Changes in society

[two fingers]

I turned 50 just Wednesday.

The main difference in my lifetime? Instant gratification.

Most of what has changed can be balled up into that one little ball.

If we wanted knowledge, we either had to look it up in a book, or ask someone wise. Pretty much all knowledge is at our fingertips these days.

If we wanted food, we had to prepare, then cook it. Once again, fingertips can have it brought to our door. Or we can throw something in the microwave for about a minute, OR eat some pre-packaged garbage immediately.

Even our brothers and sisters on this planet have to be dealt with immediately if they step out of line. Hashtags, doxing, protests, etc. are deployed to shame anyone who disagrees with certain segments of society. It's a crying shame. I love all kinds of people. I'm glad we're not all like me. Enough about that.


There's plenty of beauty, joy, heroism, faith, etc. on the big blue marble. I'm going to spend my next 50 years seeking it out. Looking for the downsides sucks.

 

[FilterFunk]

My father made a habit to remind me how kind he was to tolerate my living under his roof. (Betcha that speech is seldom made in the current era either.)

That reminds me of a scene from "Everybody Hates Chris" where Chris asks his dad about an allowance. His dad's answer? (not quite word-for-word, but close enough):

"I allow you to live under my roof. I allow you to eat my food. I allow you to...". Well, you get the picture!

 

[Winslow]

I think gym pickups are more a trope of fiction, fantasy, and what one may simply refer to as "exotic cinema." In the gyms I've been to, with people getting sweaty as all get-out, no one much looks like they rate staring, nor smells like anything you want to get close to.

Or maybe I've just been to the wrong gyms.

 

[C Stone]

My father made a habit to remind me how kind he was to tolerate my living under his roof. (Betcha that speech is seldom made in the current era either.)

Well I can tell you my kiddo knows AND understands what It means...keep movin forword in a positive way, help around the place when you have some free time off from your J.O.B. OR buy some good blankets, sleeping in the car can get cold at night...

 

[FilterFunk]

I turned 50 just Wednesday.

The main difference in my lifetime? Instant gratification.

Good point. Fewer things take time and patience nowadays.

 

[slobake]

OK boomer.

you say that like it's a bad thing.

 

[Winslow]

Well, you get the picture!

I lived that picture.

Our mother did the books for my father's office. Our "allowance" was earned by doing chores, which were tracked and tallied on a daily basis, on weekly spreadsheet she put on the fridge.

 

[two fingers]

My father made a habit to remind me how kind he was to tolerate my living under his roof. (Betcha that speech is seldom made in the current era either.)

Me too!

Don't get me wrong. My father is my hero. But he was hard core! He would take us out in the yard and point at out house and say "See that house? That's not our house. That's MY house. You get straight A and do what your mother says and I'm happy to let you sleep INSIDE of it." Then we would go to the fridge. "See that food? That's not our food. That's MY food. You show us respect and do your chores and I'll share some of it with you."

That crap worked, too.

 

[DirtDog]

Society is in a sad state at this time. You never know which nutjob is going to go off the deep end and say/do something that would have been a lot less likely to have happened just a few years ago.
Crazy is normal today .

I don’t think the proportion of nut jobs has changed so much as the access that all of us (nut jobs included) have to more powerful megaphones to spread our nonsense (the internet in general and social media in particular)…and an audience that is primed for nonsense.

This post being a prime example!

 

[FilterFunk]

you say that like it's a bad thing.

We boomers are old enough to know everything, but still tough enough to kick a young, smarty-pants, whippersnapper's butt!

 

[slobake]

I don’t think the proportion of nut jobs has changed so much as the access that all of us (nut jobs included) have to more powerful megaphones to spread our nonsense (the internet in general and social media in particular)…and an audience that is primed for nonsense.

This post being a prime example!

Uh-oh, lay off that kind of talk or the mods won't let me post here anymore.

 

[GregC]

This thread already exists. Get off my LAWN! "Grumpy Old Farts"

 

[JRA]

Tuna noodle casserole, the scourge of western civilization.

my mother successfully poisoned me with TNC until i rebelled --- i protested for several years to no avail: it took an actual son-to-mother protest = and then we lovingly moved on without it. i've had it since (made by other well-intentioned mothers!) and i can't say that i was wrong to protest TNC in my grade school years. that said: thinking about TNC makes me remember some great times in my childhood.... otherwise.


per the OP:
- history (what came before) and its meaning for our futures without it.
- socially-sanctioned 'binarian-ism'.*
- widespread acceptance of 'zero-sum-ism'.

* binarian "A special kind of idiot who believes that all people who hold a different view from oneself have the same views as each other."
coined by dilbert creator scott adams

 

[Winslow]

This thread already exists.

You just watch yourself, buster, if you know what's good for you!

 

[bass12]

One of the big changes I've noticed has to do with parenting and the coddling of children. I was born in the mid-'70s and I've seen parents become increasingly afraid to act as authority figures. I see it all the time: parents negotiating with their kids and acting as if they want to be their kids' best friend. It will be, "Hey buddy, could you please not do that" instead of a firm "Cut it out" (with predictable consequences if the kid doesn't listen). I hear parents tell their kids to do something ten times and these kids know full well that if they don't comply nothing will happen (except that mom might count to three again). Somewhere along the way parents got it in their heads that firmness and authority would be damaging to their children's self-esteem and would stunt their kids' mental development. This attitude has carried over into the school system and it's the same approach: coddle the kids and don't play the heavy. The funny (not so funny) part is that kids on the whole like to feel that grown-ups are in control - and they can smell the B.S a mile away. There are also plenty of kids (and I saw this all the time when I was working in elementary schools) perfectly willing to take advantage of the situation, manipulating not only their parents but also their teachers. These same kids get to university and think that they can call the shots there. They're often not wrong.

 

[slobake]

I love the ability to select movies and books when I want them. I can stream movies and download books, a kind of instant gratification mentioned earlier by @two fingers. I also love traveling with my kindle. I can carry a pretty big library with me wherever I go.
Speaking of traveling I loved the rail system and high speed trains in Italy. We in the U.S. can learn a few things from our European cousins about embracing the new and preserving the old.

 

[slobake]

One thing hasn't changed. Some in the older generation talking about what a bunch of worthless lazy louts the younger generation is. Happened when I was young and it is still going on. I find the same people who used to grumble about the older generation have grown into the same folks who grumble about the younger generation.
I like younger people, they want more involvement that my peers did. They are not as satisfied aw we were standing outside of life and being observers they tend to want more participation. Besides, they can help me set up my TV.

 

[Gothic]

Happy birthday!

And yes, this mudball's going to hell in a handbasket*. But it's alright I suppose.





*not talking about women at the gyms, just in general.

 

[JRA]

i think i forgot to wish @two fingers a happy birthday in his recent thread: happy birthday, youngster! i hope you had a great day while turning the big five-oh!

 

[FilterFunk]

This thread already exists. Get off my LAWN! "Grumpy Old Farts"

I saw the thread title and I was ready to dive in, but then I read the OP's description:
"Grumpy old amp tech/builder/user's" club

...and it sounded too specific. If I'm gonna rant, I wanna be allowed to rant about anything and everything!