The good ol' days.

I am now an old man. I wasn't always old, I used to have youth in abundance. To me, back then was better than it is now with memories too good to be replaced with new modern ones. Being a logical person denies me the luxury of believing the good ol' days were really better, but one knows what one knows and I know a lot of what made the good ol' days good were - actually better. The  problem a logical person is faced with is that it is plain to see the quality of life has improved for most people, including me, but logic aside I know only some things are an improvement while the loss of many of the old ways that made for a better life back in the day, restricted the direction an improved modern life could take.

Young and old can see and experience modern improvements. The advancements in technology makes the quality of life a lot easier. I would need a lifetime to list all the advantages. And it is undeniable that life expectancy and general health has improved despite drug abuse and obesity. But there is more to experiencing a good life than for it to be easier or longer.

What have we lost that modern life hasn't made up for?

We have lost the trust we had that tomorrow would be better. Now, no one can count on anything. No one tells the truth anymore. Everything is glossed over. Political correctness takes precedent over common sense and the law. Even our language is being corrupted to fit the new order.

Remember the days when laundry detergent actually cleaned clothes. It came in cases that you needed a fork truck to move and would last for six months for a few bucks. The modern, so-called "improved concentrated" kind, comes in a matchbox size carton that cost more and doesn't clean clothes at the recommended rate of use. Providing you were prepared to endure commercials, television programs were free. Now you pay big bucks to do the same thing. Some people used cut-up newspapers in the toilet, others paid for a softer experience, now toilet tissue is made for pigmies who don't eat. The rest of us need half a roll to do what a few sheets did back in the day. In the good ol' days a product did what it promised, and more. Now it promises more but does less.

Can anyone still believe anything they are told? Does the car you drive actually perform as the salesman and advertising promised. If you buy a car now will it be the best deal ever? Does the fancy filtered water you pay as much for as a gallon of gas cost a few years ago, actually come from a mountain spring? Is it better than tap water? Will you be healthier and lose weight after eating a so-called health bar that is actually what was called a candy bar that made you fat a few years ago?

What can be trusted now? People don't expect the truth. Is that better for anyone? Are the good ol' days really the myth young people believe?

Technology can promise an easier life for the consumer but how much actual work will a person have to do to keep up with new developments to get that easier life? Already a cell phone can make movies, play music, access the power of  the Internet, tell you the quickest way to the airport and much more an old guy like me will be dead before he can learn, but it still drops calls and can't be used in all buildings. Is it real improvement to have to walk outside to receive a call? Is an i-phone a better phone?

In the good ol' days Americans were unlike peoples from other countries. Their lives were conducted as individuals. They were free to do their own thing with few limitations. While social trends and fashion raged through Europe regimenting its populations into a race of followers, Americans remained individualistic in nature, redefining politics and the direction of their own country. Ending an unpopular war, inventing a counter-culture unlike anything seen before, and championing American prosperity to new heights. America had the highest standard of living on the planet, the best of everything. From the most envied in the good ol' days to the most hated now. All because no one can trust what we say, not even us. From the president on down, we have become a nation of liars and cheaters.

We have now become followers like the rest of mankind.

Americans accept whatever their government tells them. Not because they believe the rhetoric but because it is easier that way. They follow like sheep to the slaughter any new trend in technology or popular ideology. They have become Europeans. Is it a better tomorrow to emulate peoples who a few years ago wanted to emulate us?

Although there are superfluous advantages in the modern lifestyle, I am convinced the good ol' days will be held as a benchmark in history as the pinnacle of what human kind can achieve when people can trust each other and a better tomorrow.

Will your tomorrow be better?

That's what I think. What do you think?


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