Change

[Momma Bear]

Is the world changing or is it just me that is?

[Sidea]

I think it may be both...the world is definitely changing. We have to change too...it's really a question of whether we change in reaction to it, or in response to it. Do we bristle at the world and it's changes, or do we accept it or even take a stand to change it? That's what I've been struggling with lately...My gut reaction is to follow my cat's example ...puff up and hide under the bed...but I know that's not going to make me feel any better about the way things are. At the same time, it seems nearly impossible to make any real difference...sometimes it seems like every small thing anyone does to help is countered by something bigger...one step forward and two steps back. I dunno...just a little philsophical rant I guess...life is so frustrating sometimes.

[Erika]

In what ways do you mean you think it is changing? I would like to reply but I think I would like to know more what you had in mind first, as I find it to be a very intriguing question to discuss.

[Momma Bear]

Originally Posted by Erika

In what ways do you mean you think it is changing? I would like to reply but I think I would like to know more what you had in mind first, as I find it to be a very intriguing question to discuss.

Violence, ignorance, monetary.... I am 32 I remember we could leave our doors unlocked all night. Now... not so much. I remember getting on my bike at 8am on a Saturday and not having to check in till I got home before the street lights came on. I am more fiscally responsible than ever and my views are swinging to the more conservative side in regards to $$$ only.

So am I just getting older and more cautious? Or has it always been this S****?

[Erika]

I think it is a mix of the two. I think that as we get older (I am 26) we lose the innocence little by little that allowed us to be more aloof as youths. We think more and therefore we are more careful about things. Some of it is because we know that society as a whole really cannot be trusted, and some of it is because we have become jaded by all the negative in the world so we don't want to take any chances. Monetary responsibility I think is a direct result of growing and realizing that there's a limited supply of it if we don't ration it properly, and we know we don't want to become poor and needy.

[Sidea]

Originally Posted by Erika

In what ways do you mean you think it is changing? I would like to reply but I think I would like to know more what you had in mind first, as I find it to be a very intriguing question to discuss.

I think that there has always been violence and poverty, there has always been war and strife. The difference is that we are now so inundated with pictures and stories about these things that people are changing. Think about it...100 years ago, we did not have many of the technological advances that we have now-information traveled slowly, and people remained fairly detached. Now we see every day, several times a day, the pain and hurt in the world. We see it, hear it, and I think being confronted with the atrocities of mankind has forced people into a kind of mass confusion. Some people react violently, some react passively, and still others, like me, have no idea what to do (if anything can be done) about the death and destruction happening everyday. The sheer magnitude of the violence in today's world does not help. With the development of new and more efficient killing machines, more and more people die with each new day. Without the media...the casualities would probably be just a number...something to put in the back of your mind and forget. Seeing the destruction-watching as a bereaved father carries away his dead son, seeing the bloody aftermath of a gang shooting or a roadside bomb...we never SAW these things-society as a whole never watched events unfold in real time, never really saw real people die...I think, if anything, the world has become too real...perhaps we are being forced to confront the reality of our own mortality?

(I tend to rant. Please don't be surprised if it doesn't really stick to the original question...)

[Mommy Munch]

Originally Posted by Momma Bear

Violence, ignorance, monetary.... I am 32 I remember we could leave our doors unlocked all night. Now... not so much. I remember getting on my bike at 8am on a Saturday and not having to check in till I got home before the street lights came on. I am more fiscally responsible than ever and my views are swinging to the more conservative side in regards to $$$ only.

Originally Posted by Sidea

I think that there has always been violence and poverty, there has always been war and strife. The difference is that we are now so inundated with pictures and stories about these things that people are changing. Think about it...100 years ago, we did not have many of the technological advances that we have now-information traveled slowly, and people remained fairly detached. Now we see every day, several times a day, the pain and hurt in the world. We see it, hear it, and I think being confronted with the atrocities of mankind has forced people into a kind of mass confusion. Some people react violently, some react passively, and still others, like me, have no idea what to do (if anything can be done) about the death and destruction happening everyday. The sheer magnitude of the violence in today's world does not help. With the development of new and more efficient killing machines, more and more people die with each new day. Without the media...the casualities would probably be just a number...something to put in the back of your mind and forget. Seeing the destruction-watching as a bereaved father carries away his dead son, seeing the bloody aftermath of a gang shooting or a roadside bomb...we never SAW these things-society as a whole never watched events unfold in real time, never really saw real people die...I think, if anything, the world has become too real...perhaps we are being forced to confront the reality of our own mortality?

This sums it up for me perfectly. It has been hitting me lately about how much our world has been changing. It's scary....it really is, but we as an individual have no control over it. I know it is inevitable, but I wouldn't mind it if it slowed down a bit....lol. Kinda like, "Stop the ride! I want to get off!!"