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Are we better off in the 21c compared to 19c?

Are we better off in the 21c compared to 19c?

  • Yes, much better

    Votes: 35 76.1%

  • Yes, slightly better

    Votes: 3 6.5%

  • No change

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • No, slightly worse

    Votes: 1 2.2%

  • No, much worse

    Votes: 5 10.9%

  • I can't make up my mind

    Votes: 1 2.2%

  • Other

    Votes: 1 2.2%
  • Total voters
    46
LiberalAvenger said:
Less violent? Serial killers, mass shootings at schools, texas tower, resturants, you name it. Oh I almost forgot 9-11.
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Yup, dramatically.

We still war, but nowhere near as many people die. Seriously, the current wars are nothing compared to wars of the past in terms of body count.

We still have murders and assaults, but there's decent chance you'll get through life without ever experiencing it. 200 years ago, that was pure fantasy.

Crime sentences use to include things like being publicly beaten and tortured. Hell, if you were a woman or a black person, beatings were just part of your daily life.

We have a lot more media coverage of violence than we used to, but don't let that delude you into ignoring history.
 
Canell said:
OK, I see now, you're right.
But may be the Amish just don't want to part in the industrial - environmental degradation process. I respect their choice.
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They don't do it because of that. They do it because they believe technology is sinful.

The Amish are not environmentally friendly. It's only their small numbers and rapid loss of members that keeps them from posing the same problems to the environment that most third world countries do, which is that they breed in ridiculously unsustainable numbers.
 
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Canell said:
Take your time. ;)
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I got a life to attend to. I don't really have the time to correct people who are determined to be ignorant, especially if there is zero chance they will ever read my response.
 
Kandahar said:
Not at all. We now have ubiquitous cell phones and internet, stem cell therapies, GMO foods, and other new technological marvels that have already made this world a better place...and we're only 12 years into the new century. We'll soon have self-driving cars, ubiquitous 3D printing, better genetic therapies, efficient solar energy, hydroponic agriculture, sustainable (and healthier) meat production, and the near-eradication of many diseases including malaria.

And if we're defining "we" as "citizens of earth" rather than "citizens of the United States," then we've also made a lot of economic progress since the 20th century. The world is far better off today than it was just 12 years ago by almost any measurement, and we still have a lot to look forward to in the 21st century.
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Thank you! Yes, that is it exactly.
 
Ahhh. Those were the days.

wolfman24 said:
No offense but this kind of a silly post. In the 19th century (1801-18999) we have simple diseasess with no cure. High infant mortality, earlier deaths, no working standards or safeguards, child labor, massive numbers of sweat shops, rampant racism (beyond that which we see today) in all sectors of society. Social casting, etc etc etc.
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Canell said:
Are we better off in the 21-th century compared to 19-th century, what do you think? :)
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That is hard to answer because I was not alive, at least in this form, in the 19th century.
 
Mason66 said:
That is hard to answer because I was not alive, at least in this form, in the 19th century.
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You do not need to have lived in the 19th Century to answer this question. Unless you are using some esoteric metrics the answer is clear.
 
Verthaine said:
While I can't speak for anyone else on this forum ,I know that in the 19th C I would most likely have been a slave for the almost the first 2/3rds of that century and probably a poor sharecropper like my great great grandfather in the latter third of that century instead of the successful restaurntuer that I am today.And I'm willing to hazard a guess that not only would my wife not be a surgeon who is allowed to vote,but we probably wouldn't have been allowed to marry each other back then because I'm a dark skinned creole and she's a cajun.
So at least for me and my wife we are definately better off in this century than in prior ones.
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Are you saying that every black person that was living in the US in the 19th century was a salve?
 
Verthaine said:
While I can't speak for anyone else on this forum ,I know that in the 19th C I would most likely have been a slave for the almost the first 2/3rds of that century and probably a poor sharecropper like my great great grandfather in the latter third of that century instead of the successful restaurntuer that I am today.And I'm willing to hazard a guess that not only would my wife not be a surgeon who is allowed to vote,but we probably wouldn't have been allowed to marry each other back then because I'm a dark skinned creole and she's a cajun.
So at least for me and my wife we are definately better off in this century than in prior ones.
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Are you saying that every black person that was living in the US in the 19th century was a slave?
 
Rainman05 said:
Yes. Much better in all things... except music, taste in clothes (meh... I guess it has its good and bad) and proper manners and civility.

Other than those things, yes we are much, much better off in most of the other important aspects of life.
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Yes manners have definately taken a hit.
 
Mason66 said:
Yes manners have definately taken a hit.
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scientific progress does not breed civility sadly.
I mean, it does, in those who pursue a scientific course... it doesn't necessarily do that in the rest. Especially in the great unwashed.
 
