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Festival of Obvious Ideas #14: The past was not perfect

Jason Tin

by Jason Tin

27 Oct 05:45am

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Filed under: Festival Of Obvious Ideas, Nostalgia, Society

95 comments

The present isn’t perfect. It’s flawed, strange and inconsistent. Twitter scandals happen, 14-year-olds spend time in Bali prisons and idiots occasionally moon the Queen. For the most part, however, it’s far from terrible.

Not all that relevant to the story, but we like the pic. Pic: AP

Most of us have no trouble appreciating the present and understanding that it is probably no better or worse than anything that has come before it. 

Yet there is a small, but vocal, percentage of the population who endlessly whinge about it and seem unable to accept the fact that the past is just that.

They’re the ones who point to a bare backside or a teenager’s folly as evidence of a decaying society and demand a return to the way things were. They seemingly long for the days when children’s cartoons were just a little bit racist and folks could ignore seatbelts and coat their houses in lead-based paint.

The past, they reason, was full of compassion, selflessness, elegance and respect while the present is littered with bratty children, selfishness, narcissism and “nanny states”.

Society, they routinely claim, is going to “The Dogs”, who are, I assume, a gang of Basset Hounds in suits who drink cognac and trade chunks of civilisation like playing cards, sliding bits of Paris and Berlin across large tables and cackling maniacally.

While their rose-coloured glasses shine a certain brilliance on the past, they also filter the present through a grim and murky light.

Like the protagonist in Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, they forget that light bulbs were not brighter, water was not wetter, chocolate was not sweeter and grass was never greener. Everything has always been inconsistent and riddled with exception.

Unless you’re on the cusp of an ice age and the world has just run out of chicken Twisties, the past is likely not much better than the present.

But tell that to those who roar about how children today are monstrous little cretins compared to those of yesteryear every time some teenager gets busted for drugs. They conveniently forget their own tantrums, harsh words and refusals to share toys.

Just as there are troubled kids today, you can bet there were whiny little brats in the 1940s who screeched so loud that hidden U-Boat crews were picking it up.

Some even go so far as to declare that the current generation “needs a war to toughen them up” – because global conflicts are “character building”.

And then they rant about the invention of text messages and social networking as though it is causing the complete works of Shakespeare to levitate into the air and vanish in a sudden flurry of tears and flames.

But they needn’t get so worked up. Society is not going to The Dogs. People are just as rude and polite as they were 40 years ago. Rules and regulations were just as crazy and necessary and young people were just as young.

Yes, things were once simpler. But they were also more complicated. There was hope and despair and strength and uncertainty in equal measures.

We sometimes like to think we’re connoisseurs who get to enjoy the drop at its peak while everyone else misses out.

But we should always hope for a future brighter than any golden past. At the very least, we shouldn’t let our memories of the past spoil the present for everyone else.

When not making The Punch smile, Jason Tin writes for Queensland’s Sunday Mail.

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95 comments

Show oldest | newest first

    • fox says:

      05:12am | 27/10/11

      A time when one working parent on an average 9-5 job could easily pay a mortgage and support 4 kids and still save money might not have been a perfect time.. but it is better than today.

      Reply

    • Sheldon says:

      06:04am | 27/10/11

      Being poor isn’t a modern concept. It’s been around and will be around for a very long time

    • Macca says:

      06:28am | 27/10/11

      Fox, you wouldn’t be talking about a time where the most aspiration a women could have was vicariously through her husband?

    • Bev says:

      07:10am | 27/10/11

      Fox when you wrote this comment did you realize it would be like a red rag to feminists?
      Sure enough here is the first of what I expect will be many.

      Hi @Macca

    • marley says:

      07:16am | 27/10/11

      A time when men, women and children under the age of 10 worked 10 or 12 hours a day in coal mines and factories, and barely earned enough to put food on the table or clothes on their back, was certainly not a perfect time either - and certainly worse than today.

    • Big Jay says:

      07:27am | 27/10/11

      @fox…I agree…Although I will say households back then, didn’t have two tv’s, two modern cars, a pc (or three), two mobile phones, pay tv, aircon or even a bedroom for each child. Having said that, if you lived like today you still wouldn’t be able to buy a house and raise more than two kids, on the one (normal) income.

      @Macca…I’m a male, and support women (everyone in fact) in their freedom to pursue what they want out of life, but when the extra effort gets absorbed into the cost of a house it really doesn’t push forward the cause of society much at all.

