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Pretty soon the influx of starving migrants from places decimated by climate change will drastically alter anyones idea of “things are better now”.
This will be the point when we finally get to realise if we are truly civilised. It is going to rain on everyone’s parade.
People have been predicting this sort of thing for decades now (the cause du jour of climate change being a more recent addition). Funny how it hasn't happened, isn't it? (or any of the other apocalyptic scenarios mooted over the last few thousand years).
I think there's a real need in certain sections of society to believe that everything is coming to an end. Eschatology certainly dates back to pre-Christian times, and seems as strong now, albeit in a more secular variety.
Getting back to the original point - yes, things are generally better now than they were in the past, at least in the developed world.
JP
10-15 years ago or so, loads of people were saying everything was broken because of the Iraq war and George Bush etc. and then we had the crash and a decade of austerity. But all the same, those days were ok from day to day for most of us, now we have worries about the environment and extremism, but everyday life is still better than ever overall.
We have always had a 'life's not what it used to be' syndrome, but currently the press seem to be looking for the negative and are adding to the problem on all sides by pushing narrow ideological arguments whilst calling the other side extremists....
The state of the media is one of the things that's worse than it used to be.
We used to die of infectious diseases. Then we died of cardiovascular disease, then we died of cancer, next well die of dementia. So yes things have got better. Unless you fancy a dose of antibiotic resistant yersinia pestis. When that comes look for the other three horsemen.
interesting topic and views
There have been mentions of how the UK environment is cleaner in our post industrial era and this is true. This is only because the industry has moved to somewhere else and is polluting other rivers and cities. Though probably not in the same way as we polluted ours.
Today it probably is better in many ways than it was. Unfortunately, I think our prospects for a better future are worse than they were.
I also wanted to say that I feel that people not dying of infections diseases and having more money to spend doesn’t necessarily make the world better. It certainly makes life more fun and comfortable. The flip side is that it puts greater demands on finite resources which means the fun and comfort will end sooner. Or maybe it doesn’t. We’ll find out.
Facebook and 24 rolling news can't be helping the perception that things are getting worse. Every little annoyance or local incident is shared giving the perception that it's all going to shit. FB and the national news also share shocking stories from around the world that have no international relevance, e.g. "Two babies killed by [insert a stigmatised group] in revenge attack". Yes, but in South Sudan.
Our local town FB news pages are a daily barrage of
"WARNING DOG NAPPERS three guys in a van looked at my dog I think they wanted to take Fluffy. Stay safe out there people" or
"Some youths stole my gnome and swore"
"Dead cat on high street. Driver drover off [angry face]"
That sort of stuff would only have been via word of mouth or maybe the odd local paper story. Now it's a constant list. Our town news page (population 10k) has at least 3 wining "news" posts a day that would give the impression of voyaging towards hell in handcart.
“The UK’s 10 hottest years on record have all occurred since 2002, the Met Office has said. Its statistics stretching back to 1884 reveal a worrying trend, as the planet as a whole deals with the climate crisis.”
I do wonder about the Met Office sometimes... this planet has been doing weather for getting on for billions of years and our historical observational data is being taken from the last 140. Even core drilling hasn’t really enabled us to look at trends in the longer time frames. Geologically speaking, the last ice age was yesterday.
I know that will get the sciency lot frothing a bit but it was only 60years ago that smog and pea soup fogs were all the rage in the UK conurbations.
For sure, we have no or little idea as to how much our presence and activities affects climate on the grander scale, apart from possibly air travel... but then again, 40 years ago air travel was not as accessible as it is now, for better or worse.
I'd say the best time for many people was the 1980s, but a lot of the wealth created was phantom and the optimism didn't last.
Things are still getting better but it isn't very obvious, but some of the healthcare technology coming along has the potential to alleviate a lot of regular human suffering. There are some major things which need to change, specifically about how much we consume, our culture is too materialistic.
The main thing we lack is hope.
my life's better.
sample size of 1 though, and mostly because I get the whole garage to myself.
I think we reached the best point in the early 2000s. Technology was useful but not intrusive (no social media), racism was more under control, housing was sort of under control. In the last 10 years it feels like it is going backwards from a society point of view with more division, racism coming back, poor government, more selfish attitudes.
