Has progress overshadowed our sensabilities

[hoshi23]

yeah it would be nice if poeple wouldnt have to ask anymore and would be content within themself....

 

what can i say that isnt here :biggrin:

[Ethre]

I wonder if the question changes a little bit from generation to generation though. My guess would be that it was a different question in the 30s than it was in the 70s. Similar idea (breakdown of society), but different reasoning?

 

Personally, I'm just a normal college student but it seems to me that some of your worries are valid KVNChrist. I was always taught to help others whenever I could, and to make my own way in the world through honest means. It wasn't just my parents, it was just the way it was at home (in a rural part of the midwest). Since I've gone to college (in the south for what it matters), I have seen an entire other side though. I see people driving newer and nicer cars than mine, and then paying for groceries with foodstamps. There are kids whose shoes are falling apart, whose "parents" are going out to rent flashy new rims (vehicles are the most noticeable example). I see people cashing their unemployment checks and then spending every penny on alcohol.

The worst part of it is that they have seem to have no shame. Whatever happened to personal responsibility? If you can't afford it - don't get it!

 

For comparison, I have a small amount of money in the bank. Not much, but enough to last me through a short hard-spell if I hit one. I drive a two year old sedan - not flashy, but I own it outright (no loans, no nothing). I spend more money than I probably should, but never more than I have. I'm blessed to be on scholarship that covers most of my college, but I pay for everything else.

Oh yes, and I find the time to join in club athletics. If you pay any attention to what you are doing and eating, I see no reason why one should be obese (overweight is one thing - that happens, but obese is another entirely).

[Ihoe]

I remember when I was growing up that things were much more simple. We had one tv that was dad's when he came home from work. We ate together, we knew our neighbors and played outside and actually got dirty. We formed friendships and did a lot of crazy stuff that would kill us today. We had people we didn't like and did things for people we did, just because we knew they needed help. We didn't have much, but what we had we appreciated. Those around us, we appreciated just as much, if not more. We learned how to be people and learned how to treat and not to treat others.

 

Now a days we are talking more of groups than of people. We define ourselves and other groups by the way we feel about issues in their lives. We condemn whole groups of people as they do us. Our lives are mostly lived inside our own little world and we gather pieces of technology together so we can view the rest of the world from the comforts of our own living rooms. Status symbols are now based on the newness of our toys instead of how we are as persons. Our youth is in the midst of an Obesity epidemic because they don't get out and play. They would rather spend 24 hours a day attacking a digital image than exploring the world and the people outside.

 

We have words now that hardly anyone under a certain age knows the true meaning of. Respect, honor, dignity have almost disappeared from our vocabulary. Girls, who the boys used to respect have been reduced to "Holes" and the girls have learned to accept this treatment. The worst thing about this is these kids that think this behavior is normal are teaching their kids that this is the way to live. Husbands that lay around all day and let their girlfriends and wives work are teaching their sons that this is how to be a man and the daughters are being taught that this is how they are to be treated and to have very low expectations in the person they want as a mate.

 

Society as a whole is slowly breaking down as more and more people think that the world owes them something for breathing and that it should provide for them, instead of them providing for themselves.

 

Is this what we wished for, such a long time ago, when we decided to make a life for our selves and start a family that would continue forever. Is this the legacy that we wanted to give to our kids or is it one that will see the end of humanity as we have known it.

In my Opinion, You forgot Strong Moral Values, not just respect of girls or dignity of boys, the fact that when I say "don't do this (insert activity)", I am 78% of the time confronted with an aggressive response. I come to be considered Moralistic, Naive or Child-like to 12th Century Witch Burner. I see this type of behavior anywhere, and from people with a Socially-Low status. girls being reduced to "holes" in the eyes of some men has nothing to do with Cities, it is connected to pornography. were Girls "holes" in 1940s? I don't think so.

 

I live in a country, which a Man's Pride, Dignity and Honor (Not the Turkish or Arab types) played a large role in their day to day life. a Woman respected herself a lot, she used to choose Exactly what she wanted.

nowadays, Men are pretty much considered to be "All the Same", Dominated or unemployed. women on the other hand are heavily burdened by the media of the west and the politically forced laws, making them dress like "Street Women" sometimes, as a sign of their objection.

 

any society is heavily manipulated by the media, the impact that artists can have on people is noticeably high. since the media, especially in the west, focuses on the power of "One" or "Individual", every person thinks they were born to be Rulers, then they leave others to focus on their individuality.

 

City life is also another matter of concern. when I have an I-Phone to order groceries from the internet, why would I go to the grocery store to buy? I am just "One Click away" from paying Bills, and "One hour away" From my goods. when I can just Drive 2 miles to work, why would I walk? when my neighbors, have zero Impact on my life, why would I contact them? they're just trouble anyway.

 

Playing games and having the latest one is Technology's problem or the fault of the economical geniuses that thought people get intrigued by pictures, although not necessarily or directly. I know many people playing XBOX-360, PS3 or PC, and they are great athletes and Power-Houses too. maybe in 20 years after natal, sitting down with a "Six-Axis" won't mean progressing in a game, then gamers actually have to move to get high scores. it somehow fixes a portion of obesity and weaknesses in young children.

