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Started By
Message
Is society better now vs. 100 years ago?
Posted on 4/3/21 at 11:36 pm
Posted on 4/3/21 at 11:36 pm
OK really I mean pre WWI but 110 years ago wasn't as catchy a subject.
Searching for some info on grade 2 soils in my area as I contemplate planting a grain crop vs keeping it in hay and I found this soil survey from 1906 for NW Arkansas. In it was a lot of commentary about the way of life here at that time. This passage particularly struck me and got me thinking if we're better off w/ all of the technology, connectivity and knowledge we have access to now or if the old ways made for a better, happier society.
LINK
Yeah you gotta work your arse off and hope for luck w/ the weather but 9 months of the year you fish and hunt and frick. Your social media is going to church. Your entertainment is music, bonfires and the occasional revival at the church.
No punching the clock, no electric bill, no water bill, no trash bill, no income tax, no woke blue haired freaks, no netflix, no CNN or propagandist commie media, no car, no denali trucks or F250's, also no air conditioning, washing machines, dish washers or internet.
no liberal arts majors but no starbucks or fast food. no NFL/NBA and college sports were fledgling excesses but no attaching your emotions to something so unimportant as sports.
no uncureable STD's, no abortion, no strip clubs but yes there are brothels and card games to be found.
no mexicans or central american illegals, but yes there are Irish and Germans spreading throughout the countryside.
It's hard to say which is better. Life is certainly more comfortable now but there's so much more mental illness. The old way you had to work to survive, you had responsibilities to ensure you lived. There had to be more satisfaction in seeing your efforts sustain your family. People lived closer and spent more time together and things took longer to accomplish and meant more due to the effort and struggle.
Certainly different, better? who knows.
Searching for some info on grade 2 soils in my area as I contemplate planting a grain crop vs keeping it in hay and I found this soil survey from 1906 for NW Arkansas. In it was a lot of commentary about the way of life here at that time. This passage particularly struck me and got me thinking if we're better off w/ all of the technology, connectivity and knowledge we have access to now or if the old ways made for a better, happier society.
LINK
quote:
Under these early conditions, people in the area obtained an easy living by working 3 months of the year and by fishing and hunting the abundant game.
Yeah you gotta work your arse off and hope for luck w/ the weather but 9 months of the year you fish and hunt and frick. Your social media is going to church. Your entertainment is music, bonfires and the occasional revival at the church.
No punching the clock, no electric bill, no water bill, no trash bill, no income tax, no woke blue haired freaks, no netflix, no CNN or propagandist commie media, no car, no denali trucks or F250's, also no air conditioning, washing machines, dish washers or internet.
no liberal arts majors but no starbucks or fast food. no NFL/NBA and college sports were fledgling excesses but no attaching your emotions to something so unimportant as sports.
no uncureable STD's, no abortion, no strip clubs but yes there are brothels and card games to be found.
no mexicans or central american illegals, but yes there are Irish and Germans spreading throughout the countryside.
It's hard to say which is better. Life is certainly more comfortable now but there's so much more mental illness. The old way you had to work to survive, you had responsibilities to ensure you lived. There had to be more satisfaction in seeing your efforts sustain your family. People lived closer and spent more time together and things took longer to accomplish and meant more due to the effort and struggle.
Certainly different, better? who knows.
19
Posted on 4/3/21 at 11:38 pm to CtotheVrzrbck
In before the “the only aspects of life that matter are who was able to vote and gays being able to marry each other” crowd.
Posted on 4/3/21 at 11:40 pm to CtotheVrzrbck
No.
At least in 1921, there were only two genders and bullshite was easily spotted from a mile away.
At least in 1921, there were only two genders and bullshite was easily spotted from a mile away.
Posted on 4/4/21 at 12:27 am to CtotheVrzrbck
I'm not sure how easy a living it was in 1921...the average life expectancy of males was 60. 
I believe it falls in the "great time to visit but I wouldn't want to live there" category.
I believe it falls in the "great time to visit but I wouldn't want to live there" category.
Posted on 4/4/21 at 2:08 am to DMAN1968
quote:
but I wouldn't want to live there" category.
Especially during droughts.
Posted on 4/4/21 at 2:49 am to DMAN1968
quote:
I believe it falls in the "great time to visit but I wouldn't want to live there" category.
I’d prefer more modern, but still pre-cell phones & internet.
ETA: Actually pre-internet but post-HVAC. Fat boy has to have his AC.
This post was edited on 4/4/21 at 2:52 am
Posted on 4/4/21 at 3:12 am to CtotheVrzrbck
I mean in 1921 the KKK was frolicking around the South lynching black people and white Republicans. That would have sucked arse.
It also would have sucked arse that you could die from strep throat. Antibiotics are cool.
It also would have sucked arse that you could die from strep throat. Antibiotics are cool.
Posted on 4/4/21 at 5:06 am to AUFanInSoCal
quote:
Especially during droughts.
Hard times breed hard men. How today was allowed to happen. So yes. I'd go back and spend 60 years under oppressive conditions than 90 under oppressive rule
Posted on 4/4/21 at 6:58 am to CtotheVrzrbck
quote:
Is society better now vs. 100 years ago?
The world wars cemented our fate. The second world war was the final nail in the coffin of this liberal nightmare.
I could easily argue that in 80 years, 3 wars destroyed the country. Hell, we are being replaced in our own homelands and people are cheering about it.
This post was edited on 4/4/21 at 6:59 am
Posted on 4/4/21 at 8:05 am to CtotheVrzrbck
quote:
no uncureable STD's, no abortion, no strip clubs but yes there are brothels and card games to be found.
