With all due respect, man has had a pretty free rein so to speak, this freedom has led to a world that is unrecognizable by anyone who is 40+ years old Those emails we all recieve about "do you remember" is so true. The world in which I grew up, was somewhat peacable, respectful, free from relative fear even though we had those nuclear sit under your desk drills,TV was not violent and children listened to their parents and teachers, elderly ones too had respect. AIDS didnt claim tens of millions of lives and leave children orphaned, terrorismnever was mentioned, mothers stayed home to raise the kids, we never ever even thought the earth would warm until millions might have to retreat from the seashore,Extreme in weather was not the norm, govermental rulers were always questionable but not exposed like this administration and others. People worked for a living and had something to show, instead of a country saturated in personal, govermental and corporate debt. People didnt kill other students at school, we had gun clubs and bow and arrow clubs where kids brought them to school without fear. Kids played and childhood obesity wasnt the norm and childhood diabetics, childhood heart disease wasnt ever spoken of. Everybody had insurance, everybody got the little childhood diseases and laughed at them. Video games featuring mass death and killing yet alone porn wasnt even thought of or spoken of. Kids learned how to get along, not kill or hurt someone seriously. Childhood suicides were not heard of. No one feared of flying except those with the fear of flight but not terrorism, airport security wasnt mentioned. These are only several things, the list could go on and on.
If this has all happened within the last 20 couple of years and IF this is the result of Freedom and Progress.
I ask "How much more freedom and Progress can we take"?
While you do have a point, I could cite many things that were also bad/worse in "the good old days". Remember that the population of the planet has increased tremendously in just a few years, which in itself leads to more turmoil than before.
-The opportunities for black people were a lot worse a few decades ago, and not too long ago it was legal to discriminate against them. Same goes for gay people, but I'm not sure I want to open that can of worms... And for women - you see it as a bad thing, many women would see it as progress that they can choose to do what they feel will be fulfilling. AIDS may not have claimed many lives back in the 'good old days', but there were a lot of other deceases that are now either eradicated or under control. Violence may be entertainment today, and I agree it's not a good thing, but at least most countries don't have public executions as a form of entertainment anymore. And those that do are often religious states. Many things happened that were not talked about like it is now, like child abuse for instance.
Terrorism is not caused by freedom and progress. Terrorism is caused by cultures who live by codes of ethic that went out of date several centuries ago, are most often linked with religion, and often by people who feel oppressed. So pretty much the result of the opposite of freedom and progress.
We all remember best the good times and forget the bad. I remember the 80's as a good time, but then I'm forgetting the fear of nuclear war hanging over our heads at the time, as you also mention, and countless wars and famine in Africa etc. etc.
