Arzosah wrote: ↑Sat Jul 20, 2019 12:57 pm
I don't think thats *quite* the whole story ... I think there's a normalcy-bias type thing going on, where people can't really believe it can get that bad. By 1957, Harold MacMillan could say, and have it believed, that Britain had never had it so good:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/date ... 728225.stm but we look at the "high point" of 1957 now and its like a Third World country. Even I only know some of the detail of what things were like then because I was asking about family history all the time as a kid
Since then, living standards have gone up and up and up (though I'd also argue that some things have gone down in quality - noise pollution, clothing quality, food quality in some ways, maybe a few other things).
People wanted a better world for their kids, they wanted their kids to be safer, more secure. Well, we are! But there are unintended consequences to that - most people haven't known anything but security and safety and rising standards - thats an *achievement*! But the unintended consequences are coming back to bite us now, and the swing of the pendulum will probably be fierce.
Good points.Yes,I agree that there may be an element of normalcy bias at play when there is an *issue*.However,what you quite rightly describe as a high standard of living and the unintended consequences,has made people unaware and " mentally unfit",as Arwen said.There is no struggle,no fight- to-survive anymore.I remember the tough times of the late sixties and seventies.Where I was brought up ,nobody had anything,and you lived on your wits and your fists.Your dad had a garden and kept fowls...where I lived anyway.As kids we hustled for money,odd jobs here and there,paper rounds,gardening etc. I read the other day about how few kids have part time jobs these days; We cannot get a Saturday lad these days,and if we do,they cannot hack more than one shift,and they all say, " it's hard work. " It would seem that life ( not for all though) is too easy? The kids have no fight in them.
We appear to have created a huge entitlement culture. "You can't say that,or do that,as it offends ME", oh yes and," I have a RIGHT to do what I like", ( even if it upsets others!) My wife deals with all that c*ap daily,from eight year olds.If they are reprimanded,the snowflake parents are in her and her colleagues faces reciting the above! They are sworn at,spat at,assaulted and the parents will NOT accept that their children have done it. If I had done that,I would have been caned,and then thrashed by my dad.For that reason alone ,it was not commonplace. Last year my wife was stabbed in the back by a child who was punished by witholding playtime for swearing at her.The child used a pencil to do this,and it was nasty.When the child was excluded,the parents came in with their oh-so- normal entitlement rant,about their child being innocent.Regardless of the injury to my wife.
She is at the side of me right now,and she commented that parents of errant children never,EVER,admit that their child is wrong! Recently she was accused of raising her voice at a child ( yes,that is right,they cannot even do that), and an ' investigation' had to be carried out,as little Johnny Snowflake was upset.Mummy Snowflake literally played merry hell. Nothing came of it,the child had made it up!But there was no apology from the parent,even though my wife went through a lot of mental anguish.
The parents and their children are what we have now.I find that even elderly people have the same attitude at times,my mother and mother in law being prime examples. Juxtapose the above school situation into a ' Mass Feeding' situation,and it's gonna look ugly.
In three words I can sum up everything I have learned about life: It goes on.
Robert Frost.
Covid 19: After that level of weirdness ,any situation is certainly possible.
Me.
