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

[coolmercury]

I was born in 1934 and lived though much of the past.  I remember the depression, as there was no money and when I started school I had two shirts and one pair of pants---no underwear.  Then came WW-2 and rationing, we did eat, we had a big garden, hogs and goats.  Mom often traded food for other items.  Then the war was over and I was drafted for Korea.  Instead I joined the Air Force and passed the testing for both pilot and navigator.  I only had a high school education and a diploma in manual arts (wood & metal shop).  I made it through flight school and graduated as a 2nd Louie and wings as a single engine jet pilot.  The Air Force in its wisdom sent me to Forbes Air Force base to fly the RB-47H recon bomber ( six jet engines, no bombs, 3 guys in the bomb bay with black boxes).  I flew all over the world, especially in and around Russia. Then the Air Force started getting rid of guys that did not have college degrees and I saw the handwriting on the wall and got out.  Went to college and got a BS, MS, and PhD in plant Science and spent 34 years with the University of Florida and ended up Director of three experiment stations.  However, the world has changed, and not for the good, as I would not have had a chance today because high school grades determine your opportunities.  It is now very difficult to climb the ladder if you have not put in the time in high school.

[J.A.F.E.]

coolmercury brings up an interesting point. Many of the breakthroughs and advances we take for granted were done by people with no college education at all.

Nikola Tesla had zero college yet he designed the ac power generating and distribution systems as we know them and it is basically the same 100 years later. He developed the ac generator and ac motor among many other things. He would be totally unemployable today not only because he was not a college graduate but he exhibited many attributes I'll call eccentricities. Had George Westinghouse not hired him the world as we know it would be a very different place.

[Elroy]

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.

Same here

[muddy]

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.

Same here

My grandfather never had electricity until he got married and bought his own hous

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[john k]

Agree on the perspective.  My dad was born in 1911, my mother in 1917,  I grew up hearing about the changes they had seen come into play.  However my grandfather lived on a farm he bought in 1922, didnt get electricity until 1948, lived there til his death in 1968.  Never put in a phone, we were thinking he spoke on a phone maybe 6 times in his life.   Felt he didnt need a bathroom, the outhouse was only 75 ft. From the back door.  He did get a tv set after grandma died, but dont remember him watching it much.  The covid scare would have barely fazed him.  Always had a big garden, plus sweetcorn, and a watermelon patch.   Watched him butcher a hog, and clean his daily catch of fish.  No toilet paper?  Hed be using old newspaper, not so bad if ones crumples it up enough, just dont use the colored ads.  Could sharpen a pocket knife like no other.  Once in awhile I try to look at things from his perspective,   it helps, it does. 

[goodfellow]

Had to laugh at this, but it shows "perspective" -- and maybe a troubling perspective to boot. Some of my daughter's 20-something friends were having a Zoom video get-together and two of these young people were lamenting the fact that they were in crisis mode because they hadn't been able to get a Starbucks latte coffee for almost two months.

I just thought of what my grandfather would have said to these young people had he heard the conversation. They wouldn't have liked his response, and their emotional well-being would have been compromised by his choice of words --- LOL 

 

[torqueman2002]

gf - my grandfathers were tough couple of guys also.

My paternal grandfather was a 'gang' leader on the Erie RR east side repair shop, during the depression. My maternal grandfather traded sawdust from his saw mill to butchers for soup bones.

I have no doubt, they would be impressed with the education level of my kids, but not their ability to work with their hands and fix things.

Oh, BTW -- I started a similar thread over there. It has disappeared without a word of why. I eMail Ryan asking what I had done to violate the rules. No response as of yet.

[goodfellow]

......Oh, BTW -- I started a similar thread over there. I has disappeared without a word of why. I eMail Ryan asking what I had done to violate the rules. No response as of yet.

Not surprised. That guy is the perfect example of a latte swilling, spineless, New World Order "soyboy". --- and that's being kind.

[torqueman2002]

......Oh, BTW -- I started a similar thread over there. I has disappeared without a word of why. I eMail Ryan asking what I had done to violate the rules. No response as of yet.

Not surprised. That guy is the perfect example of a latte swilling, spineless, New World Order "soyboy". --- and that's being kind.

I'm sure glad I wasn't drinking my coffee when I read that! LMAO!!!

If it wasn't for the CM Block grinder thread, I would have no reason to visit over there.

[Lookin4_67GalaxieConv]

Oh, BTW -- I started a similar thread over there. It has disappeared without a word of why. I eMail Ryan asking what I had done to violate the rules. No response as of yet.

I think it's safe to say you won't be getting a response.