    • Nilbog says:

      07:35am | 27/10/11

      My lord, a lot of people got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning… lol

      Good for a laugh though.

    • Bev says:

      07:46am | 27/10/11

      Big Jay says:08:27am | 27/10/11

      but when the extra effort gets absorbed into the cost of a house it really doesn’t push forward the cause of society much at all.

      Question:  Do you think the price of houses would be at the level they are if on average only one person per household worked?

    • Bev says:

      08:01am | 27/10/11

      marley says:08:16am | 27/10/11
      True.  Though women and children were stopped from going into coalmines by the English parliment in 1869.

    • centurion48 says:

      08:52am | 27/10/11

      @fox: I was in a single-parent family with four kids. My dad earned an average wage working 9-5. He paid the mortgage but I am sure he didn’t save much money. Holidays were few and far between - and cheap. Hand-me-downs were the norm. Conservation was a necessity not a yuppie slogan.
      It wasn’t a perfect time but it was safer for children because we lived in a suburban community where neighbours were friends and looked out for, and after, the needs of every family’s children.
      Was it better? That assessment will always be subjective.

    • Anne71 says:

      12:57pm | 27/10/11

      Centurion48 “Conservation was a necessity not a yuppie slogan” - very true. My war-generation mother thought it was quite funny when recycling became fashionable in the early 90s.  After all, during the Depression and the war years, nothing was ever thrown away unless it was beyond repair or some form of use. It wasn’t called recycling, then. It wasn’t called anything.  But throwing out an item which still had use in it and buying a new one was called a waste of money.

    • neo says:

      02:03pm | 27/10/11

      People are so paranoid of letting their children out to play outside nowadays, I would have been hating being a kid of today, locked into a crappy house because the parents are paranoid.

    • acotrel says:

      05:53am | 27/10/11

      I’ve been watching the ABC TV show about cars in Australia.  It gives me a laugh, but it also makes me sad.  It was a different world back then.  It would great for all of us to back there with what we know now.  I believe we oldies saw the best of it.  Imagine driving on the Hume Highway at 100mph without seat belts, or motorcycle helmets.  Might have been dangerous, but I think we had more fun !

      Reply

    • jay-ded says:

      08:48am | 27/10/11

      Yeah, Imagine my father going out with the tow-truck to smashed up vehicles with bodies everywhere after people driving at 100mph on the old Bruce Highway hit a cow or a kangaroo.  We’d always know when it was a “death” crash because of the grief on his face.  Mind you, I don’t think seat belts would have helped much.  Roads were crap, cars were heavier than today and if moving at a 100mph and hitting the odd stray cow or kangaroo, at the speed, was certain death for the driver or front seat passenger.  Seat belts might have saved a few of the kids in the back of the car though.

    • Fiddler says:

      06:05am | 27/10/11

      I’m 31 and used to live in Sydney. I remember the difference and how self-centred and rude everyone is there due to the massive over-crowding. Moved to the country and on the whole people are a lot more relaxed and friendly, much like Sydney 20 years or even 15 years ago. Yes the world has changed and not all for the better. What people complain about is when it gets worse and it could have been prevented.

      Reply

    • Anna C says:

      07:55am | 27/10/11

      Sydney was a much nicer place to live in the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s than it is today. Houses were cheaper, less traffic congestion, less overcrowding, friendlier people, better architecture etc. Sydney now has the same ‘dog eat dog’ mentality just like every other place in the world.

      Poor buggers like Jason don’t know what they’ve missed. That’s why seeing what has become of my once beautiful city makes me feel sad and resentful because of what we have lost.

    • jade (the other one) says:

      01:45pm | 27/10/11

      @Fiddler - that’s your perspective on the country.

      I found country people, close-minded, judgmental, and ignorant. My greatest relief was when I managed to escape back to the friendliness, pleasantry, and open-mindedness of the city.

      Everyone’s experience, and everyone’s perspectives differ.

    • neo says:

      02:05pm | 27/10/11

      You gotta admit though, people are scared to interact with each other sometimes. I find QLDers friendlier, you go to a bar there and people seem to mingle more, while in Sydney people tend to stick to their groups.

    • Fiona says:

      07:29pm | 27/10/11

      Perspective again neo. I’ve found Qlders more parochial.

