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This Country Desperately Needs A Return To "The Good Old Days"

3K views 35 replies 16 participants last post by  1skrewsloose 
#1 · (Edited)
What happened to this country? The answer is easy. We are victims of our own technological advances.

Making life EASIER for everybody sounds like a great idea, but the unintended (or intended?) consequences have been DEVASTATING, especially for the middle class and the poor.

The internet/worldwide web. Cell phones. Home computers and tablets. Cable TV and all of the "goodies" that come with it. Netflix. MP3 players. Video games and systems ANYTHING made by Apple. All-in-one supermarkets and "super centers".

Never mind the government entitlement programs, or the political correctness Nazis. or the race warlords. or the gun control Nazis, or legalized infanticide, or the social engineering centers that we call "schools", or the food Nazis, or the many, many other means of CONTROL that we all have to live with.

I would love to live my life with only the things that bring back fond memories, and required me to do more work, and required me to be both mentally and physically challenged, and which provided me with the opportunity to EARN respect and praise, and gave me a feeling of accomplishment and self-worth.

How many of you remember:

Writing letters?

Talking to people face-to-face?

Calling people on a corded dial telephone?

Taking pictures with a Kodak Instamatic camera and taking them to the drugstore to get them developed?

Shopping at the neighborhood A&P grocery store?

Going to the neighborhood Rexall drug store to buy medicines?

Watching TV with maybe six channels to choose from?

Reading the local newspaper to find out what's going on locally, nationally, and internationally?

Going to the gas station, where the "attendant" pumped the gas, washed your windshield, and checked your oil?

Taking your car to the local Goodyear or Firestone store to get new tires?

Getting the monthly Life Magazine or Time Magazine to see color pictures of various national and world events?

Going to the Drive-In movie theatre with your friends on "carload night", and watching a double feature with the speaker hanging from your car window?

Going to the local downtown movie theatre, sitting in the balcony, and watching a double feature, while eating all of the popcorn and candy you could stand?

Going to the local butcher and buying hamburger, steaks, and other meats cut to order?

Typewriters?

Bias ply tires?

Chrome bumpers?

Record players that played 33 and 45 rpm records?

Going to the local McDonald's or Jack-In-The-Box for a hamburger, fries, and a chocolate shake, and not caring at all about calories or carbs?

Marriage was between a man and a woman. That was it. No exceptions.

Lawn darts?

Chemistry sets?

The "prestige" of owning a Schwinn bicycle?

Skateboarding without any kind of "protective" gear?

Riding a bicycle without a helmet, because bike helmets were not even invented yet?

Saving the money to buy your first home with a 20% down payment AND good credit?

Encyclopedias?

Schools that taught English, Social Studies, American History, Science, Algebra, Biology, Chemistry, Music, Home Economics, and other useful topics of study.

"Gay" people were called "homos" or "homosexuals", and they were in the shadows or in the closet?

Libraries?

Performing mathematical calculations "long-hand", or with a slide rule?

Big Wheels?

People who were getting sex changes were considered "freaks" and "deviants"?

Woodburning sets?

Back yard car mechanics?


Nowadays, all we have to do is click a mouse or press a button, without leaving our chair, to do most of the things that we previously had to do a little work to accomplish.

Technology has created a LAZY and DEPENDENT society, lacking in self-worth and basic skills, which has given "outsiders" way too much CONTROL over our lives.
 
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#2 ·
Of course, there is another side to "the good old days":
Having to tune up your car every 10,000 miles due to point ignitions, carburetors, and marginal spark plugs
Unless you are a white male you are relegated to 2nd or 3rd tier status
Korean War, Vietnam War
Terrorists loose in the streets killing, maiming, bombing, in the name of "peace"
Police beating, clubbing, turning dogs loose, and turning water cannons on civil rights marchers
Working hard all your life in a factory, then dying before age 72, because you worked hard all your life in a factory

There is so much more that could be listed, but "the good old days" weren't really all that good.

I was there, I know of what I speak.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Nice list, really brings back some memories. I guess I'm a little older than you, some of the things I remember are:


Calling people on a corded, dial telephone that had a party line (a line shared by other phones in the neighborhood).

My phone number as a child was MUSEUM 3 2492.

