Is it better to be born now or then?

[ivor bigun]

Those being born now and indeed 20 years ago ,seem to have  it all ,the internet ,social media ,hundreds of tv channels ,etc etc , but arnt you glad you were born in the 40s 50s or 60s , i am ,my life has been absolutely fantastic , no PC rubbish , less people ,less violence on the streets and as kids we got out and explored,what do you think?

[CharlieH]

Agree, as I am sure many generations would, each reflect and say "when I was a kid life was so much better, simpler etc".

 

 

 

[ivor bigun]

3 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

Agree, as I am sure many generations would, each reflect and say "when I was a kid life was so much better, simpler etc".

 

 

 

I agree ,but i like now ,but when i look at my grandaughter and see the limitations she has ,whereas i would go out all day with my mates,no problem ,she cant (its to dangerous) she is stuck to the screen of her mobile ,and its terrible if she doesnt get likes etc , at school ,she seems to be taught all left wing pc stuff ,but has not a clue about history ,, 

i hate to think what life is going to be like in the future ,1984 was just a little late coming .

[transam]

I liked the way life was, way back when. Life now is far to complicated..????

[thaibeachlovers]

I was born too late, but far better to be born in the 40s than now.

 

I could choose the job I wanted to do and I left school with no qualifications. I did 3 different occupations. Started farming till I realised working 84 hours a week for a pittance was a mug's game. Joined the military- got an apprenticeship, trade, travelled the world. Left the military went nursing, travelled the world.

I wouldn't even be able to be a nurse now as it is a degree required occupation- stupidity exemplified.

 

When I was a kid

could go out all day and no worries

no tv- read books and went to movies

no computers or mobile phones- brilliant

learned that life isn't fair and I couldn't be protected from everything.

 

What's better now- nothing that I can think of. The world is overpopulated and the maniacs have taken it over. Almost everything I can think of sucks.

 

Qualification- I was born to middle class parents that lived a better life than most people in the world could even dream of. I benefitted from that "accident" of fate.

Being a kid born in a slum would have been an awful life.

 

 

[Boycie]

I'm thinking that 1930's was better than TM30's

[canuckamuck]

I am happy to have been born in a time when classic values were still recognized as wisdom. But it is a double edged sword as we watch the dismantling of wisdom and the futile obsession with equity. Knowing why it is wrong, but powerless to change it.

We are shifting to world that does not reward the swift, the wise, the diligent, the truth teller, or the free thinker. But at the same time elevates the indolent, the dim, the faker, the liar, and the parrot.

The Judaeo Christian empire had a good run. Global socialism will quickly become neo-feudalism. And the new dark age will be born.

 

[ivor bigun]

I too was lucky to be born to parents who were not to badly off ,i was born after the war ,my father had come from Europe to fight the Germans ,married a local girl ,integrated and in fact became more British than the locals ,we had a good upbringing in a free society where you were able to enjoy life and say what you thought without the PC police or the permanantly offended having a go at you ,also you could give a wolf whistle to a girl without being branded a "sex pest" ,in fact most of the girls i grew up around were as "bad" as the boys .

[thaibeachlovers]

3 hours ago, ivor bigun said:

I too was lucky to be born to parents who were not to badly off ,i was born after the war ,my father had come from Europe to fight the Germans ,married a local girl ,integrated and in fact became more British than the locals ,we had a good upbringing in a free society where you were able to enjoy life and say what you thought without the PC police or the permanantly offended having a go at you ,also you could give a wolf whistle to a girl without being branded a "sex pest" ,in fact most of the girls i grew up around were as "bad" as the boys .

IMO, western people have had it too good for too long. My parents lived through depression and global war. They didn't expect life to be handed to them on a silver platter.

When I left school, I would never have even contemplated being unemployed, and everything I have or had I bought/ got for myself. Back then the idea that any fit young person would be a parasite on the taxpayer would have been unthinkable- now it's the norm.

