Doom gloom war recession - Just a little perspective from the older persons please?

Question

I watch the news read the papers etc etc

I know a fair amount of my Canadian history - we got here on the land grants from the British Crown so did the majority of my home town etc etc

Right now war terror international affairs nuclear weapons global warming and all that disturb me . Crime lack of work ethics .

But I can remember my parents and grandparents (and the things they repeated from thier parents) saying a lot of the things I am now saying etc

We are in for it now if it isn't a war with so and so it will be the imigrants the tax the weather the this the that

So what I am wondering is has anything really changed at all

Except for the fact that they cover a lot more than they used to and the internet gives me news to the second on happenings accross the globe -

Is this the same crap it has always been ?

And will my chidren be saying exactly the same thing in 15-25 years ?
Or is the world really a lot more dangerous and scary than ever before

the_wife…

I don't support Bush - I am not a true American I am a Canadian - so I have no reason to try to impress you with my

"true American" status

Answer 1

If you want my honest opinion, I really do believe the world is infinitely more dangerous and so much scarier than it's ever been before. I grew up during the 50s and 60s when the pace was much slower; people knew how to be neighborly (and knew who their neighbors were); and people were not so greedy and money-hungry. Air travel and the internet has made it possible to do things so much faster than we could ever have imagined. Still, we were not worried about terrorists; rent was affordable so that most everyone could live fairly decently; and it did not take a mom and dad holding down two jobs each to feed their family, no matter how large it was. I'd say things were better then.

Answer 2

When my sister, who grew up in the 50s was in school, they had nuclear bomb drills. (We had fire and earthquake drills -- not nearly as scary.)

(Silly, isn't it? Like ducking under your desk is going to save you.)

You're right to question this, as people have been saying forever that it's worse than ever and the end is near.

And you're right to wonder whether it's at least partly a matter of more immediately knowing things going on all over the world -- especially the splashy bad stuff.

Also, people with power WANT people to be afraid, and hating the other powerless people, making us easier to maniuplate, and taking attention away from them.

Also, there are more of us. The one-in-a-million thing now happens all the time. And we all know about it.

The other side is that, in some ways, there's more reason to hope than ever before.

We know more. Not only how to create more horror and destruction, but how to avoid horror and destruction, and how to heal people from damage they've been done.

We know more about what sort of critters we are. And how to work around the problematic bits. How to negotiate, how to get the best of people.

There is a greater proportion of people living now than there has ever been before that accept the idea that all humans are human, and that all humans have the right to live their lives.

There is more push for human rights, and more people in more organizations holding human rights abusers' feet to the fire.

A greater, more genuine internationalism that ever.

We know more about how to teach effectively (this hasn't yet gotten into the schools as broadly as we need, but is beginning to happen).

And this web. What a thing it is.

It's so new that it's impossible to predict all the ways it will be used and how it will effect things.

But I believe that, since anyone in the world can read sources of information from anywhere in the world, and create communities across all boundaries, and share their views, and hash out good ideas, educate themselves on any topic, that the genie is now out of the bottle.

I really don't think that people are going to be as easy to control.

Even if governments clamp down on this flow of information, ideas, and support, the nerds can stay (and keep the rest of us) one step ahead.

Although there's a lot of nuttiness, and misapplication of knowledge and understanding we've acquired, there's also a lot more insight floating around.

As has beome clear to an increasing percentage of people, almost everyone just wants to live their lives, do their thing, care for their loved ones, and sometimes just have fun.

Now that this notion is much more common that ever, we're in a better position than ever to make it so.

When my left-handed father was young, it was common for parents and teachers to use draconian methods to "make" left-handed kids into right-handed kids -- things like tieing their left hands behind their back to eat or write, hitting, and other things that seem unthinkable now.

I know that example seems silly in a way, but it seems to me that we've grown so much.

In the early decades of the existence of the bomb, there were a lot of people who really thought we couldn't possibly last.

Yet, here we are.

The song whose repeating line was

"And you tell me, over and over and over again my friend, that you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction" was very popular 40 years ago.

Yet here we are.

So, no, I don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.

I believe that within a few generations things will be noticeably better, and will get significantly better after that.

There will always be grief and brutality and other bad stuff, but I think it will become vastly rarer, and that most people will some day be able to just live their lives, do their thing, care for their loved ones, and have some fun.

There are more people actively working on this that ever before.

Answer 3

Not scarier, I grew up thinking we would get nuked by Russia before I could finish high school.
I hear our administration trying to equate the terrorist thugs with the true menace of WW Two and it is kind of pathetic.

Someone answered that if you don't support bush you're not a true american, I remember the McCarthy era when you had to swear loyalty in order to work, That was dumb then and it is dumb now and just as dangerous, no more no less.

Not worse, just different threats and different ways to destroy ourselves.

Answer 4

I think that it is a genuine miracle we haven't blown up the planet. I grew up under the threat of the bomb. People think it did, but that threat never really went away... there are still enough nukes bristling in silos to make our world a hellhole.

But I think that the promise of participatory communications, i.e. the internet is a hopeful thing. People are more more aware, when they're aware at all.

It's the people who aren't aware we have to worry about.

Answer 5

This is nothing. Imagine living under the constant threat that nuclear war could blow up most of the Earth. That was a very real threat, and we lived with it every day for several decades.

Answer 6

its the same old b.s. as always. all through history there has been constant political and religious conflicts. wars have be fought over both. actually its probably less dangerous than in the past but with the potential for much greater danger i.e. nukes. if you look at history wars were much more brutal and destructive as well as causing much more collateral damage than now. but its the same old same old.

Answer 7

The PAST does not equal the FUTURE

Look at world population...the most destructive force on the planet is humanity...not just in numbers but in DANGER

Look how dangerous humans are to the planet and themselves.

We are the enemy......but no one will get elected by telling the truth

Answer 8

100 years ago, they didn't have nuclear weapons. 100 years ago, WWI had not even happened yet. This world is a lot scarier now then the good ol' days.

Answer 9

I think that the world is more dangerous and scary than before.

Answer 10

I think its the same crap,with hippie liberals.Hasn't anyone ever noticed the WW2 generation(the patriotic generation)always hated hippies?Come on!