    • KH says:

      06:32am | 27/10/11

      You are wrong about selfish people being no worse today than 20 years ago.  Rubbish.  I have noticed the increased rudeness and selfishness that has become all pervading in this country, and it is definitely noticeable.  Like any time, some things are better, some things are worse.

      Reply

    • VVS says:

      06:56am | 27/10/11

      The past: the Australian cricketers were men who could grow facial hair (and did in glorious form). For example Lillee, Marsh, Border, Boon, Merv… the list goes on.

      The present: a bunch of skinners.

      Game, set and match to the past.

      Reply

    • Fiddler says:

      07:17am | 27/10/11

      and fuck they could drink a tinnie (or 55) on their way to England on a plane

    • Nilbog says:

      07:36am | 27/10/11

      @ Fiddler

      Good times!

    • SimonFromLakemba says:

      10:50am | 27/10/11

      These days they are just a bunch of over paid prima donnas who get injuried every couple of months from ‘over work’

    • dancan says:

      11:03am | 27/10/11

      @ Fiddler - they could drink AND win

    • Ando says:

      12:40pm | 27/10/11

      Gabba Hill in the 80’s.That was a day out.

    • Davida says:

      07:03am | 27/10/11

      Nice piece Jason.  You can keep your Diet Coke and Fanta though.  Anyone remember Tab Cola and Tarino Orange Drink with the orange bits in it?  ‘Twas a time of beverage innocence and perfection, the likes of which we will never see again.

      Reply

    • VVS says:

      07:38am | 27/10/11

      Both those drinks are still in existence.

      And if you know where to look, can be purchased in Australia (at least one place in Qld I know of).

    • Davida says:

      08:00am | 27/10/11

      @VVS,
      Nice one.  I didn’t realise.  I’m in QLD and inspired to track down my childhood in a can.  Cheers.

    • Mahhrat says:

      08:56am | 27/10/11

      And the pyramid-shaped icy poles.  I forget what they were called.

    • VVS says:

      09:01am | 27/10/11

      @ Davida

      The Drink Depot at Capalaba was the place I was thinking of. I go for Cherry Coke and Dr Pepper. Sometimes not all drinks are in stock but I’ve seen Tab there regularly, especially the past few visits.

      I had never heard of Tarino, but I’m pretty sure it was what caught my eye the last occasion - as I was sceptical about bits of orange in the drink. Do you recommend it…?

    • LJ Dots says:

      09:19am | 27/10/11

      @Mahhrat - glugs and sunnyboys. Now I must have one.

    • Bev says:

      09:29am | 27/10/11

      VVS says:10:01am | 27/10/11

      @ Davida

      Dr Pepper
      Only an American from south of the Mason Dixon line could like that medicine and they go on about Vegemite.

    • VVS says:

      10:36am | 27/10/11

      @ Bev

      Dr Pepper is an acquired taste, but there’s a vanilla one for the softies…

      But the good things is you can be sure that no one is stealing my Dr Peppers and cherry cokes from the fridge… kids hate it too.

      @ Mahhrat & LJ Dots - Sunnyboys are still widely available.

    • jay-ded says:

      10:52am | 27/10/11

      You can still get the Sunnyboys from woolies, but they’re at least half the size they used to be.

    • Celia says:

      11:31am | 27/10/11

      I bought my kids some sunnyboys from the supermarket, was disappointed in the size of them and also disappointed in my kids lack of interest in them.  Oh well, hubby and I polished them off happily!

    • Anne71 says:

      12:27pm | 27/10/11

      @Mahhrat - “And the pyramid shaped icy poles. I forget what they were called.”  I think they were called Sunnyboys, weren’t they?  There was nothing better on a hot summer’s day, that’s for sure!

    • Mik says:

      07:04am | 27/10/11

      Some things a little better, other things worse and really nasty things hidden away- just as the past will be for those in the future.

      Reply

    • Tina says:

      08:58am | 27/10/11

      The past might just seem nicer as when we think of past we think of our childhood. And childhood is always nicer than being a grown up with a mortage.

    • mick says:

      07:21am | 27/10/11

      The writer of this bit of fiction is unfortunately a gen y product and many of the statements made are plainly not accurate.

      As an older Australian I do not pine for the past but I recognise that there has been a fundamental shift in society for the worse.  In the ‘good old days’ people had a God who they claimed allegiance to.  They acted with more respect to others and had social manners and a lot more empathy for others than people have today.  I see the changes which the author is unable to as he was not alive at the time.

