The Myth of the Good Old Days

It is easy for anyone with a sense of history and memories of a gentler time to think fondly of a return to the good old days. Our fantasy can be derailed if we realize what would really await us if we returned to the time of yore.

Our sunny ideas may illuminate the good things, but there were bad things as well. Let’s look at things 50 years ago. Though you may have the romantic idea that the world was full of Ward and June Cleavers and gasoline went for cents per gallon, the reality is that racism and lynching were rampant. Automobiles were unsafe with hard metal dash boards and no seat belts. Politics were corrupt and the news media rarely brought things to the surface. Much of the American moral compass was pointed toward the puritanical. Music was available only on radio, reel to reel tape or vinyl. Calculators were called slide rules or abacus. Electronic equipment used vacuum tubes that needed to be replaced from time to time.

Now let’s take it back 100 years. Unless you lived in the working part of town it was rare to hear an engine. Your shoe leather was your transportation unless you were fortunate enough to have a horse or other beast of burden. If you didn’t fall prey to polio, tuberculosis, small pox or consumption, some simple infection could snuff out your life in two weeks. Medicine was very primitive. There were no antibiotics. Heating your home was labor intensive with wood or coal and it was dangerous. Homes were not insulated and there were no building codes. Safety was not a feature in any home or product that went into the home. Most homes still did not have indoor plumbing.

This begs one to pose the question, “Are these the good old days?” While some complain about paving paradise, demand for products and services by all are fueling the steam rollers. We like the convenience of microwaving our cooling beverages. We love the newest communication technology and getting the fastest most reliable internet machines is a must. We love the latest gadgets because they do seem to make our lives easier. All this demand opens our arms to embrace the doors of the discount big box industry which is reshaping consumer habits and targeting the consumers in us all. Our land marks are changing and becoming recognizable to all who move here or just pass through because it looks similar to elsewhere else.

One can only imagine what conveniences and inconveniences await us in the decades to come. It will surely be that these times of transition will one day be the Good Old Days to some who are living here now. Others will view it as the beginning of our down fall to homogeny.