dependent on handouts and lawsuits. Antibiotics were new, and they worked. In short, our parents' generation just got on with it, with a cheery smile.
Nowadays, a generation on, we are all burning out through overwork, families are fragmented, society is randomly more violent, we are haunted by the ever-present spectres of terrorism and fear. Crime goes rewarded by over-liberal justice systems. Gas prices are sky-rocketing, food is becoming scarcer and less affordable for many. Superbugs in hospitals, energy poverty and a mental health epidemic.
Stress is the watchword for our generation.
And the future...hey, I don't have a crystal ball, but let's start with global warming, land that increasingly can't support crops, deadlier weather patterns, floods, and medicines that no longer work. Clean, drinkable water becoming scarcer and something only the wealthy can afford.
Is Mankind now in an unstoppable downward spiral? Was life easier and better for our parents' generation?
YOUR TURN!
Did your parents have it better?
Fetching blurbs now... please stand byYep, the world today is going to hell in a handbasket!
Spook says:
I think it all had to do with discipline and they most definately had higher moral values. Perhaps that's why they had no superbugs in Hospitals etc. Great debating point.
Posted October 09, 2008
No way, dude! Life just gets better everyday!
mulberry says:
Some things are better now, some things are not. I think we just become more aware of issues as we get older/more mature and we are bombarded with them through TV, internet, etc. On a personal level leisure time did not exist until somewhat recently in history so I doubt personal stress was that much different, we just think it was because it wasn't us experiencing it. Folks in their 80's have faced potential nuclear annihilation and a depression that was one of the worst economic times in recent history, yada yada yada. With increasing numbers of people we may have more societal ills, but they aren't unsolvable.
Posted June 12, 2008
Noadi says:
People love to rose-tint the past. Forgetting things like rampant racism much perpetrated by the government itself, sexism, the McCarthy era where being accused of being a communist without proof could ruin your life. Our justice system is tougher on non-violent crime than it was a generation ago filling our jails with many more people than in the past despite the fact that crime rates in the US are lower overall than a generation ago. We're increasingly trying children as adults with no thought of whether their lives can be turned around (in some cases I'm sure they can't but with kids we should at least try that's why we have a juvenile justice system in the first place).
Past generations had their problems as much as we do. We just tend to forget the bad and remember the good.
Posted June 11, 2008
Future shock
Impact of the global financial crisis
US banks and other financial institutions have gone bust - some got bailed out, others didn't. UK and German institutions have followed suit. Iceland has essentially become a bankrupted country.
Whichever solution is correct, all of us as taxpayers will feel the pinch for years to come. US authorities have decided to buy back toxic debt; UK authorities have simply recapitalised the banks, and increased liquidity - the uncertainty of toxic debt still pervades.
So where do we all stand now? What are your thoughts?
What's your view?
Is the West now bankrupt?
I have recently seen the USA referred to as the USSA, as (arguably) it now has more State-owned assets than the Soviet Union ever had. All based on debt, and all at the expense of the US-taxpayer.
Does this mean life is now going to get a lot worse for 'Joe Public'? Or is it a good thing to have State intervention?
HELP ME PROVE MY POINT
If you agree, add links (proof!) that help me make my case
Add a link that makes my case.
http://www.echolist.com/news.html?fileName=news259885.html&id=business
It was found that the average American male in his more...0 points
DISPROVE MY POINT (fine, be that way)
Disagree? Put your money where your mouth is and show us why.
Post links that point out why you think I'm wrong.
Computers from yesteryear
At least some things got better!
My gosh, Mr Cholmondley-Warner! Is that one of those new-fangled robomatic computraptions they've been talking about?
It is indeed, Mr Smitherington-Smythe Smith. And with 32 whole kilobytes of memoluggage capacity, it has all the storage space one could ever possibly need, what what, eh?
The BBC Microcomputer System (32K).
The Sinclair ZX Spectrum (48K).
The Commodore 64 (64K).
The VIC 20 (20K)
Sinclair ZX81 (1K, expandable to 16K).
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