People had less, but expected less as well. They were more self reliant. Good girls didn't, and if they did and became pregnant they married the father. No expectations to keep the baby at someone else's expense.

Credit was unusual, not routine, so debt was less, then the banks with the greedy smart boys came along and now everyone is seemingly in debt up to their eyeballs.

Only those going into professions went to uni. No such things as degrees in basket weaving or media studies. So guys became plumbers and electricians etc.

 

Now though, seems like the youth of today expect to be coddled, and be handed a well paying job that they don't have to work hard at. Cripes, even fashion models think what they do is hard work. 

They also seem to be permanently offended by almost everything, and obsessed with utter <deleted> like being "liked" on social media, and if they get upset by cyber bullying they have even killed themselves.

 

Is there an answer? I don't know if there is, or if it's even possible to go back to a more rational society, where hard work is rewarded, and stupidity is laughed at.

BTW, have you noticed that all the political satire shows on tv have disappeared? Seems the politicians don't like being scorned. Can you even imagine "spitting image" on telly now?

Life was more raw back then, but a whole lot more enjoyable. It's too smooth, too easy now, and when the next world war happens and all those sooky bubs get called up, they are going to get one <deleted> of a shock to their pampered existence. For sure, they are going to die like flies on the battlefield.

[swissie]

I am a History-Buff. I can only say that Europeans born in the 40/50/60ies lived their life in a "Golden Time Window" of European History. Except for the Jugoslavian debacle, no wars. Constant economic growth, enabeling us to accumulate some wealth. Enabeling the States to provide a "security-net" for the "less fortunate" and old folks. Governements for the people by the people! Free speach and a free press, allowing to critizise the "powers to be".

A Golden Age for Europe, compared to "before".

Unfortunately, I detect certain sociological trends that lead me to belive that this Golden Age is coming to an end. I don't envy the smart-phone wielding millennials. Once they reach our age, they will be living in a harsh, unfriendly world.  
I myself am grateful, that I had the privilege to live during this unique "Golden Time Window" of History.

[CNXexpat]

I am a German and was born 1961. Nobody can blame me for the Nazis, Germany was built up, I had a peaceful life and am able to compare the "good old days" with the time now. At the end I like to live now, in a time with cheap flights to explore the world, enough money to enjoy a good life and so on. I am also happy that I will not live anymore when the world is flooded and the air to bad to breath. It´s good how it is.

[Enoon]

 

"Your" time is passed.

 

It's not "your" world anymore and you don't feel good about it.

 

Tough luck mate.

 

That's the way it goes.

 

 

Edited November 7, 2019 by Enoon

[emptypockets]

30 minutes ago, Enoon said:

 

"Your" time is passed.

 

It's not "your" world anymore and you don't feel good about it.

 

Tough luck mate.

 

That's the way it goes.

 

 

I don't think that is what the OP was saying at all.

I read recently that in Queensland, Australia it is now illegal for a child, under the age of 10 years old, to cross the road without holding the hand of an adult.

The world has gone mad. 

At that age we and my mates were out after breakfast with a stern warning to be home before the streetlights came on. Not that we had any, but I'm sure you get the picture. I should add that my kids (now 36 and 33) in the 90's given that freedom too.

It's still very much 'my' world and I will pass on what wisdom and knowledge I have acquired over the past 60 odd years to my grandchildren, both Ozzie and Thai.

 

The part I like about my age is having lived through so many changes. Too many to mention but would include colour TV, affordable international air travel, everyone owning a car, the invention of the microprocessor, birth control, many childhood diseases now extremely rare. Yes mate...it is indeed my world and I'm enjoying every bit of it.

 

Edit to add:

My kids and grandkids will see changes that I would never would have foreseen thirty years ago - AI is the big one and the impact will be immense. Humans will really struggle with this. I think it was Elon Musk who described what he thought AI would mean to humans. Basically that it would be a similar relationship to that of a chimpanzee and a human. The chimp is aware of the human but can't really interact or be aware of in a meaningful way. Sadly with the human - AI relationship the humans will be the chimps.