Kandahar said:
Not at all. We now have ubiquitous cell phones and internet, stem cell therapies, GMO foods, and other new technological marvels that have already made this world a better place...and we're only 12 years into the new century. We'll soon have self-driving cars, ubiquitous 3D printing, better genetic therapies, efficient solar energy, hydroponic agriculture, sustainable (and healthier) meat production, and the near-eradication of many diseases including malaria.

And if we're defining "we" as "citizens of earth" rather than "citizens of the United States," then we've also made a lot of economic progress since the 20th century. The world is far better off today than it was just 12 years ago by almost any measurement, and we still have a lot to look forward to in the 21st century.
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But I saw once in a historical documentary called "Back To The Future 2" that we would have flying cars by 2015. We are only a little over 2 years away and my Edsel still drives on the ground.
 
Canell said:
OK, I see now, you're right.
But may be the Amish just don't want to part in the industrial - environmental degradation process. I respect their choice.
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Why would they build 10 barns if they only needed one?

Society seems to mass produce everything.

The Amish have a small community so they can do things "the hard way", which is a subjective term.
 
SmokeAndMirrors said:
Yup, dramatically.

We still war, but nowhere near as many people die. Seriously, the current wars are nothing compared to wars of the past in terms of body count.

We still have murders and assaults, but there's decent chance you'll get through life without ever experiencing it. 200 years ago, that was pure fantasy.

Crime sentences use to include things like being publicly beaten and tortured. Hell, if you were a woman or a black person, beatings were just part of your daily life.

We have a lot more media coverage of violence than we used to, but don't let that delude you into ignoring history.
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It seems like more for 1. there are a lot more people in the world, and 2. a lot more of the actual crime is reported for us to see.
 
Remember this, ladies & gentlemen? :)

 
Canell said:
Are we better off in the 21-th century compared to 19-th century, what do you think? :)
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What happened to the 20th century?

The 20th century saw the emergence of 3 extreme forms of fascism

1. Bolshevism
2. Nazism
3. Corporatism

SO if you are not content with the level of fascist slavery imposed upon the peoples of the world in the 21st century, then I suggest you look at what happened in the 20th century rather than worrying about the 19th century
 
Mason66 said:
Are you saying that every black person that was living in the US in the 19th century was a slave?
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Of course not.But I know my family history and my ancestors were slaves and poor sharecroppers during that time period hence the reason I wrote "I would most likely have been..."
 
If I wanted to life a 19c lifestyle with no electricity, no real medicine, no vehicle, etc. I could probably do so extremely cheaply.

Heck, not having a cell phone, water bill (you have a pump well or a traditional well now), electricity bill, internet bill, car payment, car insurance, an inexpensive simple home with maybe one or two rooms that is drafty as all get out (and is basically a shack by today's standards), etc. You are going to take a serious reduction in your monthly expenses, that is probably 1-2k (depending on specifics) right there that you don't need.

If you go as far as grow your own food, do canning for the winter, dig a stores cellar, etc, you spend even less money.

If you don't go with medical insurance, any type of perscription medicine or even acetominophen, it costs even less! (you could probably take something like tylonel though since they did have these kinds of simple medicines back then, so its a good analogue). I hope you never need to use antibiotics or a simple disinfectant.

In my mind, all of those wonderful things, make my life better and more pleasurable, but we can certainly list those things we would have to do without and see if we really want to live that lifestyle. It is certainly doable even in modern times.
 
With our Neville Chamberlain president we are headed towards a nuclear WWIII.
 
joko104 said:
With our Neville Chamberlain president we are headed towards a nuclear WWIII.
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If Obama is this century's Chamberlain,then which nation's leader is our century's equivalent to Adolph Hitler? I don't see Putin or Ma Ying-jeou as being particularly overly imperialistic and expansionistic.
 
Of course we're better off now. Life expectancies are waaaaay longer. All kinds or creature comforts from central heating and air conditioning to refrigeration and electricity. And lets not forget indoor plumbing, although unfortunately big government has popped up its ugly head and individually mandated it for buildings where people work and live. If you don't have running water and the toilet won't flush, the police powers of the state will encroach upon freedom and force you to fix it/get service reconnected or they condemn the building and ban people from entering PRIVATELY owned property. Transportation in the 21st century would make the animal back crown of the 19th century stand in awe. And lets not forget social advances like no more slavery and segregation.
 
Peter Grimm said:
Ahhh. Those were the days.
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Being a genealogist I have come to the same conclusion that Patton did. "God how I hate the 20th/21st century." What is amazing to me that with all the hardship of the post 30 years war era, many of my ancestors actually lived well into their late 60's which was well beyond the mean. They were mostly merchants and artesians and some Burger farmers.

I believe I understood you are Swedish? If so I think Gustav Adolphus (King) was probably the greatest your country ever had. He sure saved our bacon.
 
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