"The Good Old Days" and the fall of society

[ChickenSoup]

Is anyone else really, really tired of people thinking that nothing sinful ever happened when they were growing up? Or that society was never as bad as it is now?

I'm just

Check your history guys

[ccgr]

Everything still happened back then, it just wanted promoted or pushed in the media so much.

[Bruce_Campbell]

Everything still happened back then, it just wanted promoted or pushed in the media so much.

Yeah, pretty much this. In some ways, things were worse. I remember when I was in school I was interviewing a great uncle of mine for a history paper... he would talk about how women couldn't walk through the woods without being raped.

[delve]

No offense to your great uncle but that might have included a bit of hyperbole.

Part of what we're talking about is due to increased coverage. You can now learn about crime, corruption, broken marriages, infidelity, <insert bad thing of choice> from all around the world and mostly in realtime. As a society we haven't adjusted to the sudden explosion of knowledge to put these events all in proper perspective. So yes, to some people it can certainly feel like the world has gone off the deep end. Perception is everything, and nothing all at once.

It does, indeed, get tiresome at times though.

[ChickenSoup]

Especially the "THIS WOULD NEVER HAVE HAPPENED IN MY TIME" people. Yes, sir, it would have.

[ArchAngel]

CGP Gray was asked what time in history would he choose to live in, and he responded with "now." You know his answer has credit, because when asked what his favorite empire was, he answered with "the second one." The second one is seriously the best.

Anyhow, I do agree very much with this. Looking at past societies, we truly did progress. We learned, albeit slowly. This is not even considering technological advantages. I honestly cannot think of a time I'd rather live in than now.

To put it one way, to quote Louis CK, "if you're a black person, you don't mess around with time machines."

[delve]

I honestly cannot think of a time I'd rather live in than now.

That depends on how much control over which future I end up in you're willing to give me

[ArchAngel]

Oh, shoot, if the future is open, I'll take that.

I want my starship.

[delve]

The future is always open. It started while you were reading this.

[JOJ650s]

I wouldn't mind choosing a time in the future myself.
I could buy old games and systems for really cheap,
not to mention Arch would most likely have released a game or two by then.

[brandon1984]

Is anyone else really, really tired of people thinking that nothing sinful ever happened when they were growing up? Or that society was never as bad as it is now?

I'm just

Check your history guys

Yeah, that whole "Back in my day. . ." intro is really annoying. Different generations at different geopolitical and socioeconomic settings have different struggles, but we're all still human with our struggles. This reminds me of a conversation I was having last night. Someone told me about this guy in Kenya who has very little as far as material possessions. They asked him, "Do you want more stuff, food, etc.?" He said he was content to live as he did because being poor has brought him closer to God.

Technology is the great equalizer but it also brings things like inventing new illicit drugs, mass shootings, nukes and pornography. So, it seems in some ways that solving one problem unlocks a new one.

[delve]

Technology is the great equalizer but it also brings things like inventing new illicit drugs, mass shootings, nukes and pornography. So, it seems in some ways that solving one problem unlocks a new one.

Um, those aren't really new problems. They're just expressed differently.

[ArchAngel]

not to mention Arch would most likely have released a game or two by then.

Oh, you.
lol

[ChickenSoup]

Technology is the great equalizer but it also brings things like inventing new illicit drugs, mass shootings, nukes and pornography. So, it seems in some ways that solving one problem unlocks a new one.

Um, those aren't really new problems. They're just expressed differently.

Aside from new drugs, really, but yeah. I guess the availability of those things have changed, mostly.

As my dad put it, "you have to get kids decent sex ed before the internet gets to them first."

[Bruce_Campbell]

No offense to your great uncle but that might have included a bit of hyperbole.

I wouldn't doubt it; I didn't know the man very well but he seemed like a real drama queen. The one time I had a conversation with him he spent a good portion of the time bickering with his sister like a five year old (I think they were in their late 70's at the time). Still, this was East Texas/Louisiana pre-WW2, so I wouldn't doubt there was at least a sliver or truth to what he said. XD