Do you Think Things are better now?

[6miths]

Unfortunately, relatively recent history would suggest that what you do with 50 million unemployed people is go to war or at least seriously prepare for it with 1930's Germany and the post-WWII Soviet Union as examples of the former and the latter. This is another reason that the entire situation is so dangerous. And with the products that I see coming out of China, I don't think that the West will be able to count on technological superiority and certainly not numbers.

As far as petroleum production goes, I'm skeptical and would think that we may have to hope for efficiencies and perhaps a few technological breakthroughs in this area. One of the things that I shake my head at is the huge resistance to wind power in my region when it is apparent that China (with it's limited oil reserves) is building gigantic wind farms and produces some of key resources in the manufacture of the turbines.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Polio, German measles... So much worse back in the day.

On a lighter note, there were men's fashions from the '70s, that some of us think were worse than what men wear to the office today. Women's fashion just keeps recycling it seems.

 

[jjquantz]

Having thought about this topic for some time and now reading the thread, it seems that the replies pretty much reinforce what I have always believed about societal change: Those things that can be quantified have improved, sometimes dramatically. Things that are not easily quantified change, but individuals will have different opinions on whether these changes are improvements or not. If we can set a number to something (say life expectancy) and we can then change that number and see it move in a direction that most people think is good, then we can speak of progress, or "things are getting better." However, I can think of several items that are not "better" just in my lifetime.

1) Light pollution - as recently as the 1950's, one used to be able to see the Milky Way even from the center of fairly large cities. Now, it is essentially necessary to live in a rural area- not a small town, but really on a farm or acreage well outside a city.
2) Noise - life is just generally noisier. People are constantly talking into their phones, music is leaking out of their earbuds, you can't walk in a state park without hearing ATV's and when was the last time you went to a restaurant that didn't have "music" playing, one where conversations were carried on in whispers.
3) A more specific example, Television choices. DW and I had cable briefly in the 1980's and we were able to watch opera, theatre, symphony performances, etc. There were actually several channels available, not just one. New Year's Eve options included big band music and the annual Vienna performance of Die Fledermaus. If it weren't for DW's addiction to sports, we wouldn't have cable at all, today. There is no way that TV is better for me today than it was 30 or even 40 years ago. AND I have to pay for all of these choices that I don't want.

As I said, these are personal opinions on societal changes. On almost any quantifiable front, things are better.

 

[AnIntentionalRoad]

As a parent this is especially evident. There have always been pedophiles and predators -but now parents won't let their kids (even teens) play outside without supervision. (I'm bucking this trend big time - not quite free-range - but I definitely push my kids out of the nest regularly.) I remember walking to school from Kinder on, w/out a parent. Since I live in the same house I grew up in it's easy to compare to my own childhood. I considered when to allow my kids to walk to the same school I attended... peer pressure from other parents (and fear of much more aggressive drivers) had me wait till the boys reached 4th grade before I let them walk to school without a parent. Even at that age other parents (and a teacher) told me I was abusive.

We're more aware of crime, etc, because of the 24 hour news cycle... but the bad stuff has always been there. Now we live in fear. The world is largely the same (as far as people.).

When I was in 9th grade my neighbor was raped and killed by a pedophile. He was walking a few blocks from his house in a quiet suburb. Tuffy was 11 when he died.

That was in the mid 80's so it did happen even back then. Parents are letting the creeps win I think by overprotecting their kids out of their own fear. They are much more likely to die with their kids in the family car.

 

[jon-nyc]

Benjamin Fraklin died at age 84.
George Washington died at age 67
Thomas Jefferson died at age 83

Survivor bias here, had they died in childhood or early adulthood we never would have heard of them.

Its also worth noting that one of Franklin's sons died in childhoood, as did four of Jefferson's legitimate children and two of Washington's step-kids.

 

[Walt34]

I'll define "used to be" as 50 years ago, so 1964. Our childhood home was not air-conditioned. Stop right there - - things are much better.

Ours wasn't either until about 1965 and Dad bought the biggest window A/C he could find and put it in the upstairs window so the cold air would "fall" down stairs and have some cooling effect. He had to take out the window trim wood to get it to fit. With a box fan at the foot of the stairs it worked pretty well on all but the hottest days. That A/C was still there and worked when Mom sold the house in 1999. Montgomery Wards, of course.

The year before that we got a clothes dryer. That was a big deal for Mom. I remember her hanging clothes on the line in the winter.

 

[ProspectiveBum]

Survivor bias here, had they died in childhood or early adulthood we never would have heard of them.

Its also worth noting that one of Franklin's sons died in childhoood, as did four of Jefferson's legitimate children and two of Washington's step-kids.

Not to mention that Washington died after (apparently) contracting strep-throat. It wasn't the strep that killed him, but rather the massive amount of blood he lost thanks to bloodletting at the hands of his doctors, who were attempting to cure him.

This is a long-ish read on the subject, but was interesting to me: http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/2005_winter_spring/washingtons_death.htm

Seems likely that given the state of the medical profession in those days, the poor farmer down the road who couldn't afford medical care might have been better off for it.

 

[imoldernu]

As an average taxpayer, I'd have to look at my pocketbook. In 1980, the US debt was under a trillion dollars and my share was $11,000. Today, we're pushing 18 trillion, and now, I owe more than $150,000. Normal inflation would suggest that my debt share should only be $32,000.

...and my share of the 119 trillion in unfunded liabilities is more than a million dollars.

It looks like some of the "good life" didn't come on a pay as you go basis.

 

[MichaelB]

As an average taxpayer, I'd have to look at my pocketbook. In 1980, the US debt was under a trillion dollars and my share was $11,000. Today, we're pushing 18 trillion, and now, I owe more than $150,000. Normal inflation would suggest that my debt share should only be $32,000.

...and my share of the 119 trillion in unfunded liabilities is more than a million dollars.

And we're counting on you to pay back every penny of it. Oh, and don't forget your DW's share...

 

[imoldernu]

And we're counting on you to pay back every penny of it. Oh, and don't forget your DW's share...

Not to worry... she's far above average... I'm just average

 

[MikeD]

The year before that we got a clothes dryer. That was a big deal for Mom. I remember her hanging clothes on the line in the winter.

I vaguely remember my mother crying with happiness when she first got her dryer. She really wanted a dishwasher but my Dad was too deep into his everyday alcoholic haze to ever work up the energy to install one in the 48 years my Mom lived in the house. I have vowed not to be like my Dad, who was an example of some things to avoid.