What modern invention/innovation do you wish had *never* been developed?

[LizzieMaine]

Well, I wish the whole trope of "The Greatest Generation" had never been invented. The term didn't exist until it was coined to market Tom Brokaw's book about twenty years ago, and I think it does a real disservice to the complexity of the generation it describes. The generation born between 1910 and 1925 accomplished many things, and failed to accomplish many other things. They were ordinary human beings living thru an extraordinary time. Rather than blindly idolize them, we'd be better served by understanding the times they experienced.

Bear in mind that the generation that defeated Hitler in the name of "freedom and liberty" is the exact same generation that fired kindergarten teachers who refused to take loyalty oaths, also in the name of "freedom and liberty." We should be willing to face that contradiction head-on and ask "why?"

 

[Big J]

Well, I wish the whole trope of "The Greatest Generation" had never been invented. The term didn't exist until it was coined to market Tom Brokaw's book about twenty years ago, and I think it does a real disservice to the complexity of the generation it describes. The generation born between 1910 and 1925 accomplished many things, and failed to accomplish many other things. They were ordinary human beings living thru an extraordinary time. Rather than blindly idolize them, we'd be better served by understanding the times they experienced.

Bear in mind that the generation that defeated Hitler in the name of "freedom and liberty" is the exact same generation that fired kindergarten teachers who refused to take loyalty oaths. We should be willing to ask "why?"

Blind idolization suits me fine thanks. I haven't done anything near as great as being drafted against my will, and sent to a foreign continent to fight the greatest evil the world has ever known, and won.

 

[Big J]

Well...
















If one is following the conversation one will find that Miss Maine has made herself quite clear.

Her lists are to the point, (and if you follow the entire thread) wickedly funny.

Thanks for the list.
LizzieMaine has moments of sharp wit, but seems to have a thing for American social theory, which is ok, but I'm sure I read it all before on another thread.

 

[Fastuni]

Blind idolization suits me fine thanks. I haven't done anything near as great as being drafted against my will, and sent to a foreign continent to fight the greatest evil the world has ever known, and won.

Is the Red Army soldier also an object of your "blind idolization" for bearing the brunt in defeating Hitler?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Call it "social theory" if you like. I simply call it a desire to understand the lives of people I knew. Some of them I admired. Some of them were the worst kind of despicable jackasses. But most of them were just ordinary people trying to get along. They were proud of their accomplishments -- and ashamed of their mistakes.

 

[vitanola]

Call it "social theory" if you like. I simply call it a desire to understand the lives of people I knew. Some of them I admired. Some of them were the worst kind of despicable jackasses. But most of them were just ordinary people trying to get along. They were proud of their accomplishments -- and ashamed of their mistakes.

It seems that "ashamed of their mistakes" is a pretty difficult concept for most moderns to understand.

 

[dh66]

Doesn't anyone keep these threads on topic?

Maybe I can steer it back.
Not only was Hitler finally stopped, but Hirohito too, but look at the cost of that victory. Not only did thousands of civilians die and many suffer a fate worse than those who died instantly, but every generation since has been blessed with the angst that comes along with nuclear proliferation. There's a modern invention, compliments of the greatest generation, that I certainly wish had never been invented.

 

[Shangas]

It seems that "ashamed of their mistakes" is a pretty difficult concept for most moderns to understand.

Certainly I've met people who are like that.

One thing which I can't stand, and I'm finding this more and more these days - is that thing called planned obsolescence.

This ridiculous idea that everything we make has a finite life and when it's buggered it's buggered and we throw it out and buy another one.

Nobody fixes or repairs or services nothin' no more. And it really irritates me. Because I'm the sort of person who believes in buying quality. And part of buying quality is that it lasts and that if need be, it can be repaired. NOT REPLACED.

I rang up an optician's shop once to ask about having a lens polished and she told me flat out: "You can't do that. It has to be replaced" as if it was the be-all-and-end-all of the discussion and there were absolutely no other alternatives. I felt so disgusted I hung up.

 

[vitanola]

It seems that "ashamed of their mistakes" is a pretty difficult concept for most moderns to understand.

Thanks for the list.
LizzieMaine has moments of sharp wit, but seems to have a thing for American social theory, which is ok, but I'm sure I read it all before on another thread.

The list dates back to 2012, back in the first five pages of this long, rambling thread. I believe much good can come to one who takes the time on a slow Sunday afternoon to peruse it in its entirety.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Certainly I've met people who are like that.

One thing which I can't stand, and I'm finding this more and more these days - is that thing called planned obsolescence.

This ridiculous idea that everything we make has a finite life and when it's buggered it's buggered and we throw it out and buy another one.

Nobody fixes or repairs or services nothin' no more. And it really irritates me. Because I'm the sort of person who believes in buying quality. And part of buying quality is that it lasts and that if need be, it can be repaired. NOT REPLACED.

I rang up an optician's shop once to ask about having a lens polished and she told me flat out: "You can't do that. It has to be replaced" as if it was the be-all-and-end-all of the discussion and there were absolutely no other alternatives. I felt so disgusted I hung up.

