Are the good times really over?

[Chevette 1,052]

To some, this may be directed as more of a rhetorical question, but it'll be interesting to see the opinions on this.

 

So, do you think the world/country is rolling downhill like a snowball heading for hell & are the good times really over?

By that I mean have we finally gotten to that point of no return for the economy, would life be better in a simpler time? (no current modernizations, such as a time before 1953) or even thoughts on why the world is so corrupt. (You can really stretch this topic as far as imaginable really)

 

I'm leaving this question pretty vague because of all the aspects that relate to the question that may be left out in some opinions but added in others. I could probably write a decent sized paper on this topic, but I'll give a taste of a summary instead.

 

Disclaimer: If you are offended by what you are about to read, I am not liable for any offence that is taken. Instead if you have a problem, do what the Government does, and blame the problem on another part of the Government.

 

There is no doubt in my mind that we are rolling downhill like a snowball heading for hell, it's just the matter of when we'll reach the destination and melt. You can take many topics and blame them for the way we ended up, such as religion, currency, foreign trade, overpopulation, politics, outsourcing, etc. etc. But it's not really just one that gave us that initial "push" downhill, it was all of them working together to give us that shove (metaphorically speaking).

 

The whole thing that made me want to begin a topic over this was Merle Haggard's song "Are the good times really over" the song begins with the line "I wish a buck was still silver back when the country was strong" and after that, he lists many things that lead to what he believes is the downfall of our country.

 

Most of what I believe is to blame is what I had listed two paragraphs above (religion, currency, foreign trade, overpopulation, politics, outsourcing, etc. etc.) and I'm positive there is more things to add to that as well, but I believe it all generates within those topics.

A few of those topics are what I call short term gain, long term loss and most are basically generated because of power especially religion. Probably without religion, I think it'd be safe to say there wouldn't have been as many wars, I say that because usually when you try to get someone to believe in something they don't want to, a issue arises.

Originally, religion was put into play to scare people into following a "common order" so people weren't running all over killing each other, stealing, etc. then folks start to deviate from the norm and they make their own religions, then I bet you can guess what happens... they have a dispute over it and try and destroy each other (this is why we should have all just been puppies...)

 

And to touch on the "Are the good times really over" aspect; I definitely think we hit that mark as a country too for many obvious reasons such as illegal immigration, outsourcing and many other stupid things that match up with those two examples. Another thing that is very jacked up is how the United States seems to always get sucked into helping these worn down third world countries, and if we don't people get all hot n' bothered and throw a fit (not just people in our country, others as well) I think it's very straight forward that we need to line up our own railroad tracks before we go lining up someone else's.

The country was strong back when we had jobs here, such as automobile manufacturers for example. Thanks to outsourcing we are going broke. And they also worry about "sweatshops" in other countries and how they should put a stop to that, but personally, I think that idea would backfire like a old Buick. If we put a stop to the sweatshops, those people will come here to the united states because they won't be getting paid at all when they were getting paid before (not saying they were getting paid a lot, but still). We don't need more folks coming in and taking what jobs we do have left. People stick their hand out to Uncle Sam for some money when Uncle Sam is the one on the sidewalk living in a box.... damn welfare... anyways...

 

And I'll just stop there because like I said, it's possible to drag this on forever. Should be interesting...

 

Anyways, that is along the lines of where i'm going with this topic. Like Grandpap always said "There's never any wrong answers, but there is always going to be ignorant answers." Grandpap was a self-certified philosopher.

[Nohbdy 4,108]

I don't have time to comment or do research on everything, but I'll touch upon a few things here and there.

To some, this may be directed as more of a rhetorical question, but it'll be interesting to see the opinions on this.

 

So, do you think the world/country is rolling downhill like a snowball heading for hell & are the good times really over?

By that I mean have we finally gotten to that point of no return for the economy, would life be better in a simpler time? (no current modernizations, such as a time before 1953) or even thoughts on why the world is so corrupt. (You can really stretch this topic as far as imaginable really)

 

I'm leaving this question pretty vague because of all the aspects that relate to the question that may be left out in some opinions but added in others. I could probably write a decent sized paper on this topic, but I'll give a taste of a summary instead.

 

I actually think the world is progressing in terms of social, economic, and scientific issues. Our society is becoming increasingly integrated, our people more united. People from all across the world are working together in peace where they once shed blood in war.

 

Economically, we're exploding. Sure, we're in tough times, but tough times are part of the package. Whereas economic depressions once occurred every few decades before the end of the Great Depression, the western world has not suffered any such economic downturn in modern times. Today, relative to the previous century, the middle class is strong, poverty is in decline, and opportunities are everywhere. Education levels are increasing steadily. Corporations are held in check. Health and safety regulations are the norm.

 

We've come a long way in the science department. There are certainly arguments that tech such as computers and the Internet have had negative impacts on such things as interpersonal relationships, but I personally believe that these technologies are ultimately beneficial to people and society as a whole. We've also developed advanced medicine in the past century. Cancer, heart disease, and stroke are some of the greatest natural killers today--and each day we're coming closer to ending them forever. Energy efficient transportation goes a long way toward creating a cleaner environment. Aerospace technologies provide us with services that people half a century ago would dream of having--and some that they never would have dreamed.

 

After two of the deadliest wars in history and a half-century standoff, we're much less inclined to have any similar--or worse--conflicts. It's an especially big issue, though, and it might derail the thread, so I won't talk too much about it.

