This is just the musings of an old fart. I don’t expect much interest, but maybe it will strike a chord with one or two people.

About 15 years ago, I read the biography of Tom Horn. He was a Pinkerton man around 1900 who was hired by a Wyoming Cattleman’s Association to suppress cattle rustling by, basically, just going out and killing the rustlers. Eventually, as the world began to change, the cattlemen came to recognize that Horn was a dangerous man and he scared them. They framed him for the murder of a young boy and Horn was hanged along around 1903.

This is a wild west story. I realized that, from the time that this all took place to the time I was born was less time than I had been alive. Imagine the things my dad got to see between his birth in 1911 till I was born in 1945. Airplanes were invented and in almost no time they became hi-tech bombers and passenger vehicles. A system of barely paved and dirt roads became a network of pretty adequate paved highways. The telegraph gave way to nationwide radio networks. Eventually TV. (Can anyone deny that TV is an absolute “necessity” in our lives)?

I remember the city as being a pretty modern place when I was a kid. Lots of traffic, Plenty of modern skyscrapers, A well-developed mass-transit system. All that happened in a such a short time. Did the world just stop changing since then?

Only old farts tend to think about this kind of thing.

Of course not. The changes have accelerated at a parabolic rate, but they happen in ways that most people don’t really notice . In my opinion, the two greatest inventions of the 20th century are microwave ovens and velcro. But, the really important changes have taken place in medical science, technological industrial innovations, world climatology understanding and, of course, space technology and associated military applications.

I don’t know what any of this means. It’s just something that has stuck in my mind. Perhaps, it says that people should be mindful that the world is likely to be dramatically different today than it was when they went to sleep last night. Old attitudes and opinions may not apply anymore.

I'd say that one of the biggest changes is in the area of communication. We have more ways to communicate and so little patience when doing so.

I think people as a whole have gotten more rude over time. When i go shopping, I see so many cashiers get the heads chewed when they tell people how much their total is only to have the customer yell at them:'Excuse me! can't you see i'm on the phone???"
Granted, if i don't say something, someone else usually does, to the effect of..."and you are not the only one in line..."

changes for the good: The Cuyahoga River in Cleveland is no longer flamable and seldon do you find 2 or 3 headed perch and walleye.

the ability to make snow is better than it was in the 70's.

Nevermind technology, let's just look at some of the major events that have happened since I was born in 1971.

The Oil Embargo
The killing fields of Cambodia
Watergate
End of the Vietnam War
The Son of Sam
Peace between Egypt and Israel
The Iranian Hostage Crisis
Civil war in Lebanon
Grenada
The Iran-Iraq War
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
Explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger
Assassination attempt on President Reagan
Ousting of General Noriega
Ousting of Ferdinand Marcos
Iran-Contra Scandal
Fall of the Berlin Wall
End of Communism in the USSR
Desert Storm following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait
Bombing in Oklahoma City
Bombing at Olympics in Atlanta
Bombing of the World Trade Center
Enron
GlobalComm
TyCo
9/11
War against Terror
Bernie Madoff
Bank bailout
Auto manufacturers bailout
Tsunami in Indonesia
Tsunami in Japan
Hurricane Katrina
Exxon Valdez
BP oil spill in Gulf of Mexico
The end of Apartheid
The release of Nelson Mandela
The wedding of Charles and Diana
The death of Diana
The death of Princess Grace
The Famine in Ethiopia
Ethnic cleansing in Yugoslavia
Genocide in the Sudan
Qaddafi's Line of Death
Eruption of Mt. St. Helen's
World Series Earthquake
Earthquake in Bam, Iran
Halley's Comet
The return-flight break up of Space Shuttle Columbia
The Fall of Sky Lab
End of hostilities in Northern Ireland
The death of Francisco Franco


And there's more I can't even remember right now.

Point is, a lot of history has been made in the past 40 years. Technology has improved at an accelerated pace, but our lives - the world around us - are also moving at a greatly accelerated pace. Technology has affected the way we interact with our world. Is it any wonder that so many of us would like to slow the pace down?

