1960 versus 2008 - Oh how life has changed! Scenario's 1 & 2.....

Goodness sharra! You went and got all serious on me..... I agree that it is cultural progression more than anything else but I do find it very interesting how far this progression has taken things. There is this tremendous pressure on people in society today to supposedly "protect" us in this world yet people from past era's seemed to survive just fine without all of these over-the-top ideals! lol. Greed is definitely a major factor and people these days will source any way whatsoever seek reparations for the actions of others. You want to become an instant millionaire? Then sue someone when they spill coffee on you at McDonalds or slip on a wet floor at a WalMart! I am not going to get into the Socialism/Marxism/Capitalism aspect of it all but I do also agree that capitalistic systems can open the door for vast societal differences. But at least we have more freedom to be all we can be! It is just the same old scenario over an over again and that is the abuse of such freedoms by many. Thanks for the response and for your interesting perspective on this.

Thanks for returning and expanding on your points sharra. To provide you with a brief reply, I think that the explosive population growth combined with dwindling resources etc have ensured that survival of the fittest has never been more relevant. Yes, capitalism was very different in the past compared to what it is today; but the competitive nature of society in direct relation to it's growth and subsequent negative reactions to this growth have made it this way and will continue to unfortunately.

Oh dear I do that sometimes. I am not in favor of socialism or capitalism I think there has to be another way that is not controlled by money. If we could just change the system completely. I remember reading an idea once that there was no money at all just credits of some sort. Everyone got the basics and if they wanted luxuries they had to strive to achieve them. This way there was no poor but there was also no extremes at the other end. I have no idea if it would work but throughout history I have seen people starve because there was no work or the employer refused to pay a wage that was livable. I still see this in America. In Australia it is illegal to pay a wage below a certain amount and if you are out of work there is a strong system to support you and help you find a job. I have heard people in America say it is socialism to do this but I do not see what is so evil about looking after people who cannot care for themselves and protecting people from being exploited You said there were less protections in those days and their were but there were also more deaths from starvation and disease and the system was designed so that only those from the right classes could ever improve themselves through education as those without money were excluded from the system. There was also a time when capitalism was not greedy. Before economic rationalism too hold people were less likely to exploit their workers, they were more willing to pay a living wage and family's would work for the same company for generations. Now you have employers who not only do not know their workforce they have no interest in them, only in what they produce. They no longer respect them as whole people. Companies were content with making a healthy profit they were not trying to constantly increase it or to grow bigger all the time. They were sustainable.

Cool. I received this email from my Mother all the way back in Australia so it must be making the rounds big time then! I agree that parenting abilities have been reduced so much over the years as well Bo. These days a teenager is more than likely to threaten you with criminal charges if you were looking to punish them rather than respectfully back down like I did when I was a child. It's beyond ridiculous! I used to get caned in school if I pushed the boundaries too far as well; yet it did no damage to me at all. It certainly made me think twice about doing the same thing again though I can tell you! I am no advocate of belting kids, God no! But parents should have the freedom to control their children without fear of prosecution and teachers too should be able to engage students far more openly than they do. If it is like this now maybe our Grandchildren's children will all live inside plastic bubble suits or something and will be shown different colours to teach them right and wrong?? Red for bad, green for good etc.... It's a silly example sure but who knows! Thanks for venting!

Yes, it is more and getting to where parents have no rights at all!But I see the blame on liberal, socialist tendencies, not capitalism! For example, how I heard in the debate last night that Obama's health care plan will FINE parents who don't provide health insurance for their children!! THe more we allow them to take from us, the sooner we will become UNFREE! On a lighter note, I was 3 in 1960. So here goes: IN 1960, telephones all looked the same (black) and people shared a phone line, called a party line. SO if you went to make a call, you could pick up the phone and hear your neighbors or someone talking! You had to wait til they finished before you could use the phone, and the only way to know if they were finished was to keep picking up the phone to see if you heard them, which they could hear you do. In 2007, everyone has a private line at home and a WIRELESS private line! You can make and receive phone calls almost ANYWHERE!

Hi thedogshrink, yes it does seem to be getting more and more out of hand as the years go by. Thanks for sharing your own example. It is funny to think about having to use that party-line system. There would certainly be no secrets would there? lol. Communications wise we have certainly come a very long way and it will be interesting to see how we chat with each other in the future!

Rocking it out on a tropical island sounds like the perfect retirement plan to me! Thanks for sharing the link and the 1945 examples too. The funny thing is that even if you were to compare the 1945 list to the 1960's list people from both era's would be shaking their heads in disbelief much the same as we are for the 1960's to 2008 comparisons! Oh the times they are a changin'! (Thank you Mr Dylan!) Thanks for responding SaintAnne.

To be honest I do not know all of his music. "Blowin' in the wind" is Dylan too right? I love this song so I hope I was correct! If I am on a tropical island for the rest of my days I think I would be happy with almost ANY type of music!

I love me some Bob Dylan. "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" is one of my favorite songs of all-time. It makes me happy and sad at the same time. I would listen to that song while I rock it out in that tropical island.

But sanjo you're not supposed to REMEMBER the 60's if you were there right? Yes it does seem that although the methods were considered as archaic compared to day they appeared to work just fine and everyone survived just fine also! Thanks for responding and get used to that spinning head because the changes ain't stopping any time soon!

I wasn't around then either arthi but these examples do make you think! Society have become so detailed and in-depth with everything these days and you could argue that it's overkill in so many ways. Thanks for responding to the discussion and I will share some more examples in a later post if there is some more interest! If not, then I will post some more here in due course.