it has always been like this. only thing that changed is your perception.

5 hours ago, owl sees all said:

I blame the banking system.

I blame the parents

Simply put the wrong people have been in charge of this planet for the last 100 years and it won't be getting any better anytime sound.  Think Orwell.

1 hour ago, anon7854 said:

it has always been like this. only thing that changed is your perception.

So the world has always been as overpopulated and as polluted as it is now?

My wife is 41 year old teacher, I am 56 now. I like a lot of people on here long for a time way past - the world is not my world anymore.

 

My wife and I are quite happy in future years to sell my property (old 2 bed council house but in rich town) in the south UK and get a house up north, 4 bed, maybe bungalow (no point buying a house that you may not be able to use 100% when old) with a huge garden.

 

My wife has green fingers and is happy not to go out much and potter around in the garden. I am quite happy to live out the last of my days in our happy garden, away from the nonsense, but with the entire 70's and 80's plastered over every wall.

 

If it wasn't for the paperwork for our adopted daughter , we'd be in the UK now

 

 

6 hours ago, twocatsmac said:

 

Corruption, greed, overpopulation and weak law enforcement.

Yeah but what about outside of Thailand 

2 hours ago, kiteman9 said:

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.

 

 

 

 

Remarkable post! Depressingly correct!

 

Born in 1952, I never get tired to tell my same aged European-Farangs in what a Golden-Age we had the privilege to live in. But I also never get tired to tell them that we are approaching a historical "tipping-point".

2 hours ago, baboon said:

"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...

Yep, agree. The socialists/communists had their day.

But hard to turn the world into a "Brotherhood of Man" if half of the population does not even want to live in a "Brotherhood of Man", but rather want to consume, make more money than the "Brother" next door. The urge to find ourselfes personally in the top tier within the "Brotherhood" must go back a long ways in Human-Evolution. = The best Cave-Man-Hunter with the most "goods", got the best "Cave-Lady".
Nothing much has changed, I insist.

 

So, no wonder that the well meant "socialist ideas" have not stood the test of time.

Look at Mainland-China. In this "Communist-State" you will find the finest "Capitalists" on the globe.

16 minutes ago, swissie said:

Yep, agree. The socialists/communists had their day.

But hard to turn the world into a "Brotherhood of Man" if half of the population does not even want to live in a "Brotherhood of Man", but rather want to consume, make more money than the "Brother" next door. The urge to find ourselfes personally in the top tier within the "Brotherhood" must go back a long ways in Human-Evolution. = The best Cave-Man-Hunter with the most "goods", got the best "Cave-Lady".
Nothing much has changed, I insist.

 

So, no wonder that the well meant "socialist ideas" have not stood the test of time.

Look at Mainland-China. In this "Communist-State" you will find the finest "Capitalists" on the globe.

No. We are all socialists now. We have been for a long time. Every western government has subscribed to the redistribution, free social health care, pension and tax handout culture. 

 

In China maybe you find the finest Capitalists. In Berlin, London and Paris you find the finest socialists. In government.

 

 

2 hours ago, HuskerDo said:

"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. 

I have had to give up my business which I had been running for the last 27 years as I relied on the Europeans and the Americans. I do not see them coming back soon in quantities. My rents and the staff salaries are huge. I paid out of my pocket for the last 3 months. Now suddenly 'forcefully' retired, I went into a depression, had been over drinking. Decided not to 'over think' and hope fully be back on the track. Like I said, Gratitude - to be able to afford a roof over my head, have enough to eat and good health. Rest of course, small bumps in the road of life will come. Up to me to handle them or become a depressed person. The CHOICE is mine.

4 hours ago, CNXexpat said:

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

I didn't live in that world, I live in the present one.

if you are really negative, you are making this world WORSE.  why be so selfish?  you laugh with others, you cry alone.  your life, it's too bad.

 

you make up your own metrics:

 

1.  health    if you are fat, well, quit hating yourself and do something

2.  stupidity.   if you are dumb, try to study instead of watch TV all day

3.  ugly.    if you have low self-esteem, spend some money on clothes and a good haircut.  something.  maybe a nice watch.  you hate yourself, might as well spend a little money

4.  everyone hates you.   do the fake smile until some smiles are real

5.  world is doomed.  no, you're doomed.  we are not in this together.  fix yourself first.

6.  apocalypse.   OK, you are afraid of dying and you want everyone to be in hll just as you die.  i get it, but think of kids.  

7.  bored.  get a hobby, try to do something, anything...try to get good at one thing.  good at complaining is horrible.  lol

8.  past versus now.   the past had much worse wars, worse leaders, worse health issues, worse things that we only learned about later, worse transportation, worse hygiene, worse schools, inadequate information, gangs, worse gangs in general, worse most things........you just don't remember it and are not comparing it properly.  cars were better then?  of course not.  you will find one car that was reliable and forget what you want to forget.  ok

9.  the future.     EVERY YEAR since the beginning of time, people said things were going to get much, much worse.  after one war, one leader, or prices too "high", and SOMEONE will always predict a crash when things are GREAT.  

 

2020 is fine.  I'm better off in many ways versus last year, all I can ask for.  I still need to have more patience with dumb people (farangs, of course) and I'm not going to waste every day worrying about my last day.  that's idiotic.  

19 minutes ago, Logosone said:

No. We are all socialists now. We have been for a long time. Every western government has subscribed to the redistribution, free social health care, pension and tax handout culture. 

 

In China maybe you find the finest Capitalists. In Berlin, London and Paris you find the finest socialists. In government.

 

 

And in Berlin, London and Paris the big-time capitalists must be kept afloat with "Socialist-Counter-Measures"! 

5 minutes ago, giddyup said:

I didn't live in that world, I live in the present one.

