The world is not such a bad place to be in our time

Sometimes we get caught up in the struggles in our lives, that we do not realize the miracles we take for granted every day we are awake.

The things that happen around us, the things we use, the things we can do that our ancestors could not even imagine.

This video is a reminder of how far man has come, we are certainly not close to Utopia, but if you stop and think about things, we are an unbelievable amount better off than we were just a few generations ago.

This is not intended as political post to argue a political point. Simply a perspective on the world today.

Define "the world" Tim. Technologically we're much further along than a century or two ago.
The world as in this planet, the ecological system... doesn't appear to be nearly as good as it was a century or two ago.

We've has more advancements in the last 125 years than all of the time preceding it.

I cannot imagine the advancements that will happen 125 years hence.

I disagree.

Yeah we've made technological advancements but just look at all the crap filling up the world right now -- especially the violence! I simply cannot stand this ridiculous situation where people just keep killing each other over whose imaginary friend is better. As long as people are so intent on pushing their stupid mythology that they're actually willing to kill for it, humanity's growth will be severely stunted.

And the problem will never be solved as long as we have to "respect others' beliefs."

The world has never been as safe as now;-D

Still waiting for my flying car and my lovebot.

But yeah, life is more complicated, but certainly easier.

Warning: foolish, long-winded rant follows...

...

Things have certainly changed a lot, but I don't see any improvement.

I see people still struggle all the same, only now we have more gadgets than ever before... yay.

Sure, I don't have to draw water from a well or dig a hole on the ground to relieve myself (though I'm sure there are folks living in the outbacks and they have no other choice...), and l'm somewhat thankful for that, even though I feel guilty every time I wash a plate and see all that detergent going down the drain, knowing that I'm contributing to the overall destruction of nature; we're all making our own bed, and one day we're gonna lie on it.

What brought all this "advancement" we see today is: some (smart?) people felt the greed to take the lead in a certain area, then had that "brilliant" idea to create something that didn't exist by then and make loads of money from selling it. Fast forwarding to now, we have cars, smart phones, espresso machines and all that.

However, billions of $$$ are (supposedly) poured into "research" for the cure of illnesses and yet not much has been achieved. Sure, we have vaccines for things that would kill us 100 years ago, but those vaccines were researched and brought up because it was either that or... extinction. Necessity is the mother of invention...

More money is spent on... ahem... "defense" than anything else. It's all about flexing muscles and see who's gonna be master or slave. Where's the improvement on that?

That's mankind for you: basically a life form driven by lust for power.

World Population Clock: 7.4 Billion People (2016) - Worldometers

Advancement at what cost?

Yeah 7. 5 billion humans and rising.
Way too many! greedy materialistic destroyers. Consumers. Take take take.
Humans. Kill each other exterminate other species daily.

'A plague upon the Earth'
David Attenborough.

Even the oceans are full of freaking plastic.

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I can't help you with the lovebot, but look for self-driving cars to be on the roads within 5 years.

I disagree. I'm pretty sure the oceans are messed up from the melt down in the reactors. And massive issues with terrorism and refugees. Canadian dollar is 67 cents american. Scary times to be alive

Boy this is the last time I try to post anything optimistic or cheery on this site.

Sorry, I'm a pessimist by nature.

Yeah. But its got to be realistic!

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I'm genuinely sorry, I'll keep it upbeat (or out of it) next time

Tim, I feel the same way.

I have a robot vacuum cleaner in my room. Maybe in a few years there will be other robots doing my housework.

I want one!

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Tmgt5,
I can relate to what you mean, that the world is not such a bad place.

I had a lovey conversation with my grandmother a couple of years before she passed. She was born at the end of the 19th century and died at the end of the 20th century. We discussed all the changes during her lifetime to her standard of living and new inventions seen during her lifetime, many of which did not exist or were only for the wealthy, but are taken for granted now including: electricity, phones, indoor plumbing, cars, commercial air travel, etc.; let alone all the gadgets: microwaves, computers, space exploration, tv's, washer/dryers, cell phones, etc. that weren't around before the 20th century and some of which people seem to think they cannot live without now.

Not to mention over time: getting the hard won voting rights for all; equal rights; the medications, treatment innovations, and health care standards; and fair labor laws, OSHA, and labor standards that have come about, and minimizing the absolute cruel and unsafe working conditions, just to name a few. Not perfect systems but better than what we had before them.

I, for one, am grateful for some of these things. As a reminder, the Dalai Lama says, "It is very rare or almost impossible that an event can be negative from all points of view." There will always be negatives and downsides to everything, there will always be issues, but it is good to take the time to appreciate the positives as well because they are there too. Thanks Tmgt5 for doing this.

Meanwhile in the Eastern block.... one country already torn by war, other seem to be at the edge of civil war. When Czech seriously discuss civil war and what to do in case of it, time to be very very alert.

Putin is bombing Syria (and not the ISIS) and nobody even protests. Neo-nazi ideology is at rise in V4. Doing Hitler salute in front of the National Museum is fine in Prague these days, police will not go into the angry crowd. They will beat few Greens and anarchists and arrest some pro-Ukrainian activist to make it seem they are doing something.

While few volunteers are trying to help the refugees, those that made it here, the governments fail... or use them as scarecrow to rack up votes. You don't even have to be Muslim to face physical violence in the V4. Wearing a scarf over your head on rainy day is offensive enough, because it looks sorta like hijab (although the attackers probably have no idea what a hijab is and call all scarfs burqa).

These are not good times all around. And soon it will not just be problem of Eastern and Central Europe.