2020
Shouldn't we live in the future, a futuristic world by now? If you watched films about how the world should look like in 1980, 1984, 1990, 2000 we are far behind. It's not said that it all will happen.
I was there as the color television came, the walkman, video recorder, CDs came into our life and the record player disappeared. Newspapers started with weekend editions, the internet options grew fast and media became accessible to everyone. I saw the answering machine and fax come and go out of lives of many. The same it was with food and articles we are used to. The old fashioned house wife disappeared including her 24/7 home cooking and cleaning. She has to take two jobs next to having children, raising, pleasing a husband and housekeeping. There's no time left to socialize, relax, stress, burn outs, depressions and heart attacks increase.
Fast food restaurants took over the real cooking. No one can afford a chef. The mobile phone came into our lives. First at home, next the smartphone and cars with cruise control. Suddenly gasoline and diesel are not the only options to make a car drive. Gas, electric, and hybrid are promoted and the cars are faster but the maximum speed is limited because of the smog.
Clothes are no longer sewed at home but bought and mainly synthetic which is plastic. Wool, leather, cotton, linen , is hardly available or not done although better for the environment.
Slowly we are manipulated to eat differently. More healthy they call it but fast food is a trend and a McDonald burger doesn't get spoiled for six weeks. Meat is not done, fish is not done, wood is not done neither is alcohol, smoking, buying water or juice in the shop and drinking milk. We eat chemicals called cheese, milk, vegan burger, and candy.
The pharmaceutical industry blooms and it will stay that way because by now each one of us has a huge lack of vitamins.
Vegetables and fruits hardly contain the number of vitamins they had 50 or 100 years ago. Everything changes except the human body. It can still hardly digest plants. We did not change into herbivores and the herbivores, carnivores we keep have to eat the cheap trash we feed them as well. We stuff ourselves with trans fat and palm fat both dangerous because they cause cancer but it's cheap and we can no longer remember what real food tastes like. That homemade cookie, tomato soup, bread, and cookie...
During the past years, my life, my life changed and no, it's not true history repeats itself. True is people long for the old days. At first, it was antiques, next second hand and today it's called hot vintage. Those clothes, furniture people were bullying us about are suddenly hot, hype, and worth an awful lot of money. No waste, minimalism, is the trend. Good for the poor bastards we can join without mentioning we haven't a cent to spend. We think about our wallet, the environment, and do it with style.
Did people change? I don't think so. People remained the same. In times of need they are close (they might need you), if the times are better we are ignored (no one needs you to solve your problems). Friends, real friends hardly existed 200 years ago and today they are rare too. Two hundred years ago people worked hard, walked hours to get to work. Today we drive hours and no matter the modern techniques we do not save time, we are still tired. At that time we went to bed, broke. Today we sit up late behind our computer to 'relax' because we are broke. Just like hundreds of years ago some people get old, others die young and never become an adult.
Adultery... It changed from 12 years old into 21 years old to 18 years old. The new generation is, unfortunately, not prepared for it. They know nothing about life, finances, how to support themselves, which and how many bills and taxes need to be paid. School doesn't prepare them for that neither do most parents. It's astonishing to hear how children grow up without being able to wipe a floor, do the dishes, the laundry, cannot handle their own finances and truly believe if you need money the ATM gives it to you for free.
If the luxury world we live in ends the biggest part of the population will be in need and have to learn how to cook, clean, repair furniture and their house, sew clothes, do their plumbing, learn to knit. Imagine a life without power and internet. A life without a library to provide you with the information you need. Would you survive?
The future will be a grey one, first ruled by the internet, next, there's nothing, not even an animal or tree left. No jobs, no income, the survival of the fittest. It would be could to count on a world like that. No matter if it's technology, a nuclear attack, the next war, or a never-ending series of (corona) viruses our future doesn't look good, bright, or wealthy. These golden ages... they are over a long time ago. By now one out of 19 lives under the poverty level and that is worse than 'poverty'. It will only get worse and the only way to prepare for that is a no-waste lifestyle by taking care of what you have and improving your skills.
@Hanzell Living in a 3rd world country doesn't mean you have skills and learn how to make a budget. I learned it too. It has to do with attitude and partly how you are raised. My mother wasted money btw but I never did.