I only wanted to show that the past wasn´t better - mostly worse. 

4 hours ago, CNXexpat said:

I only wanted to show that the past wasn´t better - mostly worse. 

"It was the best of times,it was the worst of times,it was the age of wisdom,it was the epoch of belief,it was the epoch of incredulity..."

 

Charles Dickens.

Well, the World is just a shi* buffet and every single day you can take a bite....????????????

 

Rock on....it will only get worse....????

10 hours ago, HuskerDo said:

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.

A lot of boredom, a bit of loneliness and some bullying was what I remember for the 60s.

Now I can read almost any book I can think of or hear about, listen to all the music ever produced, along with limitless movies and TV shows.

 

In the 80s and 90s my access to sex was extremely restricted (by my wife).

 

If you think the past was better, you're bonkers!

15 hours ago, OneeyedJohn said:

I blame it all on the smartphone.

Indeed. I go further and blame it on computers per se and all the off shoots of the digital age. Without such attrocities as facebook and twitter etc the hysteria cause of the day could not be manipulated by the unknown individuals behind it.

However, the real reason our world has turned even more to <deleted> than it has been in the past is overpopulation. Prior to 1950 population was controlled by war, famine and disease. Science has largely eliminated disease and famine as a population control mechanism, leaving only war, and the atomic bomb has pretty much eliminated massive world war as a population control.

If one wants to know what overpopulation leads to, see what happens to rats when they exceed the limits of their environment.

 

I have absolutely no hope for a better future and already children are worse off than their parents.

The high point for western society ( I make no claim regarding those in other societies ) was in the 1950/60s. One income families were able to have good lives, housing was better than ever, health care was excellent ( thanks to WW2 medical advances ), and greed had not yet consumed the population. The environment and other species were not being destroyed at an astounding rate.

 

IMO it all went wrong for western society the day Nixon brought China into the fold and greedy capitalists gleefully exported as many jobs as possible to that country so they could get mega, mega, mega rich by exploiting poor Chinese peasants.

 

Can it be changed? Not, IMO, as long as population exceeds the ability of society to keep them in meaningful work.

7 hours ago, Ventenio said:

2020 is fine.  I'm better off in many ways versus last year, all I can ask for.  I still need to have more patience with dumb people (farangs, of course) and I'm not going to waste every day worrying about my last day.  that's idiotic.  

You are fine, and probably most middle class western people are fine. That takes care of about 1 billion people. The rest are not fine. Working in a sweatshop factory so some western businessman can get even richer is not "fine".

7 hours ago, CNXexpat said:

I only wanted to show that the past wasn´t better - mostly worse. 

The 60s were brilliant for me. That's the past, isn't it.

Since I started work in the 70s life has slowly got worse, but like a frog in water being heated I never noticed till now and I'm wondering what the <deleted> happened?

10 hours ago, baboon said:

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...

Not mine. My old days were brilliant. traveled the world, had great adventures, lived the high life in LOS, etc etc.

Now all I have to interest me is posting on TVF, the deity help me! What a shabby life I have now. I won't die fighting it, but welcome it with open arms. Can take this life and shove it where the sun don't shine.

2 hours ago, simple1 said:

In fact the local mosque teaches the peaceful interpretation of Islam. One of the reasons why I suggested a visit as they are friendly towards foreigners and maybe an opportunity for the OP to cleanse some negativity from his mind, personally I would think would be constructive. Regrettably the OP has rejected the idea.

 

 

 

I worked in Saudi for years. That put me off any idea of "the peaceful interpretation of Islam". No thanks.

It is a hole!  Your right!!!

10 hours ago, baboon said:

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."

You make the mistake of equating Capitalism with crony capitalism. Communism and Capitalism are, IMO opposite sides of the same coin.

I prefer socialism ( small s ) as practiced in NZ in the 60s before the greedies took over.

12 hours ago, Matzzon said:

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

What misery? I've got the best life of anyone I know. No pressure, no problems, only time to do whatever I feel like doing and living in Thailand to boot! Just because I see life for what it is, and it's pretty sh!tty for most people on this planet, doesn't mean that I have to be miserable because of it. It's sad to see, pisses me off to no end, but it is what it is. We can only hope that the apparent trough of stupidity that the whole world seems to have devolved into will eventually cycle through and we can continue our evolution as a species in a more positive vein.

 

Have a nice day! ????

16 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

I can remember back in the early 70ś many felt the same.

Hippies and the war people thought we were all doomed.

That's before they became hedge fund managers and Bankers...now they're Ok with it

15 hours ago, steven100 said:

you tink too mut  '

 

15 hours ago, steven100 said:

you tink too mut  '

They must teach that in schools ...I get it constantly.

Looking forward to moving to Mars in a decade.

I wonder if I can collect my pension there.... 24.62 hours in a day, so more time for layin, and if they have it, 90 day reporting will be about the same.

17 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

I can remember back in the early 70ś many felt the same.

Hippies and the war people thought we were all doomed.

All one can do is try to stay positive.

This Covid BS however, certainly has put most of the world in a bad mood. 

 

But the last time around there was hope, we had Dylan to champion the cause and as such we got some great music out of it.

I fear that one day we will look back to see that 'Covid19 - The Musical' will be played out in rap.

7 minutes ago, Orton Rd said:

Then they are telling lies, there is no way true Islam is peacefull. Individual Muslims myabe, but no amount of smiles and friendliness can alter the truth about the ideology or erase the atrocites committed in it's name, and certainly does not cancel out the appaling example of how to live their lives by the prophet.

Do you mean like "Luke: Chapter 19 Verse 27" from the bible.

Jesus says,

"But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them--bring them here and kill them in front of me."