I'm starting to find the world a very ugly place to live.

[CNXexpat]

Tell me when the time was worse without any war, pandemic and so on? When people are looking in the past, they always think it was better, but it wasn´t. There were lots of wars, much more deadly pandemics, less freedom for the people, more barbarous governments, etc. But no internet to share all the bad things.

[Thujone]

Be happy to have been young years ago.

Keep yourself pleasantly occupied.

Keep the time you have to dwell on the negative to a minimum.

Eat, drink and be merry.

[giddyup]

3 minutes ago, CNXexpat said:

Tell me when the time was worse without any war, pandemic and so on? When people are looking in the past, they always think it was better, but it wasn´t. There were lots of wars, much more deadly pandemics, less freedom for the people, more barbarous governments, etc. But no internet to share all the bad things.

Were the oceans fished out, the atmosphere and the oceans polluted, the world's population out of control, the planet drowning in garbage?

[giddyup]

1 minute ago, Thujone said:

Be happy to have been young years ago.

Keep yourself pleasantly occupied.

Keep the time you have to dwell on the negative to a minimum.

Eat, drink and be merry.

Believe me I appreciate that I grew up when I did, full employment, travel everywhere and not overrun with tourists, a golden age for music, sexual revolution etc. Good Times.

[CGW]

3 hours ago, giddyup said:

I won't be around to see it, but does anyone have a positive outlook about the human race and the planet's future

Hang around for another couple of years, see how the ongoing CV19/socialism/communism "agenda" works out, hopefully more people wake up to the rampant corruption off the ruling elite, if they pull this one off, the commoner will continue to be little more than slaves to them, more so than now!

Or maybe not? Q the masses?

My awakening came after 911, the evil and complicity that was inherent to allow this to happen/facilitate the destruction of the Towers was beyond precedent, once you realise how evil the world is there is no going back! ????

Slowly but surely they are choking the life out of the "workers" freedom may become a memory, though I still remember the glory days, when the need to wear a ridiculous mask wasn't believed by the masses and the media actually wrote and reported news, not furthered political "agendas".

[Shot]

 

[CNXexpat]

3 minutes ago, giddyup said:

Were the oceans fished out, the atmosphere and the oceans polluted, the world's population out of control, the planet drowning in garbage?

Where millions died in the 1st or 2nd world war and other European wars, also under Mao, Stalin and Pol Pot, where the chemical industry was allowed to put their garbage in rivers and oceans, where the plague killed millions, where asbestos where in use all over the world, where healthy people died much younger than now...

[Matzzon]

3 hours ago, giddyup said:

t's pretty hard to find anything positive to say about the world we live in.

 

3 hours ago, poohy said:

I am not an optimist at the moment the worlds a bloody miserable place.

 

3 hours ago, GalaxyMan said:

It's always been ugly, you're just learning to actually see it.

What a nice selection of posts. I suggest that the owners of the above do something about there misery.

[giddyup]

9 minutes ago, CNXexpat said:

Where millions died in the 1st or 2nd world war and other European wars, also under Mao, Stalin and Pol Pot, where the chemical industry was allowed to put their garbage in rivers and oceans, where the plague killed millions, where asbestos where in use all over the world, where healthy people died much younger than now...

 Are you talking Bubonic plague? Try and keep it within the last 100 years. Now we have Covid and that's really made life worth living hasn't it? There are still conflicts going on every day, war is part of the human condition. You want some photos of islands of garbage floating in the ocean? Who wants to live a long life if it means being on a dole queue.

Edited July 7, 2020 by giddyup

[giddyup]

2 minutes ago, Matzzon said:

 

 

What a nice selection of posts. I suggest that the owners of the above do something about there misery.

It's seeing things for what they are.

[Matzzon]

5 minutes ago, giddyup said:

It's seeing things for what they are.

So, then you mean it´s your opinion or no opinion. I think your are wrong, and just turned out to be a tired complainer.

[7fish]

3 hours ago, giddyup said:

It's pretty hard to find anything positive to say about the world we live in.

Are you going on what you see in life? Or what you see on tv? Because they are two different realities, the media creates a totally false reality, one that serves the agendas of PTB, propaganda designed to warp your thinking and make you compliant. If you are getting your world news from them it's not surprising you see the world in a negative light.

[Monomial]

36 minutes ago, CNXexpat said:

Tell me when the time was worse without any war, pandemic and so on? When people are looking in the past, they always think it was better, but it wasn´t. There were lots of wars, much more deadly pandemics, less freedom for the people, more barbarous governments, etc. But no internet to share all the bad things.

 

That is missing the bigger issue though. During the ascension of a civilization, all those problems exist, but people are hopeful that the future will be better. They can see their lives improving. They are positive about what is coming in the future.

 

Our current civilization will likely be viewed by historians as peaking sometime around 1900. Since then, we have been on the plateau and it is becoming rather obvious that what is in front of us now is a several century era of decline. It is not a linear road down. There are bad periods punctuated by small recoveries, but what is overwhelmingly obvious is that the next several centuries are going to see each generation recognizing the world they are leaving to their children has more problems than the one they were born into.