Probably no coincidence that when tories are in government things tend to be worse.
Compared to when?
Compared to almost any previous point in history people aren't dying of childbirth, preventable disease or war. We are generally healthier, wealthier and better educated than nearly everyone ever has been, or would have been the sole preserve of Kings and Emperors only a few hundred years ago.
We didn’t have wide spread usage of pesticides and monoculture mass agriculture
Erm, yes, yes we did.
DDT, amongst other Stockholm Convention listed compounds.
No, just miserable ****ers think it was and want to drag you down into their gloomy world.
For sure, we have no or little idea as to how much our presence and activities affects climate on the grander scale, apart from possibly air travel
You know your whole post comes across as "science, all of it, that's wrong - but I know what's happening".
Just saying.
And what's with singling out air travel?
Makes you think.
I do wonder about the Met Office sometimes
You honestly think that a whole agency full of scientists and researchers hasn't thought of this stuff - but you have? You think you're THAT much cleverer than basically everyone else?
The reason you wonder is that you haven't really gone into the science in depth and understood the research that's been done and how they arrive at their conclusions.
Well, yes and no.
Bad stuff is happening due to our over consumption, but the things we consume are generally getting better. Not that long ago 30mpg was considered pretty decent from a family car, Boxxers had 150mm of travel, my 80mm Judy's lasted 6 months and had a "long travel" sticker on, and disc brakes on MTBs were considered unnecessary weight by most.
But then you didn't have to spend as long picking the right tyre. It was a fire XC pro whatever and whenever you were riding.
I think we reached the best point in the early 2000s. Technology was useful but not intrusive (no social media),
Apart from forums, bulletin boards, Facebook and twitter.
Altho I did put a positive post in earlier I must say that overall I am very pessimistic for the future. We are already seeing effects from climate change. Billions of people worldwide do not have enough food or access to clean water - and these things will only get worse. another 30 or so years and large parts of the world will become unihabitable
We are like the proverbial frog slowly being boiled in the pan.
Climate change and the refugee crisis is happeing now in the several places - Sub Sahara / Alaska, Greenland, Siberia / Central America etc already. Pop down to Italy / Greece and try to suggest the refugee crisis is not happeing.
We are shielded by both denial and the Channel, but sooner or later that wont be enough.
We are shielded by both denial and the Channel, but sooner or later that wont be enough.
We'll need Danube as well?
coat, got
I think you are all forgetting about Great Britain. You know, the greatness Boris and Nige want to wish us back to.
Pissed up blokes in brown overcoats making truely horrible cars like the TR7 , Austin 1100, Princess , etc
The 3 day week
The miners strike
The power cuts of the 70's
15% mtg interest and loosing our shirts in the EMU debacle
The cod wars , we have caught all our fish and now we want yours.- not so fast sonny
The IRA bombing alot of stuff .- One massive improvemement
Drunk drivers everywhere .- Better, buut replaced with mobile phones
Raw sewage discharge out to sea, better but room for improvemnt
Adult men condemned to 40 years hard labour in a steel mill, mine, coalery , who were totaly broken at the end of every shift , week, month etc but always went back then either retired through ill health , had an industrial accident or got out only to live another 2 to die of a work related illness
Asbestosis
Thalidomide babies / Aids / HIV / Hep C
Lunchtime drinking , Unions , Labour , domestic violence.
Selling all the council houses and replacing them with nothing
Football hooliganism , was rife , still about but massively reduced
Most of the above has gone , been reduced
We keep people alive , mass deaths through war and infectous disease etc gone ,
So the good stuff we have now .some questionable
Affluent society
Consumerism
Multiple foreign holidays ( screws the environment )
NHS is well equipped but needs staffing differently, same as doctors imo
Internet , wifi , smart phones , smart tele's , smart cars , E-cars , cheap flights , recycling ( moot ) renewable energy ,
Billy Joel must be bricking it right now ^^^
Relevant article to the thread:
So yes, much is improved, but perhaps if we had better social infrastructure we'd feel better? Maybe that's what we are missing?