Is it really worse now?

[theclemsonkid]

This is a question geared more for those on this board older than, let's say 45...
As someone who is 27, I can be the first to attest that today's media will do anything and everything to sensationalize a story. We all know the old mantra "If it bleeds it leads".
Because of that, you'll see FOX, CNN, all these cable news channels report on just about anything that will get a "reaction".
My question is...
Is life really worse now than it was 50 years ago? I mean my little old Nana is scared to death that I am gonna be shot, or murdered, killed by a drunk driver, etc etc every time I leave from visiting her.
I try and tell her that I honestly think that back when she was my age, there was just as much bad stuff going on, she just didn't have CNN.com and FOX News to report it to her in real time.
Or maybe all this coverage really HAS driven the population in general into a darker place where maybe it really IS worse.
I'm just curious what you all think!
Thanks in advance...

 

[jmick]

Well I am not older, only 33 but I blame 24/7 new sources such as CNN, CNBC and Fox News for ratings driven news and coverage that is geared for ratings instead of telling the whole story or putting it in perspective. People have not changed, just the way news is told and "reported".

 

[aquaknight]

I dunno maybe, I'm only 22, but my 45 year old Dad told me a great story. When he was a kid, they used to play Manhunt (a cool way of saying hide and seek), pretty much with whole block, ~30 kids, and they'd play all over the block, neighbor's backyards, dog houses, pools. etc. And all the neighbor's, parents, friends, were outside talking, chatting etc.
Can anyone name a town now that you'd could do that in today? You get yelled at for stepping on someone's yawn these days...

 

[salty blues]

I agree that with the 24 hour news cycle we have, it seems that there is more crime. However, I also believe that our culture has definitely gotten more secular and more sinful in the last 40+ years.
It started in the late fifties to early sixties and was made worse in the '70's with the Roe vs Wade ruling which has caused an increasing disregard for human life ever since, imho.

 

[reefraff]

Yes and no. I am pushing 49. Some things are worse but mostly it's more out in the open now than it was when I was a kid. If a family member or friend got into trouble you didn't talk about it. Now it seems like fodder for some serious bragging.
You also have all the media. Used to be 3 networks with nightly news from like 6 to 8 pm. Now you have 2 24/7 cable news networks (3 if you include BSNBC as news ) the 4 major networks, PBS, assorted minor networks plus the internet and they have to fill all that time with something. When stuff goes right it generally isn't news. So of course the negative is what is highlighted.
As far as reality
When I was a kid you had to work a lot harder at getting into trouble. Drugs were around but not as much and they weren't nearly as out in the open, even growing up in a
60's surfer town in California. Even in the late 60's early 70's it was kinda unusual for a kid's mom to work. We were given more freedom that a lot of kid have these days but we were also watched a lot closer. If you did something wrong someone's mom was a lot more likey to see it and rat you out.
Standard of living
I was like 11 years old before we had a color TV. We had 7 channels and that was in the LA market. If you wanted your car, bike, etc to move you moved it. Video games when who called dibs first on the TV (as in one TV

) for Saturday morning cartoons. Both parents have to work now but we have a lot more "stuff".

 

[acrylics]

I think it's worse but I may be wrong.
We played football, baseball, tag, hide n seek, smear the *****, etc, out in the street, doesn't happen anymore that I see.
Getting a girl pregnant was huge (as it should be) but we didn't worry about parts falling off, exploding, or actually dying as a result of such activities.
I remember when Pong first came out, was *kind of* a big deal but if it got in the way of hangin' w/ friends - who cares. Nowadays, the computer is your only friend (for many anyway).
We knew every one of our neighbors very well and could name every family within a 2 block radius, doesn't happen anymore.
College was viewed as a good thing back then but not necessarily mandatory, now it's driven down your throat from a very young age; if you don't get a master's - you'll end up going nowhere.
We didn't have leashes such as cell phones or pagers or blackberries, we never had an answering machine until probably the mid to late '80s and we lived.
We could bring a pocketknife anywhere - not a big deal at all, everyone's dad gave them one when they came of age. Now that same pocketknife will get you expelled and possibly charges filed.
We had just a handful of TV stations, no cable, had to change the channel manually. Now there is a remote for everything and a gazillion channels of garbage on TV - all of them trying to sell you something from a political point of view to the newest rectal scraper.
The idea of going back to my hometown and buying a house is complete and total nonsense - no way I could afford it.
Interwebs??? While it's kinda neat, it does not make life any better by any means IMO.
I think life is far more stressful today, people are generally not as friendly, relatively rude, and much more lazy IMO. It seems "real life" interpersonal relationships are nearly a thing of the past and social skills in general have gone way down hill. And if it weren't for the new crop of medications, I think the average lifespan would actually be dropping dramatically due to a combination of stress & laziness.
"Stuff" is nice, but doesn't make life any better to me. Most of the little "conveniences" are decidedly inconvenient, again - for the most part.
But of course I may be wrong, just my perspective. I'm really not negative on life at all, I live as I choose to. I wouldn't trade my life today for anything, I truly enjoy it but it did take a bit of work to get it the way it is. I just hope the younger generations will learn to relax a little, very few things are *that* important.

