Could going backwards be the way forwards?
As I look with dismay and horror at the state of the world today it often occurs to me that it really was better when I was a child. It really was better when I was a teenager and young man too, perhaps not so in my personal life but in the world at large.
It is as if the more development and the more technology and progress we have had the worse everything as got in so many ways. I am certain you can think of many examples.
If we could turn back time
by BardofEly
Progress brings many problems it seems and many people would welcome going back to the good old days.
Cancer
The "Big C"
Diseases like all the forms of cancer that are killing people today were a rarity in my youth. Yes, the disease existed and was known as a serious threat to life but you were unlikely to actually personally know anyone who suffered or died from it.
Nowadays it is the reverse with the news full of reports of famous people who are being treated for cancer or have finally lost their lives to the disease. In our personal social circles there can be few of us who have not lost friends who died from cancer or who do not know of people who are battling the condition.
We are told that medical science has advanced by leaps and bounds and that it is possible now to cure many things that they were unable to years back but if we look around it seems that there are far more people with serious illnesses and poor health. So why would that be?
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Security
Personal safety
The world was a lot safer 30 or 40 years back, and even 10 or 20 years ago it was not as dangerous as it has become. Yes, the media paints a depressing picture and can easily make you think that things are a lot worse than they appear but nevertheless the violent crimes, the terrible catalogue of abuses against people and animals, the mindless vandalism that spoils so many places are all very real.
People didn't used to be scared to go out in their neighbourhoods or to go to the city centre after dark but they have become so in many locations today.
Then there's the matter of home security and the businesses that sell it. If there really wasn't so much burglary and crime people would not want all the locks and alarms they have nowadays. The threat from malicious callers and thieves is there. It didn't used to be that way!
There are many reasons the world has got into the mess it is in and many are of the opinion that it has been deliberately engineered that way by the elite controllers of society. It is part of their New World Order plan to create "order out of chaos". First they create that chaos.
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Conspiracy Theory
It is like David Icke so often has pointed out with the formula: "Problem-Reaction-Solution". This means that you create a problem, wait for the response from the public which is usually "something must be done," and then offer a solution to something you caused in the first place.
An example would be to encourage crime by increasing poverty, promoting a "must-have" consumer mindset and using media messages that make being some sort of a crook appear as something desirable to young people, eg. with Gangsta rap music, gang culture and "hoodies." Then when you have people complaining about all the robberies and street crime you offer the solution: tighter police controls and increased surveillance with close-circuit TV cameras.
The Natural World
Endangered species
It is not only in human affairs, because out in the natural world all is not well too. Species are vanishing at a truly alarming rate and many once common animals and plants are now endangered. The environment is under attack. Not only are we losing forests, moors, wetlands and wild flower meadows but the sea is filling up with plastic and other forms of pollution.
I remember as a boy that Common Lizards were once common. I could find them on the railway bank and on hedge banks by where I lived but not any more. All three species of British newt - the Common Newt, the Palmate Newt and the Great Crested Newt - were all found in various ponds in the neighbourhood. Several of these ponds no longer exist.
Caterpillars of moths like the big furry ones known as Woolly Bears that after pupation become the very colourful Garden Tiger Moth, used to often be seen running across back lanes or nibbling holes in the rhubarb. Now they are a species listed as disappearing fast from its past range. Butterflies too are vanishing rapidly, and bees worldwide are going too.
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Silent Spring
Predicted by Rachel Carson
There are many reasons why nature is having a hard time of it. Besides the obvious loss of actual habitats there are far more people using harmful herbicides like Monsanto's Roundup as well as more pesticides. The book Silent Spring by Rachel Carson was a grim warning against this and how we are losing so many birds that it really is becoming devoid of birdsong in many places, so why are people so keen to poison the land?
I really think we need to go backwards, backwards into a simpler way of life, back to a world that didn't have so many gadgets and scientific advancements but was a lot happier and healthier. Back to a world of organic farming and good old-fashioned food.
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Great Pacific Garbage Patch
Plastic pollution
I have been thinking a lot about plastic pollution recently. It is a really serious matter. There Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the ocean is said to be as big as Texas and it is made mostly of plastic.
In some parts of the sea there are six parts of plastic to every one part of plankton. The sand is becoming full of plastic particles. Marine creatures have to swallow this, other marine animals like turtles and seabirds die directly from eating plastic in the form of floating bags that they mistake for food such as jellyfish.
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The Plastiki
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So why do we have so much plastic in the first place? Why can't we go back to glass bottles?
Somebody said to me that today it would be said by the "Nanny State" that glass is more dangerous because it can be used in crimes of violence. I don't think that is a totally valid argument.
