Perspective

[torqueman2002]

Maybe we don't have it all that bad?   It’s a mess out there now.  Hard to discern between what’s a real threat and what is just simple panic and hysteria.
 
For a small amount of perspective at this moment, imagine you were born in 1900.
 
On your 14th birthday, World War I starts, and ends on your 18th birthday.  22 million people perish in that war.  Later in the year, a Spanish Flu epidemic hits the planet and runs until your 20th birthday.  50 million people die from it in those two years.  Yes, 50 million.
 
On your 29th birthday, the Great Depression begins.  Unemployment hits 25%, the World GDP drops 27%.  That runs until you are 33.  The country nearly collapses along with the world economy.
 
When you turn 39, World War II starts.  You aren’t even over the hill yet.  And don’t try to catch your breath.  On your 41st birthday, the United States is fully pulled into WWII.  Between your 39th and 45th birthday, 75 million people perish in the war.
 
Smallpox was epidemic until you were in your 40s, as it killed 300 million people during your lifetime.
 
At 50, the Korean War starts.  5 million perish.  From your birth, until you are 55 you dealt with the fear of Polio epidemics each summer.  You experience friends and family contracting polio and being paralyzed and/or die.
 
At 55 the Vietnam War begins and doesn’t end for 20 years.  4 million people perish in that conflict.  During the Cold War, you lived each day with the fear of nuclear annihilation.  On your 62nd birthday you have the Cuban Missile Crisis, a tipping point in the Cold War.  Life on our planet, as we know it, almost ended.  When you turn 75, the Vietnam War finally ends.
 
Think of everyone on the planet born in 1900.  How did they endure all of that?  If you were a kid in 1985 you may have thought your 85-year-old grandparent didn’t understand how hard school was.  And how mean that kid in your class was.  Yet they survived everything listed above.
 
Perspective is an amazing and valuable gift.  Refined and enlightening as time goes on.  Let’s try to keep things in perspective.  Your parents and/or grandparents were called upon to endure all of the above – today we are being called upon to stay home and sit on the couch.

[goodfellow]

Great perspective T-man -- absolutely right on.

[slip knot]

lot of truth there.

The greatest generations have come and gone, The current crop is perfectly happy to cower in fear over a virus that has a 95% survival rate.

[bonneyman]

My grandfather was born in 1908. And he lived until after the Apollo moon landings. I never got a chance to ask him, but, I wonder what he thought of the degree of advances within his lifetime.

[DeadNutz]

Thanks for posting that. Many people think that they are going through the roughest thing that has ever happened.

[muddy]

This is basically exactly what my grandfather went through. He was born in 1917 so he'd be a bit younger.

He grew up running a plow behind a horse as soon as he could reach the handles. He then saw the tractor come to fruition. Cars were just a toy for rich folks, and he watched them become a common thing at every house hold.

He lived through the depression and learned what it was like to have nothing and have to earn every penny.

However think of all the good things he also saw.... electricity, television, man on the moon, racial equality....




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[Lookin4_67GalaxieConv]

My grandfather was born in 1904, died in 1988.  Married three times, outlived all of them! 

[J.A.F.E.]

Well said and some good perspective.

The other side of that though is look at the changes that occurred for that same person born in 1900 for instance my maternal grandfather., He was born around 1900 give or take a couple years and lived to about 104 or 106 (we are not really sure there are no hard records and he didn't know himself - he picked a day for his birthday).

Dirt roads were the norm and many paved roads were cobblestones. Horse and wagon was the dominant form of transportation. The railroad was the high tech transport of the day. In his life he saw the airplane, the car become something most people had, gas stations, broadcast radio, television, color television, the VCR, the computer, men landing on the moon, motion pictures with sound, the jet airplane, he went from having an operator make the call for him on a crank phone (which was a small miracle at the time) to push button direct dialing, the cell phone, credit cards, the transistor, integrated circuits, shopping malls, air conditioning and most of the other things we all take for granted.

