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Beautifully written and so true. Take a look at the Retirement Forum on CD. One would think the Dream of many was nothing but wealth. If one does not have it they are to be scorned as lesser people. Some appear to believe only money and only the things money can buy will make them successful and happy. My parents were not like that. When did people become that way?
Did anyone in the past ever say they hoped the future would bring us happiness and contentment rather than “things?” Not that there is anything inherently wrong with “things.” I like things. I’m typing on a very modern thing right now. But has it brought happiness? Other than the happiness of convenience not really.
I think maybe at this point we might want to ask ourselves whether or not some of these big dreams that have come true have turned or are turning into nightmares. Now that the future that was talked about in the past is here.
Everyone is writing so meaningfully and thoughtfully on this thread.
You are so right in what you say. Within the past three days, I acquired a rather daunting number of personal messages from a "starred" forum member, who asked personal questions about me (when I did not ask the same and, frankly, was not interested). When I mentioned not being of this person's socioeconomic level, I was dropped like a hot potato. This experience emphasizes the truth of what you say, particularly about the Retirement forum. Not to mention that it hurts someone's pride to be persistently sent private messages, and then unceremoniously dropped because you're honest about making the "cut" financially.
But what the heck. The future, for me, never depended for a second on status. It was a vague dream about remaining together with people from my early years, taking care of each other. Not sappy or sentimental, but practical. I'm glad I don't visit the Retirement forum too often, especially because you can never retire from caring about people you are obliged to care about.
Thanks. For many people wealth and status was the dream and still is. I saw early on that to get that dream I would not only have to play that political game but would have to live it the rest of my life. It required more accomodations of freedom and conscience than I was willing to make, no matter how high the material rewards.
Luckily by the age of 42 I finally wound up in a job as a computer specialist where I could make a good living and do a job I really loved. To me, having a job I loved was worth more than all the money and titles in the world. At one point I was offered a raise and promotion but turned it down, telling my boss I loved what I did, and if I couldn't do it for him I would have to leave the company and do it for someone else. I did that job until I retired.
I was also lucky to have a like minded wife who was happy with what we had. We basically just lived our lives, raised our kids and didn't care what other people had. It worked out well. We are approaching our 45th anniversary.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Minervah
Beautifully written and so true. Take a look at the Retirement Forum on CD. One would think the Dream of many was nothing but wealth. If one does not have it they are to be scorned as lesser people. Some appear to believe only money and only the things money can buy will make them successful and happy. My parents were not like that. When did people become that way?
Did anyone in the past ever say they hoped the future would bring us happiness and contentment rather than “things?” Not that there is anything inherently wrong with “things.” I like things. I’m typing on a very modern thing right now. But has it brought happiness? Other than the happiness of convenience not really.
I think maybe at this point we might want to ask ourselves whether or not some of these big dreams that have come true have turned or are turning into nightmares. Now that the future that was talked about in the past is here.
A new ad, I think by Microsoft, has some celebrity claiming that "this is the future we always dreamed of." It irks the you-know-what out of me.
America today is so not the future I always dreamed of. People over 55, or even people who recall life before the internet, if you weren't too scared to even think of what life after the year 2000 would be like--what was the future you dreamed of? Did it just involve love and community and your family? Did it extend beyond the people you loved and cared about? Did it involve technology or any material thing at all?
I think for a lot of people who grew up on Star Trek or the Jetsons or Back to the Future, or any of the other gazillion tech-heavy TV shows or movies often dreamed of what technology could do. What's so wrong with that?
Because technology is not user friendly for some of us old folks...
A new ad, I think by Microsoft, has some celebrity claiming that "this is the future we always dreamed of." It irks the you-know-what out of me.
America today is so not the future I always dreamed of. People over 55, or even people who recall life before the internet, if you weren't too scared to even think of what life after the year 2000 would be like--what was the future you dreamed of? Did it just involve love and community and your family? Did it extend beyond the people you loved and cared about? Did it involve technology or any material thing at all?
Mine involved technology only to the extent that my brothers magazines growing up assured us we'd be in flying cars by now, highly disappointed!
Mine involved technology only to the extent that my brothers magazines growing up assured us we'd be in flying cars by now, highly disappointed!
Well, the technology for them certainly exists, N. Tesla had plans for anti-gravity and electromagnetic vehicles, all which would have been powered by his energy distribution towers (power WIFI so to speak), so we could have landspeeders and other types of cars we see in todays sci-fi, but the problem is, Teslas plans were suppressed and classified, due to this power source not being 'meterable' to the public, in other words, it would have been cheap to power them, so of course that would be a huge threat to the global economy, even in Teslas days!
Heck, we even did a counter rotating magnetic ring experiment back in high school physics class, it produced a small area of anti-gravity, enough to keep a paper clip suspended in the middle, and this was in the late 80s! I have no doubts much greater technology is available, we are just not permitted to access it though.
Thats really what no one even thought about back in the 60s, and 70s, everyone was excited about seeing a flying car, they never stopped to wonder if the public would ever be privy to such technology, I guess they just assumed it would be a free for all, but alot of this type of technology could have the potential to devastate the global economy if it ever got out, just imagine if Teslas anti-grav car was made and anyone could buy one or make one...what would happen to the gas and oil industry as a result? All those jobs and related industries that depend on people buying fuel and oil to power their vehicles.
I sort of understand why the Invention Secrecy Act was created, but I still think its wrong to suppress technology for the sake of industry.
Well of course there is. No one is suggesting that if you've ever dreamed of technology, that's ALL you've dreamed of.
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