Hello and Good Afternoon :)


The world has changed 100% for the better, just 30 years ago you did not have most of the necessary components in existence for half of the things that are an integral part of your life today, including the computer that you are sitting at to pose this question. Saying that the world has changed for the worse would be favoring some of the horrible things that we have eradicated that previously kept down humanity to the comfortable chair you now sit in with your life unthreatened by any immediate means. Dont believe the cynical media, humanity's advancements are undeniable and will continue irregardless of the situation.

In the early 21st century we face many new problems, but things have gotten much better since the last century. Wars are less frequent, less destructive, and shorter - and now, unlike ever before in history, aggressors are routinely condemned by almost all nations on Earth. All people of the world are increasingly connected and communication is easier and quicker than ever before. Science and technology are advancing at amazing rates. Medicine has advanced so far and people are living longer. We are expanding our knowledge about the nature of life and the universe and exploring space. The standard of living is astronomically higher than it was even 50 years ago, not just in the First World, but all over the world. Racism and intolerance are dying out.

We are very lucky to live in this time period. However, the problems we face are very real and there is a lot at stake with things like global warming, terrorism, etc - the world needs to unite to solve these issues and to keep the change coming - change is good.

Hello and Good Afternoon :)


The world has changed 100% for the better, just 30 years ago you did not have most of the necessary components in existence for half of the things that are an integral part of your life today, including the computer that you are sitting at to pose this question. Saying that the world has changed for the worse would be favoring some of the horrible things that we have eradicated that previously kept down humanity to the comfortable chair you now sit in with your life unthreatened by any immediate means. Dont believe the cynical media, humanity's advancements are undeniable and will continue irregardless of the situation.

In the early 21st century we face many new problems, but things have gotten much better since the last century. Wars are less frequent, less destructive, and shorter - and now, unlike ever before in history, aggressors are routinely condemned by almost all nations on Earth. All people of the world are increasingly connected and communication is easier and quicker than ever before. Science and technology are advancing at amazing rates. Medicine has advanced so far and people are living longer. We are expanding our knowledge about the nature of life and the universe and exploring space. The standard of living is astronomically higher than it was even 50 years ago, not just in the First World, but all over the world. Racism and intolerance are dying out.

We are very lucky to live in this time period. However, the problems we face are very real and there is a lot at stake with things like global warming, terrorism, etc - the world needs to unite to solve these issues and to keep the change coming - change is good.

the more things change the more they stay the same...

flyingscooter:

Great Pyranees!!! We raised Pyr-Maremma mixes as livestock guardian dogs. Awesome dogs! I could talk about them all day long.

Kissablekiss: It is so great to see you again. I enjoyed your post.

The 21st century alone has been interesting, let alone, the 19th and 20th century!

But, there are even better times to come. Roll on the 2020's!

Thanks Artlo ,nice to see you too


here is a hug if im allowed



hello Chris ;)

I prefer flushable wipes to toilet paper so even that has improved from before...lol

All the technology and all the advances and we STILL are not any closer to PEACE & LOVE & UNDERSTANDING. The wars still rage on, mankind is full of themselves more so than ever...with their greedy me-me mindset and people still don't understand that taking care of Mother Earth should be our main goal.

Sounds a bit like Winters Gibbet. In history lessons, at school, we always got shown or told the most gruesome stuff that could give you nightmares. I didn't wanna see a damn prisoner being hanged, thanks very much. I was only a teen. No wonder i still get nightmares. Lol. Though at the same time i do find history quite interesting.

Hiya, Kiss. You caught me off-guard with your sudden appearance!

About time you came back.

Bidets are definitely the way to go.

Cartoons used to be good...now they suck as they try to be politically correct.

Information flows at a much faster rate.

Other than that...nothing has changed.

People do good things and bad things.

We still have war and peace, poverty and prosperity, famine and obesity, love and hatred.