Does anyone here believe that things are worse than they were in the past? (page 2)

Watchtower-Free

Why Do Jehovah's Witnesses Deny The Facts
That the World Is Getting Better

Cognitive illusion .

It's getting better all the time: 100 greatest trends of the last 100 years. by

Stephen Moore,Julian Lincoln Simon

Bill Bryson book “At Home” What life was like for the average person 1800’s.

JWs think Morals are in big decline

"The Way we never Were."
By Stephanie Coontz.

Violent crime has dropped in the last 100
years in most of the world

Steven Pinker: The surprising decline in violence
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ramBFRt1Uzk

http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/crimestats

According to the statistics . Actual facts .

Man has made dramatic gains in

Health
Wealth
Quality of life

Since 1800 down to this day . .

http://www.gapminder.org/world/#$majorMode=chart$is;shi=t;ly=2003;lb=f;il=t;fs=11;al=30;stl=t;st=t;nsl=t;se=t$wst;tts=C$ts;sp=5.59290322580644;ti=2011$zpv;v=0$inc_x;mmid=XCOORDS;iid=phAwcNAVuyj1jiMAkmq1iMg;by=ind$inc_y;mmid=YCOORDS;iid=phAwcNAVuyj2tPLxKvvnNPA;by=ind$inc_s;uniValue=8.21;iid=phAwcNAVuyj0XOoBL_n5tAQ;by=ind$inc_c;uniValue=255;gid=CATID0;by=grp$map_x;scale=log;dataMin=283;dataMax=110808$map_y;scale=lin;dataMin=18;dataMax=87$map_s;sma=49;smi=2.65$cd;bd=0$inds=;example=75

The world might not be as bad as you might believe!

Don’t Panic – is a one-hour long documentary produced by Wingspan Productions and broadcasted on BBC on the 7th of November 2013.

http://www.gapminder.org/videos/dont-panic-the-facts-about-population/

NeverKnew

After learning that over a third of Witnesses in America are Black, I find this notion an insult to the memory of those who struggled for the equality of Blacks in America.

While Whites may have been enjoying some semblence of peace and prosperity in the 50's (compared to the Great Depression and "World" wars), over one-third of the JW's ancestors were trying to find facilities for [insert "N" word here]. These "facilities" included luxuries such as toilets and water fountains. Can you imagine the fear of being hung from a tree, bullied, raped or killed by another human and having NO RECOURSE? THINGS ARE WORSE???? Which would have been YOUR preference?... slavery?

They gotta be kidding me...

As a non-jw, I was caught off guard the last time this was said to me and spent the next few moments processing (translating) WTH* they were saying. A few hours later I was PI$$ED.

All the fighting your ancestors did for YOU and THIS is where you are?????

Nothing gets me revved up more than this phrase now. I'm on the bad language line so I need to stop. Please pray for the next African-American JW who makes this remark in my presence. Please.

*cleansed for public viewing... that's as clean as I can make the ugliness of this

PaintedToeNail

Most things are probably better now, if you live in a developed country. One thing that does concern me right now is rampant population and all the strain that brings to earth natural resources...of course I'm not volunteering to jump off the planet to reduce this problem...

adamah

The old, "things are getting so much worse!" is a JW mantra I remember from the late 60's, and it's always been the bird call of the disaffected from long before that time, as if it is the unoffical motto of the JWs.

It fits right into their "end of days" doomsday message, and it always surprises me when I hear my family say it, when I was right there with them in the days of the Cold War's nuclear tension meant duck-and-cover drills, rampant pollution and reports of rivers catching on fire (!) and public service commercials showing Indian chiefs returning from the grave and crying over what has become of their ancestral homeland:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7OHG7tHrNM

Unfortunately, the sentiment flies in the face of the actual evidence and statistics, as others have pointed out above.

The sentiment is also driven by the human tendency to nostalgically romanticize the times past in one's life, and to forget about how bad the conditions actually were (or conversely, how much better the conditions are today).

Adam

FadeToBlack

I personally think that life for a few has never been better. This is without a doubt mankind's golden age of achievement, but too few are able to enjoy the fruits. I think what is worse for a lot of people that are just getting a taste of what modern life could be, is the sad realization that they aren't going to have a chance to take part. Media only makes it worse in the sense that 3rd world people are now entirely aware of first world standards, but they might as well be living on another planet.

We are facing peak everything and nobody wants to talk about it. I actually expect the long slow decline has already begun and if we are very lucky (cause nobody is doing any planning for it) we might see a few million living like their ancestors did. I am not in the 'cornucopian' camp. Enjoy it while you can...

DJS

Crime is lower. The air we breathe and the water we drink is cleaner (certainly we need to continue to improve and effects of climate change need to be addressed). Life is better for gays, blacks, other minorities, women, there is an improved social welfare system (yeah I know it needs to be reeled back in to some degree), wages are better (yeah I know they have shrank for the middle class the past few years and the minimum wage needs raised). The roads are better, the buildings and infrastructure and much better, housing is better. And medical care is MUCH better.

I could go on.

wearewatchingyouman

With the exception of the internet I pretty much live a homesteading lifestyle. I also appreciate the advancements in golf technology. Other than that I'd be perfectly happy living in the early 1900's. All time periods have their positives and negatives. There was something to be said about the morality and respect of old. I'm also for equal rights though, so today's times are much better for that. I don't know. It's hard to say.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

When WT tries to point back at the "good old days" when everything was wonderful... before 1914, they are completely erasing and rewriting everything that Russell said about the era. He said that the decades leading up to 1914 as the worst period in history and wondered if the world would be able to survive until 1914. When were the "good old days" that Russell pointed back to? Since he thought the last days started when Napoleon battled in Egypt, Chuck probably thought the dark ages were best. Crazy.

PaintedToeNail:"rampant population and all the strain that brings to earth natural resources"

I used to think population growth was a severe problem, and many parts of the world are more strained than others. In actuality, it's particularly a problem if everyone tries to live the American suburbia, drive don't walk, we need a big yard to mow mentality. One of the biggest health problems in the US is overeating. And the amount of food wasted is shocking.

http://www.ted.com/talks/tristram_stuart_the_global_food_waste_scandal.html

It's a terrible tragedy that there are people in the world that are hungry and in poverty. But the JW prophecy that we're living in the last days with terrible famine? One would have to ignore the real famines of earlier centuries... oh, right, WT doesn't want the sheeples to go to college and learn about real history. Take me for example. Now that I've been to university, I give priority to responsible buying and eating well, looking for the kind of work that will hopefully make the world a better place. That leaves no time for KH meetings and recruiting.

tec

Some things are worse, some things are better, some things are roughly the same.

Answer depends on where you live also. But I think for the most part that living conditions have improved. Certainly we are capable of making sure that everyone has the necessities of life. That we aren't putting that into action perhaps speaks to what is worse now than in the past.

Or maybe just the same.

I don't think people have changed all that much, other than more and more not believing in/not loving God. I do think we have as many 'gods' as people have ever had, if you consider that 'versions' of God are like individual 'gods'. Regardless, every generation thinks its smarter and more moral and 'better' than the one that came before.

I don't agree with that.

I also think we have given up some wisdom 'smarts', for technological 'smarts'. Generally speaking.

Peace,

tammy

Crazyguy

This may be the best time in mans history, Less crime, less war, less famine, less desease. the JW's are delusional.

Does anyone here believe that things are worse than they were in the past?

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