Tenerife
In the Canary Islands
Where I live in Tenerife it is still normal to get served with glass glasses and glass bottles at a bar and reports of anyone being hurt from an assault using glass are very rare indeed. I don't think I have seen or heard of one.
So what does that mean? Are people better behaved in a culture that still uses glasses and glass bottles? It seems they once were elsewhere too.
Glass bottles were returnable and could be used again. There used to be refunds on them and people were encouraged to take them back to the supplier to get the money back on them. That system worked well.
Why are so many foods packaged in plastic? They didn't used to be. Fruit and veg were not sold pre-packaged. The idea that the food is more hygienic doesn't stand up well. People were healthier without all this packaging.
And why do we need plastic water bottles? Why do we need to buy water? Why can't the authorities produce clean healthy water in the first place? Why are there not public drinking fountains about like there used to be?
If I Could Turn Back Time
Hit song by Cher
Fluoride
Poisoned water
Why do people feel a need to drink and buy bottled water? Well, for a start because tap water often has fluoride in it. Many members of the population do want to consume this poison so why are we forced to have it?
The answer is for fluoride not to be added to public water supplies in the first place. It didn't used to be so why can't we go back to like it was in those days?
In fact why can't we return to a whole lot of much healthier ways of the past? "If I could turn back time..." as the song by Cher goes.
Copyright © 2012 Steve Andrews. All Rights Reserved.
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Updated: 12/30/2012, BardofEly
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Comments
Thanks, Dustytoes, and yes, I increasingly hear of friends that go to the doctor have a load of tests and come away with some dire diagnosis and are put on a bunch of meds or worse sent for chemo or radiation treatment after cancer has been found. Most of these people never recover fully and have to take drugs for the rest of their lives and some die. This cannot be normal! The news is full of cases of celebrities to that are no better off and we are losing film and music stars to cancer all the time! I am sure it didn't used to be like this!
It's too late to go back. That will never happen. People are greedy and ignorant in general and as inept man tries to make the world better, we can see that it is in decline. I especially agree with your paragraphs on cancer. The more doctors look for problems the more they will find. It's all these "preventative" procedures that are actually shortening our lives, in my opinion. I saw a lady on the news who was over 100 years old interviewed, and when asked how she had lived so long she said, "stay away from doctors"... no kidding! Obviously we need them, but not for all the stuff they want to do nowadays. You've made very good points here and it makes me sad.
Thank you for your thoughts on this!
Life is full of ups and downs and I can say from my experience some things were better and some were worse in the past. But if I remember history books I have read, life was loaded with problems in any era in last five thousand years (and probably same was in last million years too).
You made some good points but thinking about my childhood and youth I can honestly say I was unaware of many problems because of my ignorance, not because they didn't exist.
And sometimes we are just nostalgic...
Well, being nostalgic is actually good thing:)
Thanks for your comments! You have got me thinking that maybe it would be a good idea for me to join one if I could find one here!
You remind me of the communes of the 60s that were set up by hippies getting away from the insanity of modern life as it was then (and rejoining society after they started having kids). Today, in Israel, there are many families with school aged kids who are leaving the big cities and moving into small communities far from the bustle to set up cottage industries (goat cheese making, holiday getaway rentals, olive oil products, etc) and live a simpler life. These communities are thriving. Wish there were more.
Thanks, Brenda! Yes, I know what you mean and I just wrote about some of the things I could think of but there are many more.
I feel like I'm living in a science fiction movie today. There are so many variables that have contributed to the world we live in now. It isn't just one thing. I would list them here but I'm not in the mood now, and some of them are not PC. To set the record straight, I'm not talking about race or sexual preference. Great article, Bard.
Thank you for your comments, Arlene and Katie! When I first came to Tenerife on holiday I had no TV, no PC, no phone, no video-player, no radio even, but just a bed and table and chair, a sink and a room, and i was happy. I knew that had I enough money to pay to carry on living like that that I wouldn't have missed all the other stuff!
I just came off a two week vacation. I spent the bulk of the time up on the lake (Erie) with the snow accumulating daily from the beautiful snow ballet. I did not once pick up any electronic devices. I spoke to only those I came in contact with as my cell phone was turned off and forgotten about. I took no lap top, tablet or other devices I'm normally attached to day in and out. It was wonderful, invigorating and enlightening. I was amazed as to how this city slicker could be taken away from it all and never miss it healing all the while. I've never felt better. It's so good to take stock in what really matters. How timely I should start off the new year reading this. Great read and very inspiring. :)K