 

History shows us how previous peoples have responded to this predicament. The stoic philosophy is probably the most well known reaction to living through the decline of a civilization. It is a useful perspective that stops trying to be results and goal oriented, and simply goes on in the face of unending adversity because that is the right thing to do.

 

The OP is not wrong. At the age of 78, he has been able to see the decay that has occurred slowly during his life. But soon, you will die. Your grandchildren will live in this world, and by the time they reach 78, they will realize the world has become slightly worse still. Given enough time and enough generations, a new dark age will arrive where much of this world will be cleansed except for some very basic cultural and historical preservations, populations will stabilize, nature will regenerate, and 800 - 1000 years from now the beginning of a new era will once again start to see hope that tomorrow will be better than the past.

 

Then the cycle will start anew. And the attitudes developed during the decline and dark age will give way to new philosophies of hope and optimism for the future. The world has gone through several of these cycles already, and it will continue into the indefinite future. Start reading up on stoicism now. It will help you during the years to come.

[CNXexpat]

27 minutes ago, giddyup said:

Are you talking Bubonic plague?

The Black Death. It killed 25 million people. The Cholera was also no fun.  https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/health-and-human-body/human-diseases/the-plague/#:~:text=Arguably the most infamous plague,swept through Asia and Europe.&text=The plague killed an estimated,for centuries%2C particularly in cities.

 

I know the garbage pics. Wanna see mountains of deaths from wars and diseases in Europe? 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_epidemics

[heist]

I dunno, I don't really care much for whatever cultural division is playing out in the media at any time. 

What concerns me is the immediate sector of my universe. If I'm happy and my wife is happy, then it's been a good day. All I can do is try to be a good person and help those around me..bigger issues are out of my control. I'm concerned with playing the game that's directly in front of me - life is too short to deal with professional cultural engineers. 

[7fish]

25 minutes ago, giddyup said:

It's seeing things for what they are.

If everyone saw things for what they really are we wouldn't have this mess.

[PJPom]

I woke up this morning, at my advanced age for that I am happy. Today has been good, had a ride to the shops ,drove past the beach, played in my mini garden and didn't get eaten by mosquitos.

I have given up worrying about the world, I cannot change it in the time I might have left instead every day is to be enjoyed by me. You could say that I am being selfish but I spent a great deal of my life looking out for others now is my time.

Enjoy life and stop overthinking it. 

[kiteman9]

Maybe we don't have it that bad? It’s a mess out there now. Hard to discern between what’s a real threat and what is just simple panic and hysteria. For a small amount of perspective at this moment, imagine you were born in 1900.

 

On your 14th birthday, World War I starts, and ends on your 18th birthday. 22 million people perish in that war. Later in the year, a Spanish Flu epidemic hits the planet and runs until your 20th birthday. 50 million people die from it in those two years. Yes, 50 million.

 

On your 29th birthday, the Great Depression begins. Unemployment hits 25%, the World GDP drops 27%. That runs until you are 33. The country nearly collapses along with the world economy.

 

When you turn 39, World War II starts. You aren’t even over the hill yet. And don’t try to catch your breath. On your 41st birthday, the United States is fully pulled into WWII. Between your 39th and 45th birthday, 75 million people perish in the war. Smallpox was epidemic until you were in your 40’s, as it killed 300 million people during your lifetime.

 

At 50, the Korean War starts. 5 million perish. From your birth, until you are 55 you dealt with the fear of Polio epidemics each summer. You experience friends and family contracting polio and being paralyzed and/or die.

 

At 55 the Vietnam War begins and doesn’t end for 20 years. 4 million people perish in that conflict. During the Cold War, you lived each day with the fear of nuclear annihilation. On your 62nd birthday you have the Cuban Missile Crisis, a tipping point in the Cold War. Life on our planet, as we know it, almost ended.

 

When you turn 75, the Vietnam War finally ends.

 

Think of everyone on the planet born in 1900. How did they endure all of that? When you were a kid in 1985 and didn’t think your 85-year-old grandparent understood how hard school was. And how mean that kid in your class was. Yet they survived through everything listed above. Perspective is an amazing art. Refined and enlightening as time goes on.

 

Let’s try and keep things in perspective. Your parents and/or grandparents were called to endure all of the above – you are called to stay home, and sit on your couch.

 

 

 

 

[ICELANDMAN]

25 minutes ago, 7fish said:

Are you going on what you see in life? Or what you see on tv? Because they are two different realities, the media creates a totally false reality, one that serves the agendas of PTB, propaganda designed to warp your thinking and make you compliant. If you are getting your world news from them it's not surprising you see the world in a negative light.

I agree with you the news are the power of every state in the world is just brainwashing to keep the entire population worried about staying in power and making believe that they are the saviours of the homeland and make forget..... the true values of life.