My Dad's license plate when I was a child was ZK 571, and it wasn't a vanity plate.

Our black & white television had THREE channels, and we could test our burned out vacuum tubes at the drug store.

We had TWO local neighborhood movie theaters, and we watched triple features with a short subject and with prizes given out.

Grocery shopping at the corner store (no supermarkets) and running a tab until payday.

Getting paid in CASH, with banknotes that could be exchanged for SILVER.
 
#4 ·
There was both good and bad in the past. Some things are better, others worse. I liked it when you could repair your own car and not pay more now for a simple repair than cars use to cost altogether. Of course people make a lot more money than decades back - they have to. People didn't drive much back then, so cars lasted a long time, though they couldn't provide the mileage they do today. One of the really great things about a few generations back was there were fewer people and a lot more woods for kids to enjoy. People took pleasure in simple things that didn't cost anything. Today people need to be entertained night and day at great expense.
 
#5 ·
Those of us old enough to remember the "good old days" remember that they weren't nearly as good as nostalgia makes them sound like they wereWriting letters?

Talking to people face-to-face? I do this every day

Calling people on a corded dial telephone? Who cares if a phone has a cord?

Taking pictures with a Kodak Instamatic camera and taking them to the drugstore to get them developed? And waiting a week to find out that your photos had a problem, and now there's no way to adjust the camera to fix the...

Shopping at the neighborhood A&P grocery store? That's better than my neighborhood Hy-Vee store (our regional brand of store) how?

Going to the neighborhood Rexall drug store to buy medicines? Mine's just down the block.

Watching TV with maybe six channels to choose from? Again, this is good?

Reading the local newspaper to find out what's going on locally, nationally, and internationally? Still printed everywhere I travel, knock yourself out.

Going to the gas station, where the "attendant" pumped the gas, washed your windshield, and checked your oil? Two full-service gas stations within half a block of my office.

Taking your car to the local Goodyear or Firestone store to get new tires? The closest two cities to me have Goodyear and Firestone stores.

Getting the monthly Life Magazine or Time Magazine to see color pictures of various national and world events? Time has been a weekly for a very long time, feel free to subscribe.

Going to the Drive-In movie theatre with your friends on "carload night", and watching a double feature with the speaker hanging from your car window? We have 4 drive-in's within 50 miles of here, and they still have carload nights.

Going to the local downtown movie theatre, sitting in the balcony, and watching a double feature, while eating all of the popcorn and candy you could stand? My town never had a local downtown theater.

Going to the local butcher and buying hamburger, steaks, and other meats cut to order? Right down the street from me, about two blocks away. Your point?

Typewriters? Sucked.

Bias ply tires? Sucked.

Chrome bumpers? OK, I will give you chrome bumpers :)

Record players that played 33 and 45 rpm records? So you could hear the scratches better...

Going to the local McDonald's or Jack-In-The-Box for a hamburger, fries, and a chocolate shake, and not caring at all about calories or carbs? That's your deal, not ours.

Marriage was between a man and a woman. That was it. No exceptions. Well, that's good if you are a heterosexual bigot. Other than that, not so much.

Lawn darts? Yawn.

Chemistry sets? Yawn.

The "prestige" of owning a Schwinn bicycle? Getting your self worth from ownership of possessions... not something I personally consider admirable, your milage may vary.

Skateboarding without any kind of "protective" gear? Feel free.

Riding a bicycle without a helmet, because bike helmets were not even invented yet? Bike helmets were invented in the 1880's, I SERIOUSLY doubt you were a cyclist in the 1870's.

Saving the money to buy your first home with a 20% down payment AND good credit? Last time I checked you can still buy a home with a 20 percent down payment and good credit.

Encyclopedias? They still print them.

Schools that taught English, Social Studies, American History, Science, Algebra, Biology, Chemistry, Music, Home Economics, and other useful topics of study. Badly.

"Gay" people were called "homos" or "homosexuals", and they were in the shadows or in the closet? Again, I suppose this is a "good thing" to bigots, to the rest of us, not so much.

Libraries? What about them, there's more now than ever.

Performing mathematical calculations "long-hand", or with a slide rule? Slide rules SUCKED. I know, I used one. Anybody who misses those who used one is either psychotic or lying.