Depends on how you look at it. Despite our desires, and our fantasies that anything made before 1940 will run perfectly for eternity, everything *does* have a finite life. Furthermore, the economic life may be a lot shorter. Part of my job is cleaning up the million dollar messes left by the engineers 50 years ago who didn't plan for replacing or retiring anything.

 

[dh66]

Depends on how you look at it. Despite our desires, and our fantasies that anything made before 1940 will run perfectly for eternity, everything *does* have a finite life. Furthermore, the economic life may be a lot shorter. Part of my job is cleaning up the million dollar messes left by the engineers 50 years ago who didn't plan for replacing or retiring anything.

Yes, a good amount of what I get into at work involves "unplanned obsolescence" of the mechanical infrastructure of old buildings.

 

[Big J]

Call it "social theory" if you like. I simply call it a desire to understand the lives of people I knew. Some of them I admired. Some of them were the worst kind of despicable jackasses. But most of them were just ordinary people trying to get along. They were proud of their accomplishments -- and ashamed of their mistakes.

Well, if you say so, but I don't see it in your posts.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Nothing will run forever -- not a car, not a refrigerator, not the Fedora Lounge, not even human civilization. The trick is to engineer something that can be repaired and maintained at less than the cost of throwing it out and buying a new one.

Before the digital conversion, it was the rule, not the exception, that film projectors were engineered to have a life expectancy of at least seventy years. Considering that the exhibition business runs on a shoestring profit margin, that efficiency was essential to the survival of the industry. Now, post conversion, many theatres are finding that the projectors they installed four or five years ago are already failing -- and they need to come up with yet another $70,000 to $100,000 to "upgrade" to the next model. This might be a great business model for the companies that manufacture this crap, but for those of us who depend on it to make a living, it's nothing but a filthy, stinking racket.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Well, if you say so, but I don't see it in your posts.

I don't look at the WW2 Generation the way a lot of people here do, with wide, uncritical eyes. I knew that generation personally -- when I was growing up they were the same age I am now, or a bit younger. They weren't just my relatives, they were the selectmen of my town, the principals of my schools, the ministers of my church, the people who cut the salami at the grocery store, drove the snowplows, fixed the plumbing, serviced the TV sets, led the youth groups, even headed the local Girl Scout troop. They weren't icons. They were people. And a lot of them looked at the news at night and shook their fists at the screen and wondered what the hell happened to the world -- well, some of them had the insight to look back at themselves and realize where they went wrong. Those were the ones I admired most.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Nothing will run forever -- not a car, not a refrigerator, not the Fedora Lounge, not even human civilization. The trick is to engineer something that can be repaired and maintained at less than the cost of throwing it out and buying a new one.

Before the digital conversion, it was the rule, not the exception, that film projectors were engineered to have a life expectancy of at least seventy years. Considering that the exhibition business runs on a shoestring profit margin, that efficiency was essential to the survival of the industry. Now, post conversion, many theatres are finding that the projectors they installed four or five years ago are already failing -- and they need to come up with yet another $70,000 to $100,000 to "upgrade" to the next model. This might be a great business model for the companies that manufacture this crap, but for those of us who depend on it to make a living, it's nothing but a filthy, stinking racket.

The other half of that glass is that technology has made things so inexpensive to produce that what used to be economical to repair no longer is. Take televisions for example. You can still get a $500 television repaired...for about $1,000. Sure, they can build a TV that costs $10,000 so that a $1,000 repair is economical. There's really no trick to that at all.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

It seems that "ashamed of their mistakes" is a pretty difficult concept for most moderns to understand.

But yah, I'm like special so I don't make mistakes.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Or you can learn to do it yourself.

 

[Big J]

I don't look at the WW2 Generation the way a lot of people here do, with wide, uncritical eyes. I knew that generation personally -- when I was growing up they were the same age I am now, or a bit younger. They weren't just my relatives, they were the selectmen of my town, the principals of my schools, the ministers of my church, the people who cut the salami at the grocery store, drove the snowplows, fixed the plumbing, serviced the TV sets, led the youth groups, even headed the local Girl Scout troop. They weren't icons. They were people. And a lot of them looked at the news at night and shook their fists at the screen and wondered what the hell happened to the world -- well, some of them had the insight to look back at themselves and realize where they went wrong. Those were the ones I admired most.

And you are assuming that I don't have the same insight, but yet have reached a different conclusion. And I resent the implication that because I disagree with you, I must be 'wide-eyed', and 'uncritical'.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Well, not to make this personal, but you *did* say you preferred to "blindly idolize." That'll do till "uncritical" gets here.

 

[Big J]

Well, not to make this personal, but you *did* say you preferred to "blindly idolize." That'll do till "uncritical" gets here.

Yes, very funny.
I was making a flippant response in the face of your arrogant disrespect for those that gave a lot more than you or I did.
I guess I'll just have to learn to live with the fact that you believe that you have a unique understanding of, well, pretty much everything, and are quite self-righteous about it too.
Seems that people in 'the good old days' had just as low standards of tolerance for differing opinions as 'modern folk' do. Like I said, there is nothing new under the sun.