[swerve]

I agree with the OP.  Quality of life is steadily trending downward.  I think the drop began around 1986.  Try to enjoy what life you have left.

[7fish]

52 minutes ago, CGW said:

My awakening came after 911, the evil and complicity that was inherent to allow this to happen/facilitate the destruction of the Towers was beyond precedent

That was the big turning point for many, and a fracture in the public consciousness, or the first time I became aware of it, where on one side you dealt with the enormity of the ramifications, or you fell into a state of cognitive dissonance, I had really good friends in both camps, it was sad to see friends drifting apart. A 'new normal' was forced on everyone after that event. Now we have the cornholio to take us to the next 'new normal' and there is nothing 'normal' about it.

[Emmess]

Gratitude - I have a roof over my head. I have enough money to not bother about my next meal. I am in excellent health. 

Also "over thinking is the biggest cause of unhappiness" is my motto.

[Lacessit]

Humans have a remarkable ability to adapt, that's what has made us the dominant species on the planet. The coronavirus is what the stockmarket would call a correction. There's more to come, climate change is the death throes of the fossil fuel industry.

Personally,  I am happy where I am, and regard myself as very lucky to have got out of Australia before it reverted to a penal colony.

I guess it depends on whether one is a glass half full or glass half empty person.

[HuskerDo]

4 hours ago, worgeordie said:

I am glad I got to live at the right time,when you could play

outside all day without fear of been abducted,great time at

school,no kids killing each other, then the 60s,such fond 

memories,I worked at business I loved doing,retired at 42,

came to Thailand,have had a great time here,but the way

the World is turning out now.......too many people..

regards worgeordie

Amen to that. Growing up in the 50's/60's is something I wish all of todays kids could experience. No <deleted> "smart" phones that people spend far too much time on. In fact no cell phones at all. We had one phone in our house with no answering machine for many years and guess what... we all survived. Back then kids actually played together instead of communicating with "friends" they never have or never will meet on Facebook. We rode our bikes, played football and baseball in the park until we hear dad whistle for us to come home for dinner (yes, you could hear that loud whistle of his from 2 blocks away). I wish I could whistle that loud. In the winter we'd be out all day sledding or shoveling walkways for money in the surrounding neighborhoods. All kids back then were outside running around, playing, riding bikes, etc and there was virtually no obesity. Go figure.

 

I often say I'm so grateful to have been born when I was as I had a great and safe childhood. I don't want to see what the world will be like 30 years from now. It won't be pretty.

[HuskerDo]

18 minutes ago, Emmess said:

Gratitude - I have a roof over my head. I have enough money to not bother about my next meal. I am in excellent health. 

Also "over thinking is the biggest cause of unhappiness" is my motto.

"over thinking".... also known as worrying. I read an article a while back where they were interviewing older folks and asked them "what is the one thing you wish you would have done less of in life". The predominant answer.... worrying. Worrying won't change a single thing other than give you more stress and a shorter lifespan. 

[baboon]

"Hang around for another couple of years, see how the ongoing CV19/socialism/communism "agenda" works out"

 

If only there really was such an socialist / communist agenda, the world would be in far better shape if you ask me...

[Jim Morrison]

https://www.globalgoals.org/   This is where the world is being taken. Why be bothered with elections and war etc.

If you explore what the world the Gates-Soros and friends. The World Economic Forum-UN-UNESCO-WHO-WTO. This globalgoals.org is already reporting daily news. All categories you've mentioned are "solved". Envoronment, "gender-equality", "sustanablity", "inclusiveness", "diversity", "female empowerment", etc.etc.

Agenda 2025 & 2030 are in there. Technocrasy can take over with-in 1 year. Google, FB, youtube, twitter, etc.

No more hurtful words. No more unapproved search results. 5G will "help" the world by covering the globe ensuring "no evil" is happens. Every one will be equal. Everyone will be happy. Don't worry we are your comrade's. Enjoy your home based life and your wi-fi always on. You will see the words "more support for girls and women" a thousand times..You will not see men mentioned. Think I'm kidding? Research it. very frightening..Enjoy these days. I am 68 and glad I lived before the internet took over humanity.

[baboon]

4 hours ago, JohnOFphon said:

The good ole days are looking better and better.

 

The only thing good about them was that your body didn't ache all the time and girls smiled at you without payment. The rest of life was rather shabby and dull...

[hotandsticky]

4 minutes ago, baboon said:

 

 

If only there really was such an socialist / communist agenda, the world would be in far better shape if you ask me...

 

 

 

It hasn't worked before so I doubt it would work in the future.

 

 

Thatcher had it about right.......................... 

 

“The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.” 

[baboon]

1 minute ago, hotandsticky said:

 

 

 

It hasn't worked before so I doubt it would work in the future.

 

 

Thatcher had it about right.......................... 

 

“The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.” 

No, I have it about right....

"The problem with capitalism is that you eventually run out of other people's money bailing out your mates in the banking racket."