Growing up in the '70's

[richy]

Oh man I loved my Big Wheels.

[rayw]

Who remembers the smell of open smoking in the workplace and fully leaded gasoline?

[WalterB]

Originally Posted by Michael Allen

Oh yeah things have changed. There is a primary school here in Melbourne that just recently banned contact between students. No hugging no high fives and no playing tag.

Wow, this way primary school in Afghanistan is more fun...

Trying to exclude risk is utopia.
But people demand it: they are afraid of risk.
The government wants it, because people want and because it's easy politics. Instead of dealing with real problems they can micromanage schoolyards and get applauded.
I guess in the US the large financial claims are also a reason for a lot of laws.

In The Netherlands we see similair things (but not the big claims).
Every incident gets seized (?spelling?) by politicials to express their sympathy, to yell it's an outrage that it could happen and to promise to handle the problem with new laws. This way they looks really 'hands-on' and prepared to do what's needed, but in the meantime the important decisions are being postponed for decades.

[Alcove Audio]

Originally Posted by WalterB

Trying to exclude risk is utopia.

I was always fascinated by the fact the the literal translation of "Utopia" in No Place.

[WalterB]

Originally Posted by Alcove Audio

I was always fascinated by the fact the the literal translation of "Utopia" in No Place.

And that is why it's called utopia; the perfect place that doesn't exist.

I recall it was Thomas More who wrote the book Utopia as a 'manifest/protest' about the 16th century English society. In fact is was about the fictious island Utopia that was 'a perfect society'. Now I have to use Wikipedia
It seems to me it was a mix of socialist (common interest over personal gain), communist (no private property) and liberal/progressive elements (female priests, euthanesia).

Anyway: a lot of things conservative people fear

[Gonzo_Entertainment]

When I was 9 or 10 my mom would send me to the store to get her smokes and they would sell them to me without even blinking an eye.

[NickClapper]

Originally Posted by WalterB

I recall it was Thomas More who wrote the book Utopia as a 'manifest/protest' about the 16th century English society. In fact is was about the fictious island Utopia that was 'a perfect society'. Now I have to use Wikipedia
It seems to me it was a mix of socialist (common interest over personal gain), communist (no private property) and liberal/progressive elements (female priests, euthanesia).

This is part of my summer reading for my course next year. It is eurgh.

I think the perception that more recent generations are bubblewrapped is mainly instigated by the media. I'm a child of the 90s. Obviously things have changed, that's a no-brainer and goes without saying. Yes, in the 70's there was no internet or xboxs or whatever but I think the idea that the present generation are any more or less reckless is swayed by the greater proliferation of material about the coddling of children. Undoubtedly there were parents in the 70s who protected their children from doing potentially dangerous things, it's just that that wasn't always considered news.

I spent most of my childhood doing stupid things like hitting other children with sticks or cricket stumps. I remember when me and a friend took hammers and destroyed a shed built of asbestos. We were about 6. Yes, I watched TV but that's because TV was there and my parents watched it. I'm sure that the children of the 70s would've spent just as much time watching TV if there had been as much TV in those days (I think I currently get 900 different channels) and their parents were already attuned to watching it.

Surroundings change all the time, people change very little.

[Dreadylocks]

The more things change, the more they stay the same.