Were They Really the Good Old Days?

[Industrial Toys]

I didn't approve of my sister nor her music. So I bought an AM radio transmitter kit and made it my business to JAM her radio! My first soldering project . . . ugly!

My Sister was later institutionalized and I had the house to myself after that!

 

[tcreeley]

If everything is so cheap, why did the husband work, the wife stayed at home, and there were still 2 cars in the driveway? Now two incomes is mandatory.

If taxes are lower, how come we are trillions of debt with an income tax, while 100 years ago, there was no income tax, yet the budget was balanced even after paying for wars?

If we no longer have to worry about nuclear warheads, why do we have terrorists taking over airplanes or setting of bombs? Is that not a worry?

If electronics and appliances are so cheap, why are they designed as a short term item to be shortly replaced by another? What used to last 50 years, now has a 5 year lifespan. Given that, they should cost 10% what they used to, not 50%.


Figures don't lie, but liars do figure. If you want to make up stats how good it is today, it's possible. But just like government officials, there is a big difference between the "facts" and the real world.

People in power got there through treachery and shenanigans, NOT honest competition. VHS come out ahead of Beta, even though Beta was superior. Microsoft is almost a monopoly, even though Apple is the superior system. I just got a new laptop, Windows 8, it makes '95 look like a reliable OS! That's NOT progress. It's screwing the American sheep that are so willing to follow without question. Why did I not get Apple? Pure and simple, cost. With an ever declining income, one is forced to buy cheap, whether it works, or one wants it.

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[Egbert]

I remember going to school and not facing drug dogs, metal detectors, locker searches, car searches or being expelled for expressing my opinion about homosexuality or guns. I remember prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, the National Anthem - and even participating in those activities myself. I remember national pride. I remember when America was both respected and feared. I remember when all of this was considered normal. I remember when the American people would have given a dxmn to see their way of life and freedom swept away.

I even remember when I once believed we could survive as a nation.

 

[tcreeley]

Why do you even NEED a computer? Much less a laptop?

If you take the average condition the average person in the US lives in it seems far better than it did 50 years ago.

I need a computer for work. If I didn't have one, and couldn't use one- I'd have lost the job a long time ago. The laptop goes to and from work with me.
I think the bolded depends on income, then and now. The homeless today are not better off. We have many latchkey kids today as families work to pay the bills. But some living conditions were so miserable 50 years ago, that today is a vast improvement.
I think society today holds less promise of advancement than it once did. I find that disheartening.

 

[jerrybob]

Hah. Funny you should mention that. There are a lot of OLD reruns in the morning and afternoons, and I used to watch Bonanza and Gunsmoke (and Rawhide) when they were new...and they were all spellbinding. Today, when I try to watch them, I find that Gunsmoke is still interesting and relevant; Bonanza, on the other hand, is almost childish in comparison.

The guy that drew on Matt Dillon at the beginning of Gunsmoke (you never saw him) was named Ricky Silva. He was a quick draw performer at a place called Corriganville in the Simi Valley in So. Calif. He was a friend of the family when I was growing up. Really nice guy and pretty fast on the draw!!

 

[MH8675309]

We played king of the hill on the snow banks. Somebody always wound up bawling but they were back the next day to play again. We slid on the ice had snowball fights. This is not allowed now because "somebody might get hurt". But video games are allowed because they're "safe". There is all the encouragement to stay inside and play it safe sitting on your butt. Some things have gotten better but not all. Not by a long shot! We rode in the back of a pickup and never felt the urge to throw ourselves out while it went down the road at 60 MPH or better. HOW DID WE SURVIVE?!

 

[Industrial Toys]

^^^Seems some kid tried that, and got himself killed in a snowbank, just yesterday or today. Remember years back, some kid got gobbled up in a snowblower, playing in a snow bank on school property. There probably wasn't even a law suit, just a funeral!

Anyway . . .

If one could say, it was only YOUR particular country that was descending into ruin, maybe there might be hope. But it seems to be a world wide epedemic. They say, populations are being dumbed down, and whether this is the case or not, we probably just get the governments we deserve, in the end!

I would have so much more to say on these matters if free speech was allowed. As it is, I am probably being watched! I sent an E-Mail to the Russian Embassy, apologising for Canadas meddling in the affairs of that country and how they wish to handle their gays! I'm not even sure about how to approach that particular subject and I am certainly not a homaphobe! The point is, we should mind our own dam business, and CLEARLY we seem to be incapable of doing even that on so many levels!

 

[Egbert]

"I would have so much more to say on these matters if free speech was allowed."

Ooops, I left that out ....

I remember Free Speech before the tyranny of radical leftists. I remember being able to write or converse without the NSA sticking their nose in your private area. I remember when the IRS was concerned with taxes and not enforcing socialistic healthcare. I remember when local police wore regular uniforms and not military assault equipment. I remember when our money was based on gold and not government fiat.

I even remember when we would have cared if our president had a birth certificate.

 

[dave1949]

Lot of doom and gloom in this thread.

There is a definite link between culture and commerce globally. The world is getting to be a lot smaller than it was back when.

Consider the links that exist in finance, commodities, energy, research, transportation and manufacturing. Such activities do not go on in a cultural vacuum. The more tied together the global economy becomes with greater inter-dependencies, the more leveling of cultures will occur.

It begins to matter to all what others do, or don't do, what their ideals are, how their justice systems perform, and so on. I can see that in the future, there will be even more pressure to conform to some loosely defined global standards regarding many things, especially in the area of human rights.

I don't know if that is good or bad. It is what it is and it remains to be seen how it plays out. It seems likely that economic strength will also lead to greater cultural influence.

BTW Ind. Toys, if you think gays need "handling", you may well be an unintentional homophobe. Just saying.

 

[Egbert]

I don't know if that is good or bad.

Hint: Read Revelation. You'll discover this (globalism) is NOT good.