Big Wheels? VERY COOL.

People who were getting sex changes were considered "freaks" and "deviants"? People who drank alcohol were considered criminals in the 1920's. So?

Woodburning sets? They still make em.

Back yard car mechanics? Nobody's stopping you.

Sorry, I lived in the "good old days" and the weren't nearly as "good old" as people who didn't live then seem to think.

Polio.

Duck and cover.

McCarthy.

Vietnam.

Black lung.

Whites only fountains.

The KKK

I could go on and on.
 
#7 ·
You make me wonder how I ever survived those years and wonder why I'm not depressed. I don't understand why some people have a chip on their shoulder all the time. "Backyard mechanics? Nobody's stopping you." You can't repair your own cars anymore with 30 computers in them, that's the point. My lawyer cost me $300/hour. A mechanic now charges $100/hour. They charge at least $75 just to open the hood and tell you they don't know what's wrong with it. The lawyer is a better deal. I was thinking of buying a new Jeep until I learned they have added so much crap to them they are no longer Jeeps. They're luxury cars now. Who needs satellite radio and computer hookup on a Jeep? The one I bought new in '86 and drove until 2000 didn't even have air or floor carpeting. Didn't even have a radio. I can't believe they stuffed all that crap into a Jeep with a soft top! How long will it last if it gets wet?

As for transsexuals, how can that not be a mental illness and how can it be any different than those who are obsessed with cutting off their arms or legs because "They don't belong on my body and I was born to be handicapped and belong in a wheelchair?" One man bought dry ice and froze his legs so they had to be cut off at the knees. Most say that guy was nuts, but suddenly believing you're not a man anymore and you want to be a woman isn't nuts? Sorry, I wasn't trying to change the subject of the OP but I find myself glad I'm older and not long for this crazy world.

I could go on.

Those of us old enough to remember the "good old days" remember that they weren't nearly as good as nostalgia makes them sound like they wereWriting letters?

Talking to people face-to-face? I do this every day

Calling people on a corded dial telephone? Who cares if a phone has a cord?

Taking pictures with a Kodak Instamatic camera and taking them to the drugstore to get them developed? And waiting a week to find out that your photos had a problem, and now there's no way to adjust the camera to fix the...

Shopping at the neighborhood A&P grocery store? That's better than my neighborhood Hy-Vee store (our regional brand of store) how?

Going to the neighborhood Rexall drug store to buy medicines? Mine's just down the block.

Watching TV with maybe six channels to choose from? Again, this is good?

Reading the local newspaper to find out what's going on locally, nationally, and internationally? Still printed everywhere I travel, knock yourself out.

Going to the gas station, where the "attendant" pumped the gas, washed your windshield, and checked your oil? Two full-service gas stations within half a block of my office.

Taking your car to the local Goodyear or Firestone store to get new tires? The closest two cities to me have Goodyear and Firestone stores.

Getting the monthly Life Magazine or Time Magazine to see color pictures of various national and world events? Time has been a weekly for a very long time, feel free to subscribe.

Going to the Drive-In movie theatre with your friends on "carload night", and watching a double feature with the speaker hanging from your car window? We have 4 drive-in's within 50 miles of here, and they still have carload nights.

Going to the local downtown movie theatre, sitting in the balcony, and watching a double feature, while eating all of the popcorn and candy you could stand? My town never had a local downtown theater.

Going to the local butcher and buying hamburger, steaks, and other meats cut to order? Right down the street from me, about two blocks away. Your point?

Typewriters? Sucked.

Bias ply tires? Sucked.

Chrome bumpers? OK, I will give you chrome bumpers :)

Record players that played 33 and 45 rpm records? So you could hear the scratches better...

Going to the local McDonald's or Jack-In-The-Box for a hamburger, fries, and a chocolate shake, and not caring at all about calories or carbs? That's your deal, not ours.

Marriage was between a man and a woman. That was it. No exceptions. Well, that's good if you are a heterosexual bigot. Other than that, not so much.

Lawn darts? Yawn.

Chemistry sets? Yawn.

The "prestige" of owning a Schwinn bicycle? Getting your self worth from ownership of possessions... not something I personally consider admirable, your milage may vary.

Skateboarding without any kind of "protective" gear? Feel free.