 

Morals and ethics is one topic I won't be touching with a ten-foot pole in this post.

 

*snip*

Most of what I believe is to blame is what I had listed two paragraphs above (religion, currency, foreign trade, overpopulation, politics, outsourcing, etc. etc.) and I'm positive there is more things to add to that as well, but I believe it all generates within those topics.

A few of those topics are what I call short term gain, long term loss and most are basically generated because of power especially religion. Probably without religion, I think it'd be safe to say there wouldn't have been as many wars, I say that because usually when you try to get someone to believe in something they don't want to, a issue arises.

Originally, religion was put into play to scare people into following a "common order" so people weren't running all over killing each other, stealing, etc. then folks start to deviate from the norm and they make their own religions, then I bet you can guess what happens... they have a dispute over it and try and destroy each other (this is why we should have all just been puppies...)

 

Wars occur with or without religion. Religion is an excuse, the absence of which would only create other excuses. There can be no doubt the Crusades involved religious passion, but it's equally important to consider the desire for land, money, power, and an external threat.

 

I'm really not sure why you think religion is making society worse today. If anything, the decline of fundamentalism is making things better. The current situation in the Middle East reflects conflicts that have been present for centuries. Bible thumping Christians have always existed.

And to touch on the "Are the good times really over" aspect; I definitely think we hit that mark as a country too for many obvious reasons such as illegal immigration, outsourcing and many other stupid things that match up with those two examples. Another thing that is very jacked up is how the United States seems to always get sucked into helping these worn down third world countries, and if we don't people get all hot n' bothered and throw a fit (not just people in our country, others as well) I think it's very straight forward that we need to line up our own railroad tracks before we go lining up someone else's.

The country was strong back when we had jobs here, such as automobile manufacturers for example. Thanks to outsourcing we are going broke. And they also worry about "sweatshops" in other countries and how they should put a stop to that, but personally, I think that idea would backfire like a old Buick. If we put a stop to the sweatshops, those people will come here to the united states because they won't be getting paid at all when they were getting paid before (not saying they were getting paid a lot, but still). We don't need more folks coming in and taking what jobs we do have left. People stick their hand out to Uncle Sam for some money when Uncle Sam is the one on the sidewalk living in a box.... damn welfare... anyways...

 

Welfare in the US is limited to two years at a time, five years maximum. The goal is to support people only long enough until they can find jobs.

 

I agree with immigration, outsourcing, and foreign involvement.

And I'll just stop there because like I said, it's possible to drag this on forever. Should be interesting...

 

Anyways, that is along the lines of where i'm going with this topic. Like Grandpap always said "There's never any wrong answers, but there is always going to be ignorant answers." Grandpap was a self-certified philosopher.

 

I agree. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but no opinion is exempt from criticism.

[Friendship_Cannon 1,676]

You both are right in some points, but (and I don´t wanna specify that too much)

 

The crux of humanity is to make the same mistakes again, the west ignores poor countries (and their people) just as long until someone finds oil or other ressources there. Than there will soon be found a reason for a war, and the population there - well...

 

Though we´ve come very far in technology up here and say we got a working democracy and a social society, that is a golden cage we are living in separated by a black veil from the (not so wealthy) rest. Our governments aren´t (in most cases) much less corrupt then the ones in countries we call "developing nations" they are just in a subtile way... in Europe we discover that slowly...

International arrangements aren´t worth the paper they are written on (or do you believe the countries who said they would destroyed all their atomic bombs? just for example)...

Instead of doing our duty and help developing nations evolve we spend 100s billions of euros on banks not to go bankrupt or whole countries who have been lead into disasters over decades by dishonest governments. That money is getting lost, and even if there is some money that actually is sent to poor countries there is a chance of maybe 10% it reaches the ones it is sent for...

The global warming is taken very seriously, my neighbor ralf sold his SUV for a Prius (sorry for this joke just an example) while there are hundred-thousands of trees logged every second, what produces much more CO2 then we can imagine...

Same time, to stay at economy, we have the technology to run a lot of things on green energy, but as long as there are oil-giants with hay-loads of money to give to people to hide these techniques there will be no progress...

The radical islamic powers in north Africa fight us with our own weapons we sent them earlier and get even supported by the world most influential governements if it hepls to weaken a common enemy (who is on international parkett a "dear friend") or to get the ressources we all lick our fingers after.

 

So, all in all, we got a big problem and we need to change a lot of things, I just mentioned some of them, there are many more. And, though it hurts me to say so, if we go on like this we´re going to have an even bigger problem soon...

 

That doesn´t mean I lost the hope, but it is getting harder to keep it

[jeanne 5]

I think we're doing great. There has been a lot of progress recently technology and that always creates new winners and losers. The losers, like those who thought desktop computers were going to be around forever, are whining about the economy. The winners already make tablets and smartphones are making billions.

 

The US does have a lot of political problems. The US has always had a lot of political problems. Whatsnew?

[Starbolt Moonshadow 11]

I see a lot of our problems today resulting in the inevitable globalization of our world. Economies are being tied together, cultures are mixing, and those resistant to these changes are making a big ruckus about it. Our evolution as a species is literally uprooting systems that have been in place for decades and unsettling those who have grown comfortable with them.

 

I personally think we are doing great, it's just the people who are afraid of change are getting really boisterous and making things seem worse than they really are. As long as we stay on the ball and work on adapting our civilization to meet these changes, we will do fine.

 

Just remember, Smile smile smile!