      In years gone by I did stand up if an older person got into a train and did not find a seat.  It is the norm that younger folk these days will not get up.  It is embarrassing and sad.

      In years gone by we did not have a sub culture which roamed the streets at night tagging public property or defacing it at will.

      In years gone by you were arrested if you were drunk on the streets.  People were not killed by drunken youth intent on their rights to maim and kill and then blame the booze when they reached the courts.

      In years gone by there was genuine community.  Sure not all people got on like a house on fire, but people tolerated their neighbours at worst and had genuine connections with them.  Today we have an altruistic population.  It is all about self with little respect for the other person or his property and rights.

      And before I finish people were not perfect, lest it appears so.  But compared to contemporary society we have slipped.  Well maybe our parents said the same about us.  The Gremlins effect.

      Reply

    • Double non-negative says:

      08:30am | 27/10/11

      I dont want to sound like a smartarse pedant, but you have wrecked the meaning of your 2nd last pgph by using ‘altruistic’ instead of ‘egotistic’.

      In effect, you have said society is too selfish because we have a giving culture… (cos altruism = charity)

      Thats all.. not being smart.. not trying to be funny (but it is pretty funny when you think about it).. just trying to help out.

    • mick says:

      09:41am | 27/10/11

      Criticism always welcome.  Taken.

    • Nic says:

      10:09am | 27/10/11

      In years gone by you were beaten up for disagreeing with your Husband
      In years gone by you could be attacked, arrested or killed for being Gay.
      In years gone by you would have limited or no employment for being anything but White.
      In years gone by you would be bullied and harassed all through school for being Asian.

      Your nostalgic whigning reeks of white mans priviledge.

    • Chris L says:

      10:29am | 27/10/11

      @Mick - In years gone by aborigines were called boongs, asians were called nips and wog was not a term of endearment. Your boss had free reign and if he was a prick (pricks existed back then too) your life would be miserable. Mental health was throwing back a few at the pub before heading home to give the wife a good belting.

      In years gone by you got married and had children early whether you were ready for it or not. You did what society expected of you else become a community outcast.

      Also, what have gods ever done for us? The Earth was created by Cronos, and he was a titan, not a god.

      Of course I exagerate, but I think that’s in keeping with the sentiment of this thread.

    • Sarah says:

      11:16am | 27/10/11

      mick let’s not forget that young people are a product of their parents.  Don’t blame them, blame the older generations who didn’t teach them how you think it should be done.

    • jade (the other one) says:

      02:49pm | 27/10/11

      In years gone by, my mother was belted with a jug cord by her mother, and the neighbours did nothing.

      In years gone by the cop up the road belted his wife so badly she ended up in the hospital, and noone interfered because it wasn’t “polite”.

      In years gone by, bosses could fire you for refusing to sleep with them.

      In years gone by, indigenous people weren’t counted as people in our national census, and were completely excluded from society.

      In years gone by, beating your children half to death for no reason, was accepted as the only way to raise them.

      In years gone by, teachers could humiliate, castigate, isolate and beat small children for being intellectually impaired, or for being poor, or having neglectful parents.

      In years gone by, racial slurs were the norm for “polite people”. I find that far more offensive than the use of “F**k”.

      In years gone by, drunk driving wasn’t an offence.

      In years gone by, people’s windows were smashed if it was believed that they were a communist/supported equal rights/were gay. I’d rather a bit of vandalism, than a bit of bigotry myself.

      I’d rather live in my world, where people’s poor behaviour is prevented by law, and I have a legal redress if my boss grabs my tits, where people are counted as human beings, regardless of the colour of their skin, and where neighbours will call the police about the screams next door, instead of being “polite”.

    • Bev says:

      03:43pm | 27/10/11

      jade (the other one) says:03:49pm | 27/10/11
      I’d rather live in my world, where people’s poor behaviour is prevented by law

      Many say we have gone too far the other way with the nanny state being all pervasive.

    • iansand says:

      07:30am | 27/10/11

      The fundamental attitudes are the same, whether it is rudeness or rebellion.  Technology makes it more obvious, easier to record and easier to disseminate.

      Those crazy kids with their yo-yos and hula hoops….

      Reply

    • Bev says:

      07:54am | 27/10/11

      “The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place
      of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their
      households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They
      contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties
      at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.”