Riding a bicycle without a helmet, because bike helmets were not even invented yet? Bike helmets were invented in the 1880's, I SERIOUSLY doubt you were a cyclist in the 1870's.

Saving the money to buy your first home with a 20% down payment AND good credit? Last time I checked you can still buy a home with a 20 percent down payment and good credit.

Encyclopedias? They still print them.

Schools that taught English, Social Studies, American History, Science, Algebra, Biology, Chemistry, Music, Home Economics, and other useful topics of study. Badly.

"Gay" people were called "homos" or "homosexuals", and they were in the shadows or in the closet? Again, I suppose this is a "good thing" to bigots, to the rest of us, not so much.

Libraries? What about them, there's more now than ever.

Performing mathematical calculations "long-hand", or with a slide rule? Slide rules SUCKED. I know, I used one. Anybody who misses those who used one is either psychotic or lying.

Big Wheels? VERY COOL.

People who were getting sex changes were considered "freaks" and "deviants"? People who drank alcohol were considered criminals in the 1920's. So?

Woodburning sets? They still make em.

Back yard car mechanics? Nobody's stopping you.

Sorry, I lived in the "good old days" and the weren't nearly as "good old" as people who didn't live then seem to think.

Polio.

Duck and cover.

McCarthy.

Vietnam.

Black lung.

Whites only fountains.

The KKK

I could go on and on.
 
#6 ·
I am telling my age here but I remember all of those things and yes it was a simpler time. It was also a harder time. It's not the technology that is the problem. It's us and how we are applying it.
 
#8 ·
Hard times created the generation that saved the world from the Nazis and Imperialists. Today, technology has made it possible for America to fight two wars and suffer few KIAs, but could today's generation have fought WWII using the technology and tactics of the time, complete with the massive casualty rates? I doubt it. There is good and bad in each time period and will be in the future. When people speak of the good old days, they generally mean they wish we could take the good of the past and not the bad, as well as remove the bad of today and keep the good. Though not possible, people still have their wishes.

In some ways, things were better in the past.
 
#9 ·
I remember POLIO, too, and small pox, diptheria, whooping cough, people dying for the lack of penicillin, all sorts of stuff. MY mind is not split into just good memories, so no, i don't want to go bsck then. what i want is for the pos's who are ruining TODAY to get gut-shot.
 
#10 · (Edited)
The Bloods and Crips and Detroit City, heard about how good it was "out there". Then they started a slow migration, because they like backyard BBQ's too.
After they got there, they started killing whatever moved. Then they began to sell crack and heroin, because it made them boatloads of money. Etc......

I am not admonishing you, buy TGOD are gone for good. You know that, or you would not be on this forum. Just being here makes you atypical.

What I am saying is, the Alamo has come to you and me, and it is time to pass the ammunition.
And, if anyone does not have a Bowie Knife, it is time to get one.:armata_PDT_36: But, you already knew that.

PS:"Performing mathematical calculations "long-hand", or with a slide rule?" (I just love my Casio & TI calculators.)
 
#11 ·
Hey! I still have my slide rule. I don't use it much but I still have it. I also have a host of calculators that I use for different things. I have had at least one computer since 1978 and I use them a lot - for many other things than communicating with others.
 
#20 ·
You can't fight technology, its going to happen and the younger generation will resent those who oppose it. However, you are right that we need to take a look at how our communities where and interacted in times past. I'm embarrassed to say that I have only spoken to one of my next door neighbors, and I only know one household on our block because I went to high school with her. My father's family knew everybody up and down their street. My only excuse other than laziness is that I work night shift so I'm usually sleeping when they are up and about.
 
#25 ·
That is EXACTLY the antithesis of my point, Medic!

The CONVENIENCE of today's technology has spawned a society of socially crippled, dependent, lazy, uninspired, entitled, irresponsible, creepy basement-dwelling parasites and losers.

Virtually ANYTHING, regardless of legality or perversion or danger or questionable morality or horror, is readily accessible with a few keystrokes on a computer, causing our society to go down a road that leads to a DEAD END, literally and figuratively.

When it comes to the internet, smart phones, cable television, video games, and all of the technological "advances" we have seen in the past 30-40 years, and the thousands of laws and regulations that rule our lives, the BAD far outweighs the GOOD. The very fabric of our society, and of our souls, has been ripped to shreds by the world of make-believe and the world of "faster, bigger, easier".