 

[ric maniac]

Originally Posted by AquaKnight
http:///forum/post/2578967
I dunno maybe, I'm only 22, but my 45 year old Dad told me a great story. When he was a kid, they used to play Manhunt (a cool way of saying hide and seek), pretty much with whole block, ~30 kids, and they'd play all over the block, neighbor's backyards, dog houses, pools. etc. And all the neighbor's, parents, friends, were outside talking, chatting etc.
Can anyone name a town now that you'd could do that in today? You get yelled at for stepping on someone's yawn these days...

we do that almost every weekend. Around here everyone knows eachother and that is a cool thing to be a part of

 

[kichimark]

According to my pops (78...im 26) things have certainly changed. But as someone said earlier things are more open now. My pops always talks about the good old days. But one thing I keep in mind is that today and tomorrow might be the "good ol days" later on.

 

[socal57che]

Originally Posted by ric maniac
http:///forum/post/2579429
we do that almost every weekend. Around here everyone knows eachother and that is a cool thing to be a part of
I won't let my 9yr old play in our own front yard without being there. Neighbors across the street are the same way. If they can't be outside, their kids can't be either, unless there is another parent out and they are playing with their kids. Homes on our street sell for $425k to $600k, so we're a long way from being ghetto. I played all over the nieghborhood where I grew up until way past dark. Things are worse now. Compare the stuff they're allowed to run on TV compared to 30 years ago. Society is going down the toilet....and fast.

 

[fats71]

Member when wee used to be able to walk to the corner market by ourself at 6 and 7 ?? Everyone in the neighborhood knew who you were and if you did something wrong they would either punish you for it or walk you to your house ear in their hand...
We used to actually play outside and our parents did not have to worry about us being kidnapped raped drive bys and that sort of thing.
I think it was great the 70's and into the early 80's people did these sort of things. look at crime statistics in your area and then go back 20 years and see how much it has changed.
We prayed everyday in school in the morning said the pledge to the flag before we did anything. If we got in trouble at school you got swats with that huge paddle made in shop with the drilled out holes...
teachers cared if you learned school systems did not have metal detectors to enter them the doors were not locked.
You betcha it has changed an the media exposes it they do not provoke it.

 

[socal57che]

Originally Posted by Fats71
http:///forum/post/2579507
the doors were not locked.
The elementary schools here all have gates with locks and are fenced all the way around. Never saw that when I was growing up. Looks like a prison from the outside.

 

[skipperdz]

Originally Posted by AquaKnight
http:///forum/post/2578967
I dunno maybe, I'm only 22, but my 45 year old Dad told me a great story. When he was a kid, they used to play Manhunt (a cool way of saying hide and seek), pretty much with whole block, ~30 kids, and they'd play all over the block, neighbor's backyards, dog houses, pools. etc. And all the neighbor's, parents, friends, were outside talking, chatting etc.
Can anyone name a town now that you'd could do that in today? You get yelled at for stepping on someone's yawn these days...

WILLIAMSVILLE NEWYORK! SORRY HAD TO IM 26 AND WHEN I WAS YOUNGER WE USED THE WHOLE STREET FOR HIDE AND SEEK DAY AND NIGHT

 

[skipperdz]

i think alot of it depends on technology. if all the technology we have to day was present back 40 or 50 years ago it wouldnt be that different. we have alot more access to things with internet/tv/cable/satellite that wasnt around before. therefore making it more common to see, get and use. most people only had the "cheryl tieges poster" (sorry for sp) not ppv or internet. lack of tv channels = less variety of shows, which was accessable by even a lesser amount of people. so there was a lesser demand for movies/shows that showed violence or

[hr]
. if it were as accessable back then as it is now i dont see it being that different.
just a youngins perspective....