      This quote has been attributed to at various times Plato,
      to Socrates, to Aristotle, to Cicero, to Hesiod, to ‘an old monk’, to an Assyrian cuneiform tablet, and to an ancient Egyptian papyrus.

      The more things change the more they remain the same.

    • Chucky says:

      12:25pm | 27/10/11

      @Bev that is one of three quotes I try to keep in mind whenever people (or myself!) start moaning about how young people today are not ‘like we were when we were young’

      The other two quotes being

      “When I was young, we were taught to be discreet and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly disrespectful and impatient of restraint”.
      Hesiod, ~ 8th century

      “The young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have no reverence for parents or old age. They are impatient of all restraint… As for the girls, they are forward, immodest and unladylike in speech, behavior and dress.”
      Attributed to Peter the Hermit, ~ AD 1243

      The more things change the more they remain the same indeed.

    • Smackdown says:

      07:33am | 27/10/11

      Dont you be threatening my chicken twisties, little man…

      ********************
      Redneck 1 - Wanna fight about it?
      Redneck 2 - Them’s fightin’ words…

      Reply

    • AdamC says:

      08:06am | 27/10/11

      I think some aspects of our society probably are worse than they were in the ‘good old days’. Two obvious ills of our modern age - family breakdown and the high cost of housing - were much less of an issue ‘back in the day’. However, these are outweighed by the many things that are much better now than they used to be. Proably most striking of these are the improvement in people’s material living standards, and the development of communications technology.

      Reply

    • James1 says:

      08:53am | 27/10/11

      Indeed.  In my experience, when older people pine for some golden past, it is not that the past itself was so much better.  It is more that they miss being young and in their prime, and this colours the way they see the past.

    • Bev says:

      09:41am | 27/10/11

      James1 says:09:53am | 27/10/11
      Not so sure about that.  For me its about not having to worry about the kids, morgage etc and be free to relax, slow down and enjoy the open road.  A survey of happiness showed grey nomads were the happiest group of Australians.

    • AdamC says:

      10:06am | 27/10/11

      Bev, I agree. One moment, you’re having fun, going out, doing whatever you want with no real responsibilities or obligations. Then, before you know it, you have a (serious) job, bills to pay, a mortgage, deadlines, a promotion to obsess about, car trouble - the list goes on. And, unlike you and James1, I don’t even have children to worry about!

      It’s enough to drive one to nostalgia, even. On that point, how about those 1990s? I see they are increasingly getting the eighties treatment, as all us early Ys, late Xs start pining for our misspent youth.

    • SimonFromLakemba says:

      10:53am | 27/10/11

      @AdamC

      You can still go out and do all that, I have had a mortgage since I was 21 ( 25 now ) doesnt really stop me, but does limit you somewhat on how pissed you can get, Sydney isnt cheap to go out in!

    • braunman says:

      11:04am | 27/10/11

      On this topic of housing and technology I have heard some interesting theories. As I understand it housing may have been cheaper back in the 50s/60s, but all the day to day costs were far higher. To take a specific example, part of the reason most people didn’t have TV was that it was far more expensive relative to total income.

      I think that’s why baby boomers complain about “all the kids today want iphones/flat screen tvs/air con”. They still have those memories of how expensive technology was in its early years. Hell even I, a 25 year old, remember when flat screen tvs used to cost 20 grand. Nowadays I can buy a flat screen TV for the same amount of money that it costs to rent a room in a share house for a week.

    • AdamC says:

      12:51pm | 27/10/11

      Simon, I should clarify. I still go out and stuff, in fact, I am told I have quite an enviable lifestyle. I just mean that it’s there, the responsibility, etc. It means you can’t be quite as silly and irresponsible as you used to be.

    • James1 says:

      01:18pm | 27/10/11

      Indeed Adam, excellent points.  We have been agreeing far too much lately, and need to find something to argue about.

    • Bev says:

      02:30pm | 27/10/11

      braunman says:12:04pm | 27/10/11
      They still have those memories of how expensive technology was in its early years.

      Again I am not sure about that we seemed to have a far greater range of interests and hobbies plus people were outdoors more in daylight hours.
      Oh and we did read our heads off from the top to the bottom of society.

    • MarkS says:

      08:16am | 27/10/11

      Light bulbs were not brighter, false, incandescent bulbs were brighter.

      Water was not wetter, true, water now is more likely to have trace wetting agents polluting it, and therefore water now is wetter.

