Are You Happier In the 21st Century?
 

It's been 13 years since the beginning of this new Millennium, the 21st Century, and the results are in: I want the 20th Century back.

We're not talking that long ago, and being barely in my forties I'm WAY too young to be this old. LOL But I have to admit that I prefer the 20th Century over what we're dealing with now. Why?

No Internet
No handheld devices
No cell phones
video stores
record stores
bookstores
non genetically-altered food
cool little stores instead of Wal-Mart-type mega-malls
actual athletes instead of steroid-fueled mega-monsters
a manageable number of cable channels instead of thousands of useless distractions
no reality tv shows but actual written dramas and comedies
pay phones (yes i miss them, too)
affordable gas prices
one parent could support an entire family, now both parents must work
No Facebook
No Twitter
No Tumblr
No fucking GOOGLE
Hope for a better future

Now? Well, at least we have a black president.
Get me a Time Machine STAT!

http://www.shoeboxblog.com/wp-conten...ia-500x500.jpg

Be happy... :)

:stoned

ADG

I don't know how we got by twenty years ago. A few years back the power went out (rare for us here) and we didn't know what to do. No TV, no computers, no Internet, no cell phones... We ended up playing board games.

Kids too. When I was a kid, we went to bed early in the summer. There was nothing to do after dark. TV sucked - there was only four channels then - and we didn't have vhs rental stores by us... Now kids want to stay up all night - they chat on cell phones and on line, and have 800 channels to choose from - plus the DVR and a huge stack of DVDs. Insane.

Don't wait the invention of a time machine, just get a plane ticket to mongolia.

http://i.imgur.com/4erred6.jpg

I love technology and all the conveniences of modern times. If you really want to go back in time, no one is stopping you from pulling you sites down, cancelling your cell phone plan, closing all your social media accounts, cutting the cord on cable tv, shopping at book stores and record stores and living like it's still the 1980s.

I enjoy the technological advances, although I sure wouldn't mind a camping trip from time to time.

Probably the 2 things i miss most from that list...

About 90% of that can be avoided right?

hehe - well, I went for a walk yesterday, closed down my computer and left my cell phone home. Went looking for a record store to buy some new tunes....couldn't find one. How about a bookstore? Nope, couldn't find one. Interent cafes? Everywhere.

I would take living in 1993 again. :D

I thought you drowned in Toronto years ago while trying to film canadian strippers in a boat. Screw the conveniences because it was a hell of a lot better in the past. What we didn't have in technology we made up for with skill.

I too love technology but have to agree that some things were better "back in the day". I was born in the 1950's and remember playing outside after dark, never locking our doors and neighbors looking out for each other. I also remember paying under $0.20/gallon for gas. My buddy had a VW bug and if we had a dollar, we could cruise all night! It certainly was a simpler time.

However, I would guess that in the 50's my parents were saying things like "remember when gas was a nickel and when we used to sit around the radio as a family and use our imagination instead of watching this crappy black and white TV that doesn't play any decent shows!

-- Bill

We should be living in the future right now but big oil and religious assholes keep dragging us back.

You speak only the truth

No Internet - Yeah, having access to information/entertainment 24/7 is a real drag

No handheld devices - Don't buy any Grandpa.

No cell phones - See above, however you'll just miss out on opportunities as no one will track you down at the local soda fountain.

video stores - Go to RedBox, keep it for 10 extra days and get dinged $10 extra in 'late fees'. It will be just like the old days.

record stores - It's called EBay.

bookstores - It's called Amazon.

non genetically-altered food - Don't eat shit. Life expectancy is also higher.

cool little stores instead of Wal-Mart-type mega-malls - They had Wal-Mart 20 years ago so not sure how far back you want to go.

actual athletes instead of steroid-fueled mega-monsters - They were just all on coke in the 80's and 90's. Plus I don't have to watch Larry Bird or John Stockton in butt huggers. The only one I'll give you is NFL safteys could still unleash the fury back then.

a manageable number of cable channels instead of thousands of useless distractions - Whatever you need to do to justify basic cable cheap ass.

no reality tv shows but actual written dramas and comedies - You're joking right? This is the golden age of TV. Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Walking Dead, Boardwalk Empire, Curb your Enthusiasm, Modern family and the list goes on. If that's too much quality for you, hop in your Oldsmobile, head down to whatever BlockBuster is left and pick up season 1 of Webster.

pay phones (yes i miss them, too) - You must be a drug dealer or Clark Kent.

affordable gas prices - Luckily you save so much on Ebay buying records that this shouldnt affect you much. Plus it's called a Prius. It all works out in the end.

one parent could support an entire family, now both parents must work - Equal opportunity, you sexist pig.

