[tbeltrans]

There are a number of interesting viewpoints in this thread. I suspect, after reading them all, that statements such as "I see a lot of selfishness in the over 60 crowd" or statements to the effect that the world is worse now than it was at some particular time in the past, are not looking at the big picture. People have already cited statistics showing that overall, we are better off and safer now than in that cited past. As for selfishness, there are more retiring people volunteering and getting active in their communities now than in the past.

I believe those with more positive outlooks in this thread are looking at the bigger picture and the facts. Sure, there are many things wrong when you get any group of people together. However, there are also many things right. With the information "overload" we have today, we hear about day to day things that we would have never know about in the past.

Consider all the "dirt" that has been uncovered about those "golden days" such as what priests were doing to boys, how many people come from abusive households where the abuse took place behind closed doors while showing a clean face to the world. We saw none of that being mentioned back then because it was all hidden. We hear a lot about this kind of thing now, but remember that this all took place in the "good old days". Today, these people are charged with a crime and then off to jail. Civil rights have made progress even if it still isn't finished yet. Hopefully, Black people are no longer hanged and many more do have a shot at an education and career.

Whenever I take a closer look at how some point in the past really was, I see a mix of good and bad. Though the events in that mix might be different at various times in history, rest assured there is always that mix.

For those in their retirement years, instead of complaining about how bad things are, why not volunteer in your community to help somebody else and make things better in the process? My wife and I, for example, teach ESL at the local library. There are not enough people teaching, so there is a waiting list of people wanting to be taught. Just as our grandparents were immigrants who had to learn the ways of, and adjust to new language, so do the immigrants today. Given that chance, they can and do become productive members of society despite what is otherwise commonly said about them.

In short, whenever we have complaints such as this, we also have a means to do something about it. We can choose to be a part of the problem, or a part of the solution. That has never changed throughout human history.

Tony