 

Good luck for your future, you will own it.

 

 

Edited November 7, 2019 by emptypockets

[chickenslegs]

I think it's time for something completely different ... but related to this topic.

 

[PatOngo]

1 hour ago, Enoon said:

 

"Your" time is passed.

 

It's not "your" world anymore and you don't feel good about it.

 

Tough luck mate.

 

That's the way it goes.

 

 

You can't say that! It's not politically correct and you might get attacked on Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat!! And please, don't get too far into debt keeping up with the peeps!  

[Jane Dough]

Are you sure you got out and explored?

 

If you did you will have discovered that the world was far more violent back in the day. 

 

Rooster

[thaibeachlovers]

10 hours ago, Victornoir said:

Hard to be objective. We still regret the time of carefree youth but personally I prefer now, and by far.

Housing more comfortable, car and scooter too, big screen HD with movies at will, internet response to everything, no war for us and not much around, easier and cheaper journeys, life expectancy much improved. And I probably forget about it...
For 7 years now I have been receiving a pension almost as high as my working salary. Let me add that this positive observation convinced me to stop smoking tobacco and alcohol to enjoy it longer.

Cherry on the cake, my current wife and more beautiful more sensual, more feminine and more loving than that of my 20 years.

No regrets, therefore.

A poor person in Africa or Asia would scorn your words. As I said in my post, I only had a good life as born to middle class western parents. The greatest increase in world population has been of poor people in Africa and Asia, so there are billions more of them now to be miserable than when I was born.

However, even though I am not poor in the classic sense, my "house" is pants, I couldn't even fit a big screen tv in it, it costs over half my pittance of a pension ( where do you live that your pension is almost as good as when working? ), I don't have a land line phone or an internet connection. If I want to go on here I have to take a drive.

Dr costs too much

Dentist costs too much

repair anything by tradesman costs too much ( lucky I can do most myself, but can't fix my own car as computerised- cars suck now )

No war for us, but plenty of war around the world.

 

Don't get me wrong- I rejoice that I was born lucky, compared to billions alive today. I'd much rather be me than a poor Chinese working in a sweat shop.

I just think we should be more appreciative that we were born lucky and most were not.

[thaibeachlovers]

11 hours ago, Enoon said:

 

"Your" time is passed.

 

It's not "your" world anymore and you don't feel good about it.

 

Tough luck mate.

 

That's the way it goes.

 

 

"Your world" only exists because we created it. Millions died in wars so you could scorn us on here, millions lived miserable lives in the depression but lived to build a new world that you probably take for granted, but everything you have was created by someone that has/ had less than you.

 

Too much to hope for a little gratitude, I suppose.

[BritManToo]

On 11/5/2019 at 5:45 PM, ivor bigun said:

Those being born now and indeed 20 years ago ,seem to have  it all ,the internet ,social media ,hundreds of tv channels ,etc etc , but arnt you glad you were born in the 40s 50s or 60s , i am ,my life has been absolutely fantastic , no PC rubbish , less people ,less violence on the streets and as kids we got out and explored,what do you think?

Depends what sex you are, where you were born, and how much money you have.

As a middle class white male Brit the 40s/50s seem optimum for wealth/savings/pension.

Those before and after generally had less.

 

If I were a dirt poor Brit female, then 2000+ now would be better as entertainment/money/drugs/housing in the UK would be provided without me lifting a finger.

 

Here's a really good publication written by J. Bradford DeLong in 1997 comparing historical wealth by using the hours you needed to work to purchase a product. 

http://home.cvc.org/bryant/delong chapter 2 wealth.pdf 

We've moved on a long way since that was written.