No Facebook - unplug

No Twitter - #unplug

No Tumblr - unplug

No fucking GOOGLE - unplug

Hope for a better future - The futures so bright we all have to wear shades (and due to climate change but whatever).

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.

LOL Great points - but I'll bet I was happier then than you are now (tho would never admit it).

PS: No, I am NOT Paul Markham (tho I do miss the naughtiness of sneaking a peek at nudie mags).

It never existed. It's only in your head.

Im in my late 30's so I remember the 90's with fondness. Still much happier now.

However searching through the house and finding my older brothers Playboys was a thrill that the younger generation will never experience.

You must have gotten so used to the convenience of Google that you discarded your Yellow Pages and therefore couldn't look up the addresses for your local chain or independent bookstore or record store, lol!

No way, couldn't risk getting the cameras wet even back in the analog days, lol! Were you on one of my Canadian shoots years ago? I definitely had some good times back in the day but I still love the modern era for a whole host of reasons.

Happiness is a choice....

Also, its not things that make you happy or unhappy. Good or bad events and memories don't make you happy or unhappy (unless its super extreme). It's how you choose to think about those things that make you happy or unhappy.

Personally, I prefer being able to have the depth of technology available to us.

I have 90% of my food delivered from the local organic farms. https://tristate.doortodoororganics.com/shop-good-food

This alone saves me hours of shopping on a weekend ... The remaining 10% are really side things that I can pick up easily.

Amazon prime keeps us covered for dry goods, and various consumables on a recurring basis. Everything that you use is there it seems....

Its awesome to have Itunes/AppleTV/Netflix and the top tier plan for FIOS Television, Internet ( 50mbps package) ...

Plus ... I run my enterprise from home, which would have NOT been possible years ago.

All of powerful technology is wonderful to have as tools to augment life.

The 90's were ok. Not really all that out there other than when it was 1999 and y2k was happening which all the idiots loved the concept the world would end. I made my first serious pile of cash with the y2k fixes for corporate customers in IT :)

I fear the Y3K bug.

icouldnt really say as ive never been an adult without the internet. been online since 97 and am 35 now...i only wish social media and saturation of porn was around when i was in high school, oh the ass i could of gotten. todays teens are damn lucky. i think its bad for little kids though as they arent outside playing as much and using rheir imagination as i did but i couldnt imagine having to go to a store to buy every damn thing not having 24 hour access to services or having to go to a library if i wanted to learn something.

i'm happy as it is

The Internet was invented in 1969
I had a cell phone in the 80s
All the stores you mention are still around
Genetically altered fodd has been around forever
Mega Malls in the 70s
Terry Bradshaw admitted to steroid use during his career, was actually much more widespread then

Everything else is a choice

And the one income family ended in the 70s

You do get that you are not missing these things but that you are missing your youth. You want to unplug from your responsibilities and go back to being a carefree youngster.

And just a heads up, 20 years ago the United States was a hell hole. We had gang violence everywhere. No one was looking out for each other's shit. Crime was rampant. We had the S&L crisis as banks had just fucked everyone. Not sure what idylic past you are pasting on the 90's but it was horrible compared to now.

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh





.:)

everything mvoes so quick!
I dont even have the pateince to read a book

More like we've talked a couple of times. I think I might have even sent you a couple of shots of one or two girls. I believe it was 98 perhaps even earlier.

Oh and of course because this is the porn industry.... rest assured that we don't owe each other money.

here here, fuck the 21st century, I miss my beeper and pay phones, and people actually speaking to each other face to face, real relationships where you could touch and feel a real live person, fuck twitter, facebook, icq Skype, cell phones and the internet, there no I feel better

You left out paying for air (tire pump) to fill your car tire. I remember when it was free at a gas station.

Our local 7-Eleven charges a fucking buck to turn the pump on!

I want to know where my Buck Rogers space ship is...