 

it's natural to think society is breaking down, every time it reaches a critical stage it faces a cataclysm, and Starts anew again.

[Maxwell the Fool]

The world works on a scale. A scale with a tipping point. Here's a really simple example:

 

When you were in school, there were kids who were fast. There were kids who were mediocre. There were kids who were slow. Finally, there were kids who were crippled. It was fun to mock the two middle groups and admire the first group. But the last group was untouchable. The lines are drawn in different places for everyone. Just like with everything else.

 

Capitalism-Socialism-Communism:

 

Capitalism is one end, Communism the other. Socialism is the midpoint. Eastern Europe moved so far to Communism on the scale that it tipped the scales and ended up at the extreme end of the other side do to a total collapse.

 

The world, at one time, was not exactly "child friendly." I mean in medieval times and such. At some point the filth got so terrible that no one enjoyed it, and there was a reformation of society. It got cleaner. It got dirty again, kept moving that way and then....... Clean again. People can only be moved a few inches at a time, and by the time they've realized they've gone to far something dramatic has to happen.

 

Modern example: National debt (US). National debt was.... big. Bush comes along. National debt gets bigger. Obama comes along. Debt gets bigger. This past November (election season) everyone was elected on a "fiscally conservative" platform (all at the state level). What do you think will happen this November? We're at the middle of a tipping point right now..... I really wanna see what happens.

 

Everything shifts in a natural pattern, largely do to a lack of understanding of where this sort of creeping along slowly and blindly leads. That's the problem. No one looks to history and goes, "Yeah, we F'ed up, and that's sorta the road we're going down now. We should stop that." Most people just go, "Way to F it up, people of the past. We're doing the same thing, but guess what? We're smarter than you! I mean, you're practically Neanderthals! Go back to the Ice Age, stupid 20th century american public."

 

This also has to do with a severe homogenization of our society. Everyone wants to be different, which they're all doing the same way...... So in reality they're all just following each other around pretending that the majority can somehow be made up of rebels. And being a rebel makes them cool, so they'll be like that guy, who's like the other guy. And by the way, I'll blow you back to the stone age, if you won't be like me.

[SilverDNA]

<BR>The world works on a scale. A scale with a tipping point. Here's a really simple example:<BR><BR>When you were in school, there were kids who were fast. There were kids who were mediocre. There were kids who were slow. Finally, there were kids who were crippled. It was fun to mock the two middle groups and admire the first group. But the last group was untouchable. The lines are drawn in different places for everyone. Just like with everything else.<BR><BR>Capitalism-Socialism-Communism:<BR><BR>Capitalism is one end, Communism the other. Socialism is the midpoint. Eastern Europe moved so far to Communism on the scale that it tipped the scales and ended up at the extreme end of the other side do to a total collapse.<BR><BR>The world, at one time, was not exactly "child friendly." I mean in medieval times and such. At some point the filth got so terrible that no one enjoyed it, and there was a reformation of society. It got cleaner. It got dirty again, kept moving that way and then....... Clean again. People can only be moved a few inches at a time, and by the time they've realized they've gone to far something dramatic has to happen.<BR><BR>Modern example: National debt (US). National debt was.... big. Bush comes along. National debt gets bigger. Obama comes along. Debt gets bigger. This past November (election season) everyone was elected on a "fiscally conservative" platform (all at the state level). What do you think will happen this November? We're at the middle of a tipping point right now..... I really wanna see what happens.<BR><BR>Everything shifts in a natural pattern, largely do to a lack of understanding of where this sort of creeping along slowly and blindly leads. That's the problem. No one looks to history and goes, "Yeah, we F'ed up, and that's sorta the road we're going down now. We should stop that." Most people just go, "Way to F it up, people of the past. We're doing the same thing, but guess what? We're smarter than you! I mean, you're practically Neanderthals! Go back to the Ice Age, stupid 20th century american public."<BR><BR>This also has to do with a severe homogenization of our society. Everyone wants to be different, which they're all doing the same way...... So in reality they're all just following each other around pretending that the majority can somehow be made up of rebels. And being a rebel makes them cool, so they'll be like that guy, who's like the other guy. And by the way, I'll blow you back to the stone age, if you won't be like me.<BR>

<BR><BR><BR>Your youth sounds like paradise compared to mine. (Ok, where can I sign to get in?)<BR><BR>I've would like to express more on that but I feel to much anger rising in myself about what's happening here in that monkey fun house of country I live in and I would rather not talk about it for the truth, interdisciplinary sciences and the human rights are on my side of the bill I could write, if writs would be not ignored or viewed as, let's say dangerous, in that fun house of country. Remember what what they did to Galileo Galilei, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Nelson Mandela I think, I would face similar fates as they did. (I would like to join that exclusive club, but alas I see no chance of success for I'm not a hero only if threatened there I see a slight chance to archive something against anything.<BR><BR>The future as I see it can be seen in the G. Orwell quote below. <BR><BR>