[DeadNutz]

My dad was just happy to finally get indoor plumbing so he didn't have to walk through the snow to get to the outhouse.

[skfarmer]

my dad was born in 29 and passed  almost 2 years ago. he lived through a lot of that. my wife and i often comment on how much he would have despised all of this. he may have skipped his morning coffee with his buddies but come hell or high water he would have made his trip to the farm several times a week.

[fatfillup]

While I am not glad my Mom passed a year ago, I am thankful she didn't have to live through this.  She was in an assisted living center and with her dementia, not being able to see one of her children on a daily basis would have been very hard on her. 

As to the perspective, yes were are quite spoiled because of the advancement of technology and our lives are pretty cushy compared to previous generations.  But we do have a whole other set of issues to deal with and I would bet a couple of generations down the road will have even cushier lives but a whole new set of issues to deal with also.

[Lookin4_67GalaxieConv]

While I am not glad my Mom passed a year ago, I am thankful she didn't have to live through this.  She was in an assisted living center and with her dementia, not being able to see one of her children on a daily basis would have been very hard on her. 

A friend of mine is going through this very same scenario right now.

[GNAP]

While I am not glad my Mom passed a year ago, I am thankful she didn't have to live through this.  She was in an assisted living center and with her dementia, not being able to see one of her children on a daily basis would have been very hard on her. 

As to the perspective, yes were are quite spoiled because of the advancement of technology and our lives are pretty cushy compared to previous generations.  But we do have a whole other set of issues to deal with and I would bet a couple of generations down the road will have even cushier lives but a whole new set of issues to deal with also.

My mother passed in 1996, in 1990 she had a series of small strokes that evolved into a couple of massive strokes, causing her to be in nursing home for the last five yrs of her life. She came through the strokes in a strange fashion, she regained he ability to talk, walk, read and feed herself, but had absolutely no recollection of who she or anyone else was. She had absolutely no short term or long term memory, the visit to see her were heart wrenching, it was my mother’s body, just not my mother’s soul or personality.

[torqueman2002]

Thanks for all your thoughts and comments.

I can't say those are my original thoughts, but they are some of my feelings on the times we find ourselves in right now.

I received an eMail from a good friend, just as I posted it above.

I like the thoughts and decided to share.

I realize my generation and those after mine (I'm 71 - a Baby Boomer) have it easier, because of the sacrifices previous generations have made. I am very grateful.

What I was given and I in turn gave to my children, was an American middle-class upbringing and values.

But this isn't about me.

It is how fortunate we all are and together we can and will overcome this latest global challenge to our way of life, security, and health.

Each generation wants to give their children a better life.

Stay safe; stay healthy; stay inside, when you can.


Oh, both my parents lived through the depression. My brother, sister, and I lost count of the number of times our Dad told us about potatoes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner - pancakes, soup, bread, ....!

[fatfillup]

While I am not glad my Mom passed a year ago, I am thankful she didn't have to live through this.  She was in an assisted living center and with her dementia, not being able to see one of her children on a daily basis would have been very hard on her. 

As to the perspective, yes were are quite spoiled because of the advancement of technology and our lives are pretty cushy compared to previous generations.  But we do have a whole other set of issues to deal with and I would bet a couple of generations down the road will have even cushier lives but a whole new set of issues to deal with also.

My mother passed in 1996, in 1990 she had a series of small strokes that evolved into a couple of massive strokes, causing her to be in nursing home for the last five yrs of her life. She came through the strokes in a strange fashion, she regained he ability to talk, walk, read and feed herself, but had absolutely no recollection of who she or anyone else was. She had absolutely no short term or long term memory, the visit to see her were heart wrenching, it was my mother’s body, just not my mother’s soul or personality.

Wow Jack, that had to be tough.  Mom knew us to the end, but the hallucinations really worked on her mind.  She was often quite confused