So first off, there were incurable stds. In fact, just about any of them were. They're were no antibiotics. They're were no vaccines. There were little power tools so when you worked the field, you worked the field.
Irrigation was done, but was primitive when compared to today and it's automatic powered ways.
Everything involved hard work. Everything was on more of the edge. There was no safety net. You have a bad year you lose everything. You better have kids because they needed to care for you when y you were old.
You didn't live as long because any number of diseases could kill you off.
I understand the draw of a simple time, but there were a lot of drawbacks during that simple time.
Posted on 4/4/21 at 8:06 am to ChuckO1975
quote:
The world wars cemented our fate.
Yup. Add in Korea and Nam and we lost a lot of good men.
Hell look at Japan.
I would much rather have lived back then. Sure, the summers would have sucked balls but if you didn't know about HVAC then what's it matter? I spent my covid summer clearing brush in high heat and humidity and it was surprisingly refreshing in that it felt like real work and the conditions didn't matter.
Throw in a good fireplace, the occasional deer, wild turkey, squirrel or elk in the winter and a big woman to keep you warm at night and how can you fricking beat that?
"I've got some backstraps on the bonfire. The kids are keeping the fire stoked, the mercantile got some Jack daniels in, and I chopped enough wood today for the next couple months."
"Take me under the bear blanket now!"
Posted on 4/4/21 at 8:08 am to CtotheVrzrbck
People want the best of both worlds. Modernity but also simplicity. That’s why Idaho, Montana and South Dakota are experiencing such growth.
Posted on 4/4/21 at 8:08 am to Espritdescorps
quote:
So yes. I'd go back and spend 60 years under oppressive conditions than 90 under oppressive rule
Agree, quality not quantity.
Posted on 4/4/21 at 8:10 am to CtotheVrzrbck
Without question life is so much better in just about every measurable way.
Posted on 4/4/21 at 8:10 am to psk_Vol
quote:
I mean in 1921 the KKK was frolicking around the South lynching black people and white Republicans. That would have sucked arse.
According to the Tuskegee Institute, 4,743 people were lynched between 1882 and 1968 in the United States, including 3,446 African Americans and 1,297 whites.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynching_in_the_United_States
That is 55 per year.
nothing like the current scourge of covid
or black on white crime for that matter
Posted on 4/4/21 at 8:14 am to CtotheVrzrbck
Porn in 1921:
Posted on 4/4/21 at 8:29 am to RougeDawg
Funny, but also not true. There were pin-ups of naked women as early as the American Civil War. There were also photographs of women performing sexual acts available for Union and Confederate soldiers, though the women in them were usually black or native.
This post was edited on 4/4/21 at 8:31 am
Posted on 4/4/21 at 8:31 am to DMAN1968
quote:
the average life expectancy of males was 60
Would you rather watch a kick arse 2 hour movie or a suck arse 3 hour movie?
Increasing life expectancy is generally good, but it's not the only measurement of a good life.
I do agree though that life is better now. There's a different set of challenges sure, but the fact that the only hair my wife has is on her head almost negates all the new challenges by itself
This post was edited on 4/4/21 at 8:34 am
Posted on 4/4/21 at 8:34 am to thetempleowl
quote:
There were little power tools so when you worked the field, you worked the field.
Irrigation was done, but was primitive when compared to today and it's automatic powered ways.
Everything involved hard work.
Good point.
People like to romanticize the family farm (including people on the far left who complain about working for a boss). Living off the land means you own whatever you produce.
But you work your tail off in that scenario. You can forget a 40 hour work week.
Posted on 4/4/21 at 8:37 am to CtotheVrzrbck
I was lucky enough to have my Grandpop until 19 years of age and he was from that time born in 1895, saw Buffalo Bill in his Wild West show at five years of age, fought on the fields of France in WW1 and returned to attend engineering school in Tennessee before joint my great Great grand father on the family farm for the rest of his life. They had the first home with electricity and indoor plumbing in Chatooga county and he invented a peach processing machine that removed the fuzz from peaches without damaging the fruit. He would often go look at machines and come back and make a better one for the farm.
He went from horse and buggy into the industrial revolution of planes, trains, and automobiles.That entire generation worked harder and smarter than we can comprehend today even the women were always busy doing something.
Medicine and healthcare have improved dramatically even though when he got sick or ill the doctor would come out to the house on the farm to see him or Grand Ma they had that service and it amazed me but that's the way it was for that generation.
Pre- 1930 I am told was a super boom time with the rail roads and automobiles spreading commerce in ways never before envisioned. Then you had the market crash and the dust bowl drought hit in the same year creating the perfect storm.
Grand Pop never borrowed money, and either did without or paid cash, or made it himself.
He lived to be 87 and farmed/ranched right up until the end with no regrets.
He went from horse and buggy into the industrial revolution of planes, trains, and automobiles.That entire generation worked harder and smarter than we can comprehend today even the women were always busy doing something.
Medicine and healthcare have improved dramatically even though when he got sick or ill the doctor would come out to the house on the farm to see him or Grand Ma they had that service and it amazed me but that's the way it was for that generation.
Pre- 1930 I am told was a super boom time with the rail roads and automobiles spreading commerce in ways never before envisioned. Then you had the market crash and the dust bowl drought hit in the same year creating the perfect storm.
Grand Pop never borrowed money, and either did without or paid cash, or made it himself.
He lived to be 87 and farmed/ranched right up until the end with no regrets.
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