 

"in Looking Backward, Edward Bellamy's turn of the last century utopian novel, the narrator--thrown forward in time from 1895 to 2000--hears the question, "Would you like to hear some music?" He expects his host to play the piano--a social accomplishment of upper-class women around 1900. To listen to music on demand then, you had to have--in your house or nearby--an instrument, and someone trained to play it. It would have cost the average worker some 2400 hours, roughly a year at a 50- hour workweek, to earn the money to buy a high-quality piano, and then there would be the expense and the time committed to piano lessons. But today, to listen to music-on-demand in your home, all you need is a CD or a tape player--or in a pinch, if you are willing to let others choose your music for you, a radio"

Edited November 8, 2019 by BritManToo

[soalbundy]

You are always a product of the time in which you lived during your formative years, there is no better or worse, just different. 'Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.'

[rwill]

perhaps better to have never been born.

[Orton Rd]

No point being born now as the world has only 12 years left according to the climate change nutters. Better in the UK before the millions of new arrivals turned up many of whom do not integrate and who want to change the environment to a copy of the hideous dumps they came from.

[mauGR1]

It's the mind playing tricks.

We are wired to forget the negatives, and our youth always seems better than it really was.

The best time in life is NOW ????

 

[BritManToo]

Just now, mauGR1 said:

It's the mind playing tricks.

We are wired to forget the negatives, and our youth always seems better than it really was.

The best time in life is NOW ????

 

There was quite a lot of boredom in my youth.

Very little TV (only after 5pm), books and the radio were about it if the weather wasn't nice.

 

[wgdanson]

29 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

If I want to go on here I have to take a drive.

Save some money.....stop posting !   LOL

[Rookiescot]

I will say this. I only ever had two jobs during my entire working career.

Most kids nowadays will simply never get long term, well paid jobs like those with a decent pension.

[HuskerDo]

I've said often that I'm glad I was born when I was (50's) as I wouldn't want to be born into this ugly world. Previous generations created great things. Electricity, the locomotive, the auto industry, the telephone and now the cell/smart phone, NASA and trips to the moon, eradication of many diseases, the internet, the PC, the I-PAD, electric cars, etc.

 

What has the current generation (the millennials) created? Social media and Bitcoin. Social Media is ruining the world and Bitcoin will never amount to anything.  

[mauGR1]

5 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

There was quite a lot of boredom in my youth.

Very little TV (only after 5pm), books and the radio were about it if the weather wasn't nice.

 

Boredom is essential imho, it gives me time to think ????

What life would be without a little boredom..

[ivor bigun]

11 hours ago, Enoon said:

 

"Your" time is passed.

 

It's not "your" world anymore and you don't feel good about it.

 

Tough luck mate.

 

That's the way it goes.

 

 

not what i said at all ,read and digest .

[baansgr]

12 hours ago, swissie said:

I am a History-Buff. I can only say that Europeans born in the 40/50/60ies lived their life in a "Golden Time Window" of European History. Except for the Jugoslavian debacle, no wars. Constant economic growth, enabeling us to accumulate some wealth. Enabeling the States to provide a "security-net" for the "less fortunate" and old folks. Governements for the people by the people! Free speach and a free press, allowing to critizise the "powers to be".

A Golden Age for Europe, compared to "before".

Unfortunately, I detect certain sociological trends that lead me to belive that this Golden Age is coming to an end. I don't envy the smart-phone wielding millennials. Once they reach our age, they will be living in a harsh, unfriendly world.  
I myself am grateful, that I had the privilege to live during this unique "Golden Time Window" of History.

I wouldnt say it was all Golden...Thatcher and her recession ruined my life for three years and the 4 year apprenticship I secured, mortgage interest rates at 15%...even an ex rental TV cost almost 300 quid...it wasn't all good and holding down three jobs, working 12/14 hours a day 6/7 days a week to meet mortgage and poll tax bills wasn't easy, not forgetting negative equity on properties for 7 years....people have very short memories I'm afraid..