What PRICE has our society actually paid for our new world of "convenience"? The damage is immeasurable. The end result is beyond devastating.
 
#24 ·
If you sing the way I do, I would rather not hear it, but thanks for the thought! :)
 
#26 · (Edited)
I think that if this country could return to something it would be a return to the time that family's stayed together. That men and women got married "before" they had children. When they had achieved a certain level of financial security they started a family. Sure, they often struggled, made mistakes and underestimated the cost, commitment and hard work that it took to raise a family but they got through it and stayed together. I think that is the best situation for children to become responsible adult people.

Somewhere, we as a society, lost our way in regards to family. I don't think that the government needs to "sanction" marriage or be involved in any way. This is not a condemnation on those who made mistakes, divorced or had children out of wedlock. Its simply an opinion of what might be best.

That's what I think, this day 19 June 2015 11:10 pm eastern time.
 
#29 ·
I think that if this country could return to something it would be a return to the time that family's stayed together. That men and women got married "before" they had children. When they had achieved a certain level of financial security they started a family. Sure, they often struggled, made mistakes and underestimated the cost, commitment and hard work that it took to raise a family but they got through it and stayed together. I think that is the best situation for children to become responsible adult people.

Somewhere, we as a society, lost our way in regards to family. I don't think that the government needs to "sanction" marriage or be involved in any way.

That's what I think, this day 19 June 2015 11:10 pm eastern time.
Marriage is sanctioned by God. The government has no legal or moral standing in regards to marriage.

When abortion became a "convenience", the family unit began it's steady descent into extinction.

When sexual promiscuity became the norm. When teenage pregnancy became acceptable and scandal-free. When divorce achieved normalcy. Take your pick. ALL of these changes, and many more, contributed to the destruction of the family unit.
 
#32 ·
You can't seriously believe that the internet, fast food, and free access to information is the cause of the moral and ethical character in the United States. TV doesn't make mass murderers - they were around long before TV. The internet didn't cause laziness - laziness has been around for millennia.
What causes the decay of moral and ethical behavior is that people learn from the actions of others. The same behavior can teach one person to be a better person while another will learn to be the opposite. Parents are the primary instructors in their children's lives but some children never learn the lessons as they are taught. Instead they find ways to defeat the lessons without being called on it. Some people are not even capable of learning moral and ethical behavior no matter how you try to teach it.

It would be nice if there was an easy answer to "how to bring back the good in people" but it is a challenge more complex than the people themselves.
 
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#33 ·
I never mentioned "fast food" as being the cause of ANYTHING.

"Free access to information" is a very generalized statement. I was VERY specific on what type of "information" I was referring to.

And YES, I "seriously" believe that the internet, in general, has corrupted our society, and wreaked havoc on young minds and already-twisted minds. The BAD far outweighs the good when it comes to the vast majority of the technology that has changed our lives in the past 20-30 years.

I don't know if all of this is the work of God, or the work of satan. That has yet to be determined, but someday we will all find out.
 
#34 ·
I know you didn't mention fast food. I threw that in there because it is a pet peeve of mine.
There is so much good information available on the "net" that I find it hard to believe that it has a side that is worse than its good side.
Do you know that every educational, scientific and religious organization in the world has a presence on the net? Sure there is misinformation there as well and even porn but can that come close to equaling the other?
I guess it is a subjective call but from my personal point of view there is way more value than evil.
 
#35 · (Edited)
I agree with you, Paul, that there is most definitely VALUE in having so much information at our disposal. And I agree that there is more value than evil.

The question is: Does the amount of positive things about the internet outweigh the amount of EVIL that occurs because of the internet.

Stalkers. Pedophiles. Sexual sadists. Scam artists. Hackers who have access to the personal information of millions of people. The internet is also a criminal's paradise, and a "playground" for every kind of nutcase out there.

Everything you can think of can be done on the internet today. Shopping, paying bills, obtaining car loans and home loans, reading the news, acting as your own travel agent, and so much more.

Has making things more "convenient" and "easier" not made for a society that is more isolated from other people and more socially inept? I definitely believe it has.
 
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