ffj wrote: ↑Thu Apr 18, 2024 9:13 am
Interesting. I'm old enough now to have witnessed a lot of change in my 55 years on this planet. Some of it predictable, some not so much.
The personal computer and the internet changed everything forever for everyone. The power of this change is immense and if you sit back and think about it no one or system has escaped its influence. Even the people that hate its clutches are still having their actions being dictated. Nobody has a choice to opt out completely.
Same with privacy, it doesn't exist anymore. You are being surveilled constantly, whether through the NSA, traffic cams, store security, trail cameras, or your neighbors Ring system. Your "private" property is surveilled through Google maps. Your purchases and non-purchases are monitored, your behavior is being noted somewhere. Your curious neighbors have a slew of devices to record you against your wishes, whether through a cell phone, security system, or other devices. And your visits will be noted on platforms such as Facebook without your knowledge or consent along with your photo that you also didn't give consent to take. Also, your personal information is on the internet including your past and current address, your past job titles, phone number, and helpful suggestions as to who your relatives may be as part of the "free" package. Even having the curiosity of your ancestry has yielded some unpleasant and invasive results.
When I was growing up your local news came on at 6 pm and the evening news started at 630pm. You trusted both sources explicitly. And if you really wanted to be well-rounded you also watched 60 Minutes once a week. Again, the internet has exposed and hoaxed every news source especially since the rise of Trump. Most people today are skeptical of the "news". It is too easy to see where you have been duped.
Same with religion. Gone are the days where the only information one received about their religion was from the church. Or never knowing your religions' dirty little secrets. I've noticed a huge shift away from organized religion in my lifetime and a shift in tactics from the ones still trying to attract followers. Rock music at a church service? Charismatic bros leading the service? Even the poor Jehovah Witnesses seem to have given up on the door knocking.
Less people are getting married and having children or just one. Part of that is because they have left the church and some of it is through sheer practicality.
Because of wages and inflation. Wages for the entry blue-collar worker has stagnated for the past thirty years. The margins for many of the working class jobs are extremely thin and the wages reflect that so if you are an "employee" then you are fucked over the long-term. We always have the principles of ERE to save us but not everybody is capable of this and not everybody can create their own companies and be successful. It's quite shocking actually how little wages have increased for many jobs that are extremely necessary and important.
Immigration has its role to play here because if you have a large pool of people that will work for low wages then you will naturally depress any wage increase. And they tend to gravitate towards the blue-collar jobs; drive by any construction site and just observe. Opinion here, but it always bothers me when people declare that immigrants do the work that citizens refuse to do. It should be rephrased that immigrants will do the work that citizens refuse to do for a particular wage. Obviously, there is a lot to unpack from that opinion but the reality is that immigration has gone bonkers recently, look at any graph, and that is quite a change from any presidency, Republican or Democrat.
There has been a huge shift in perception of gay people in my lifetime. They've become boring, acceptance.
People are much fatter than they used to be in my youth. I watched a movie from 1973 the other day and it was quite a contrast in body compositions from what you observe today. Some of it is lifestyle, but a lot of it is cheap, processed carbs too. And everything else that is overly processed and refined. Many of our food choices are literally poison. But it is also my perception that people in general are living longer, even with debilitating conditions.
Wars haven't changed much in my lifetime. They are always over resources for the most part and governments find a lie (weapons of mass destruction, etc.) that the populace will swallow to gain support for it. What has been a nice consistency is that skirmishes remain fairly localized with conventional weapons. Nobody has been dumb enough to do something stupid enough to mandate huge involvement from large players. And by nice consistency I mean it could be much, much worse. Also, people are much more aware of circumstances now behind "decisions" and that has an effect on actions moving forward so another win for the internet. No more easy lies.
In my observations, the seasons have shifted by about thirty days with it staying quite a bit hotter later in the Autumn season. As far as extreme weather, it is about the same I would guess. I think we are more acutely aware of weather than we used to be in the past. Another effect of the internet.