      Chocolate was not sweeter, false, a lot more chocolate was cheap, high sugar dairy chocolate, therefore sweeter.

      Grass was never greener, false, acid rain makes grass less green.

      While I agree with what you are saying the examples could have been better. Socrates was killed because he was corrupting the youth. No doubt the ancient Athenians though the place was going to the dogs.  It appears that every generation thinks the newest one has something wrong with them.

      Reply

    • ts says:

      08:20am | 27/10/11

      past v present - a real conundrum.

      during the queensland floods some teenagers were picked up trying to paddle on a lilo all the way from ipswich to brisbane on the swollen river.

      one part of me agreed with the police - this is a stupid dangerous act that could harm both them and others who attempt to save them and these kids need to be charged with something.

      the other secret part of my brain thought - now thats cool. thats something i would have done when i was a kid. if they caught me then I would have just got a blasting from my dad.

      which is right? which is better?

      Reply

    • Feral says:

      08:21am | 27/10/11

      Jason, you don’t know how good you’ve got it, young man.  Cushy job as a journalist, laptop, mobile phone….... sheesh.  When I was coming up we only had paper and pencils.  We were so poor we couldn’t even afford fingers to hold the pencils.  You try getting up at midnight every morning, walking 45 miles through the snow and tsunamis, to put in a 19 hour day, no wages mind you, just a clip behind the ear and then you can tell me what’s what.

      Reply

    • jay-ded says:

      10:56am | 27/10/11

      Having to get up half an hour before you went to bed, sharing the one shoe between several siblings.

      Ahhh good times.

    • Anne71 says:

      12:35pm | 27/10/11

      @Feral - Pencils? Luxury. I used to dream of those when I were a lass. We had to use charcoal from the furniture our Dad burnt to keep us warm. That’s when he weren’t down t’ pit.  30 hours a day he had to work, twelve days a week, for one cent.
      You tell these Gen Y whippersnappers that, and they don’t believe you.

    • Bev says:

      02:35pm | 27/10/11

      Anne71 says:01:35pm | 27/10/11
      They don’t believe me when I tell them that I wore no shoes to school in summer (hardly anybody did) either.

    • acotrel says:

      08:38am | 27/10/11

      There is one thing which is much better today, than in the past - communication of ideas !
      You don’t have to act on what I say, but at least you hear me !

      Reply

    • marley says:

      12:00pm | 27/10/11

      And you think this is an improvement?  wink

    • Tina says:

      08:54am | 27/10/11

      Put the wall back up I say. Cant stand all that whinging anymore on how much better life was under communist regime. Neighbours were still neighbours and the state would take care of you….. Yeah… and how they took care of you!

      Reply

    • SimonFromLakemba says:

      10:58am | 27/10/11

      Its geenrally why Dictatorships or oppressive regimes have support, they buy the votes of the poor and uneducated by paying them welfare, doctors, fuel etc but just dont mention the murders, secret police and freedom.

      Just look at Gaddafi, his supports were the ones who mainly got handouts.

    • centurion48 says:

      09:04am | 27/10/11

      @Jason Tin: I think you must have actually lived in the past before you can pass judgment on it. The past is not a single experience and history is not a good guide. It was not the same for all people. I am far wealthier today than my father was at the same age. I also had different opportunities.
      In my memory, my childhood was just about perfect. I wonder if my children would say the same. I wonder if their children will say the same. I don’t think so. The world is a different place. Technology has improved lives but the quality of life has been degraded. Possibly cause and effect? Who knows.

      Reply

    • Tina says:

      09:05am | 27/10/11

      I remember having to go a library to do my research on a school paper. We couldnt do it online hours before it was due.

      Reply

    • RED says:

      09:26am | 27/10/11

      So you agree the present is far better then I assume?

    • Tina says:

      10:11am | 27/10/11

      I think we are unable to objective judge as we all go by personal experiences. But I dont think that the youth is more rude or less educated etc etc. I am fine with today just like I was fine with two decades earlier.

    • Wynston Cruso says:

      12:48pm | 27/10/11

      I’m with you Tina. I’m actually glad that I had to actively research and apply myself to complete Uni assignments as opposed to googling for the answers. You can see a huge difference in the mentality, I think, of the up and coming generations compared to those that came before. Maybe I’m generalising but seems to me that everything is supposed to come served on a silver platter and that problems are to come with the answers attached.

    • gonzo says:

      02:02pm | 27/10/11

      “I am fine with today just like I was fine with two decades earlier.”

