Putting things in perspective

Marie5656

Marie5656

SF VIP
Location
Batavia, NY
These are not my words My brother shared this with me:
It’s a mess out there now. Hard to discern between what’s a real threat and what is just simple panic and hysteria. For a small amount of perspective at this moment, imagine you were born in 1900.

On your 14th birthday, World War I starts, and ends on your 18th birthday. 22 million people perish in that war. Later in the year, a Spanish Flu epidemic hits the planet and runs until your 20th birthday. 50 million people die from it in those two years. Yes, 50 million.

On your 29th birthday, the Great Depression begins. Unemployment hits 25%, the World GDP drops 27%. That runs until you are 33. The country nearly collapses along with the world economy.

When you turn 39, World War II starts. You aren’t even over the hill yet. And don’t try to catch your breath. On your 41st birthday, the United States is fully pulled into WWII. Between your 39th and 45th birthday, 75 million people perish in the war.

Smallpox was epidemic until you were in your 40’s, as it killed 300 million people during your lifetime.

At 50, the Korean War starts. 5 million perish. From your birth, until you are 55 you dealt with the fear of Polio epidemics each summer. You experience friends and family contracting polio and being paralyzed and/or die.

At 55 the Vietnam War begins and doesn’t end for 20 years. 4 million people perish in that conflict. During the Cold War, you lived each day with the fear of nuclear annihilation. On your 62nd birthday you have the Cuban Missile Crisis, a tipping point in the Cold War. Life on our planet, as we know it, almost ended. When you turn 75, the Vietnam War finally ends.
Think of everyone on the planet born in 1900. How did they endure all of that?

Try to keep things in perspective. This is not the end of the world.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 

Good post. I was talking to an American friend yesterday and she is paranoid about most things - a real gloom and doom merchant. I pointed out the various things that we had lived through, and even things like the "Millennium bug" which never happened, still caused a lot of anxiety. I think she can't understand us when we insist that we won't let fear rule our lives.

Last year in the UK there were almost 160,000 road traffic injuries in the UK. This included almost 28,000 killed or seroiusly injured. Maybe we should stop travelling altogether.
 
Well, it might have been a good post in some ways but all it did was depress me (hey, I still read it).

We are being inundated with news (good, bad, not true) and most people can only take so much.

Take a break - look around you and be thankful for what you DO have. This will help keep you sane.

Be KIND to others and you can't go wrong.
 

IrisSenior said:
Well, it might have been a good post in some ways but all it did was depress me (hey, I still read it).

We are being inundated with news (good, bad, not true) and most people can only take so much.

Take a break - look around you and be thankful for what you DO have. This will help keep you sane.

Be KIND to others and you can't go wrong.
Click to expand...
I have to agree. If you look at the news feeds it is all about the virus. You can't get away from it. It's total over saturation of the news. Apparently, there is no human activity on planet, other than getting sick from the virus. I was a nurse, who went through the Aids epidemic, and I see the same fear in people's eyes. It's the fear that some dark, black thing will reach out and grab you. Plus, few have a good understanding of communicable diseases, and how to prevent them. You are lost in a sea of terror, that you don't truly understand. It's scary. You've got to get away from the headlines, and enjoy life in the present, and live for the future.
 
oldman said:
Here you go:

Perspective
Click to expand...
Hi and thanks for trying! According to that poster, "Having perspective is good, but using it is better. I received what is written below from a friend. I do not know who wrote it, but I think it makes an excellent point relative to what is occurring now."

The next one that I found was posted on the website of Kevin Van Trump - possibly the original author. I tried emailing to find out if this was the person who wrote it, but was barred from the site, so the email didn't go through. I really hate when written pieces are not signed and dated! This piece popped up on a Google search numerous times. /-;
 
Good Post, Marie!
We've been watching movies lately that remind us what some people have had to endure.

The Zoo Keeper's Wife is about a family who owns/runs the Warsaw, Poland Zoo in the 1940's. The Nazis move in and they ship the surviving animals to another zoo. The family have jewish friends that they help out/hide during the occupation. They become an underground railroad of sorts, helping jewish people escape to safety. This movie is based on a true story. Well worth your time to watch it.

Little Boy is about a boy who's father has to go to war during WWII and his struggle with faith that his father will return. Very touching movie.
 
Another thing that made me think that we are whiny wimps in modern times came about when I was reading about the history of my area.

Have you ever heard of the Year Without a Summer? In 1816, a volcanic eruption and cooling Sun brought about snow, sleet and frost. The world experienced a sudden drop in temperatures and an uptick in erratic weather patterns, causing massive food shortages across the Northern Hemisphere. Snow and ice storms all year long, destroying any food you've planted.

The unusual cold played havoc with agricultural production in many parts of the world, directly or indirectly creating crop failures, dramatic increases in food prices, famines, cultural disruptions, and epidemics of cholera and other diseases.

  • Rapid, dramatic temperature changes occurred frequently, as temperatures sometimes went from above-normal summer levels to near freezing within hours. U.S. grain prices at least quadrupled, and oat prices increased almost eightfold.{Oats to feed horses~the main mode of transportation.}
  • Famine, riots, arson, and looting occurred in many European cities, while China suffered from massive crop failures and disastrous floods.
  • Suicides were also not uncommon: Drought, financial panic, and lack of food goaded many to desperation.
All of this at a time when farmers relied on their gardening skills to produce enough food to survive. The following years were difficult for growing food, as well. Search it to find out more. We haven't got a clue how hard times can be.
People didn't know why the weather had changed so drastically. They didn't know if it would ever return to what it had been. They must have thought it was the end of the world!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top