Is the world passing us by?

[CraigD]

The talk is they don't need to text.

So what are they doing here? Texting anonymous people.

Do you see the contradiction?

I don't understand your point.

Not everyone texts. I just tell people: "Call or email if you want to get in touch. I don't text, and I don't do social media (Facebook)."

Again, I'm not trying to be old-fashioned. I'm actually pretty high-tech in most respects. But I'm choosy about where I invest my time and attention. I'm well aware that refusal to text and do social media goes against the current. But I'm not a super-social person in the first place, so I'm able to get away with it.

 

[fmdog44]

When I was a kid, the US was the biggest, tallest, most, and the best. Today, we don't have the tallest building, largest dam, longest bridge, etc., etc. Yeah, it's just bragging rights, and doesn't define us. But, damn, I liked it when the US was filled with superlatives. I wonder why we no longer are the biggest, the best, the tallest, and the most.

Most of that was propaganda while minorities were not allowed to drink from the same fountain as whites, McCarthyism and communist witch hunts were in full blast, teachers could strike students, rape was considered the woman's fault, we could buy machine guns through the mail and kids got polio jut to name a few.
Getting older is not so bad, we just lack the experience about how to do it.

 

[Camper6]

I don't understand your point.

Not everyone texts. I just tell people: "Call or email if you want to get in touch. I don't text, and I don't do social media (Facebook)."

Again, I'm not trying to be old-fashioned. I'm actually pretty high-tech in most respects. But I'm choosy about where I invest my time and attention. I'm well aware that refusal to text and do social media goes against the current. But I'm not a super-social person in the first place, so I'm able to get away with it.

You are texting here. If you want someone to phone you. Send them a text. I cant stand getting a voice answering machine.

 

[Butterfly]

I'm using a PC, and I don't consider it "texting." "Texting" is from a cell phone.

 

[grahamg]

"America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."
- Alexis De Tocqueville

I'd suggest America, or Americans, maybe had the biggest ideas, and this made you the leaders of the world.

I've only been to the USA once, but I met people there I thought had more ambition than I'd ever seen anywhere before (not that I'd travelled that much), and I heard a older man in a bar talking about "young people" in a very insightful and concerned way I thought, and that was something I'd never seen before.

The world can mostly pass me by, whilst I continue on my quest backwards, appreciating more the music genres of the 1950s or earlier than I ever did before, and old black and white films are my choice on tv most days. On the other hand I do recognise a slight need to adjust to new challenges, and may one day let go of my old mobile without any up to date features.

 

[Keesha]

When I was a kid, the US was the biggest, tallest, most, and the best. Today, we don't have the tallest building, largest dam, longest bridge, etc., etc. Yeah, it's just bragging rights, and doesn't define us. But, damn, I liked it when the US was filled with superlatives. I wonder why we no longer are the biggest, the best, the tallest, and the most.

In who’s opinion?

 

[Sunny]

Well, I guess stuff (longest bridge, tallest building, etc.) is measurable. Value judgements ("the best") are not.

Actually, I don't understand what's so important about having the tallest building, or any of those "biggest" things. Outside of appearing in the Guinness Book of Records, who cares?

 

[Don M.]

I think the U.S. is...and has been, for the past 100 years...the modern day version of the Roman Empire. When one looks at the History of that empire, the similarities between what we are doing, and what the Romans did, are quite similar. The Romans ruled the world when they were strong and self sufficient, but in their later years, they became lazy, and overconfident, and began their slide downhill. While it took several centuries for the Romans to become inconsequential, modern technology, etc., can greatly speed up such a process.

It seems to me that "Political Correctness" is rapidly replacing "Individual Responsibility" in today's world....and when millions believe that the "world owes them a living", things will continue to spiral downward.

 

[rgp]

I think the U.S. is...and has been, for the past 100 years...the modern day version of the Roman Empire. When one looks at the History of that empire, the similarities between what we are doing, and what the Romans did, are quite similar. The Romans ruled the world when they were strong and self sufficient, but in their later years, they became lazy, and overconfident, and began their slide downhill. While it took several centuries for the Romans to become inconsequential, modern technology, etc., can greatly speed up such a process.

It seems to me that "Political Correctness" is rapidly replacing "Individual Responsibility" in today's world....and when millions believe that the "world owes them a living", things will continue to spiral downward.

I agree..........and agree 10 fold with the last sentence.

 

[rgp]

Well, I guess stuff (longest bridge, tallest building, etc.) is measurable. Value judgements ("the best") are not.

Actually, I don't understand what's so important about having the tallest building, or any of those "biggest" things. Outside of appearing in the Guinness Book of Records, who cares?

Well, if ya have / produce, the tallest, longest ,first to do things....It creates respect globally . And that does matter. When the world stood looking in awe at the Apollo 11 mission success.....The USA was indeed the most respected country on the planet. That's what matters...And we should IMO indeed care.

 

[Aunt Bea]

I definitely agree with the lack of individual responsibility.

Everyone likes to talk about rights but nobody wants to talk about the responsibilities that go along with them.

We all talk about freedom and independence yet at the first sign of a problem we run to the government looking for a solution.

“Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country,” - John F. Kennedy