      I’m starting to like you. sehr gut meine Freundin.

    • Bev says:

      02:39pm | 27/10/11

      Wynston Cruso says:01:48pm | 27/10/11

      I’m with you Tina. I’m actually glad that I had to actively research and apply myself to complete Uni assignments as opposed to googling for the answers.

      You however must take in the sheer breadth of knowledge compared to back then.

    • Lily says:

      10:04am | 27/10/11

      I think the only way you can claim to judge if it is better or worse it through your own perpective, and that is in itself completely flawed. How you see the world during different stages of your life is always going to be vastly different. To judge something you have experienced against a period you haven’t is always going to be biased in some direction.
      Can you really better/worse something as complex as life?

      Reply

    • Chris L says:

      10:13am | 27/10/11

      Music was better in the 70’s and 80’s.

      Reply

    • Slothy says:

      11:29am | 27/10/11

      Music was best whatever year you were 13.

    • Aitch B says:

      11:31am | 27/10/11

      @Chris L

      +1

      Pretty much all that needs to be said, really…........ smile

    • St. Michael says:

      11:44am | 27/10/11

      @ Slothy: that’s actually pretty profound.

    • Slothy says:

      01:41pm | 27/10/11

      St Michael: Profound, AND a justification for getting really excited when a cover band played a live rock version of Backstreet’s Back the other night. Now that takes skill.

    • St. Michael says:

      04:29pm | 27/10/11

      @ Slothy: which band? Is it on youtube? *gets excited*

    • amy says:

      10:27am | 27/10/11

      its all about persepctive and somtimes nostalga worship shows a serious lack there of (and its incredibly annoying)

      better or worse, the best parts are whats remembered, while the worst is forgotten…need proof? a while ago we listened to “so fresh! 2001”...handnt heard or remembered any of those songs since the CD first came out

      Reply

    • Bev says:

      10:32am | 27/10/11

      Question for the PUNCH team.  Where did you get that picture?  I remember it as coming from a calendar (along with 11 others in a similar vein) at my grandmothers house. Thats going back over 50 years. Love to know were I could get my hands on them.

      Reply

    • ts says:

      01:05pm | 27/10/11

      @bev

      in case you dont hear back from the punch team. go to ebay http://www.ebay.com.au and in the search criteria enter dogs playing poker. you’ll get posters, print, blankets, cards - more than you would ever want

    • Bev says:

      02:41pm | 27/10/11

      ts says:02:05pm | 27/10/11

      Thanks.  Maybe the other 11 I remember are available.

    • jay-ded says:

      11:00am | 27/10/11

      As my kids would say:

      “You’re living in the past, get with the present.”

      Reply

    • Paul says:

      11:39am | 27/10/11

      Forgive me if the homilies of a twelve year old about how to live your life don’t quite ring true.

      Reply

    • tony the toilet says:

      11:43am | 27/10/11

      if the past was not perfect, then the present and the future will not be perfect either

      Reply

    • Chris L says:

      04:46pm | 27/10/11

      To quote a line from Babylon 5 - “The past tempts us, the present confuses us and the future frightens us.”

      Not sure what the point was, but it rings pretty true.

    • NESLIHAN KUROSAWA says:

      11:14pm | 27/10/11

      Hi Jason,

      The past may not have been so perfect, however the generations before us did not question their life styles & wants all that much anyway!!  They just got on with their lives the best way they know how!!  I am certain that they did not even have the time to question what was lacking or missing in their lives!!

      Nowadays,  we all have more choices to make & we know exactly what we want, right??  That could be the actual part of the problem, anyway!!  Instant messaging, news, media and most importantly instant gratification!!  We are all still looking for that special ME TIME,  craving for more attention from others, searching for self worth, total & ultimate happiness, eventually soul mates in our very busy lives!!

      Most of the time we do know what we are talking about.  Thanks to the Self Help section in our local book shops, right??  Applying all that knowledge seems to be a little bit more difficult, anyway.  You can read all the books in the world about Toddler Taming, somehow in reality we just have discovered that practice makes perfect!!  Rest is history & remains to be seen!! Best regards to your editors.

      Reply

    • Download oem software says:

      06:55am | 28/10/11

      q16qOZ I read online (computer problems) positive feedback about your resource. Didnt even believe it, and now saw myself. It turned out that I was not fooled!...

      Reply
 
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