[Indie'sOK]

Hi all,
I'm not sure if what I'm going to write is going to make sense. But this is something that has bothered me for a long time, and I'm only just now posting about it. I tell people that I want to move to a place like Alaska or Montana. They ask why in the world would I want to do that? I say this - I am sick of the fast pace of society. People always on their phones and texting and stuff like that. I want to go back in time, to the 1960s and 70s when we didn't have all this junk. Don't you think technology has gone too far? I feel like I was born in the wrong era, and it makes me feel very sad and lonely. I guess if I moved to a slower-paced location I would be fulfilling this need to live more simply. I just wish I could experience life in the past, when things were simpler. Can anyone relate to this?

[objtrbit]

I can a little, I hate how teacher's now not only have to get students to stop talking to each other during class, but now students think that if they don't answer this text they got the world will end; I donno. I hate the offering of online classes too; sure it's convinent, but I do so much better in class, and since a ton of classes are switching to inclass combined with online, it worries me. Texting and driving is a bonus too, lol. I could definatly live in a world without that stuff. I may be a lttle too far back...I barely appreciate AC!

[Indie'sOK]

Thanks. I'm going to talk to my therapist about this...it's just getting me down and I don't know what to do about it. Living in 2010 just feels wrong to me. I feel like all the character that each decade usually has is missing for this one. I know nobody knows what I'm talking about but to me it's so real.

[AtreyuFreak]

OOOOhhhhh I can SO relate to this!!! I seriously honestly think I should have been born in the seventies. The clothes, the music, the cars, the "peace, love, happiness" way of thinking...I don't think I would've liked the threat of nuclear war, but hey, it's like deciding between something that MIGHT be the end of the world but logically would never happen cause we'd destroy the planet, and what's going on now--sending soldiers to blow up invisible enemies in the desert, and killing tons of innocent civilians instead. I hate all the HATE in this country, this world, this era!!!! And the racism, sexism, and homophobia...I'd hate it, but I like to think I'd have been a damn good advocate against it!!!

EDIT: Oh, and the reason this era has no character is because everything that's popular is being stolen from other eras.

[Rhiannonsmoon]

Oh yes dear Indie...but I want to because I grew up in the 60's & 70's. I remember the first "mobile cell phone" I ever saw and it was in a battery pack about the size of a car battery and had the old fashioned handset on it and it was worn slung over the shoulder like a shoulder bag...just too heavy and too expensive..

But I also want to go back because I was younger and life was simpler and my grandmother and dad were still alive

[pachyderm]

One can live a simple life in the present. Yes, one can.

[lynn P.]

Yes I understand how you feel and you can live a simple life in 2010. Since you feel this way, you should start planning so you can live this kind of life. In fact 'simple living' is one of the recommendations for living a happy life.

Think how it's been for most people - working like crazy to buy the biggest house, nicest car, all the latest toys/gadgets. This means they have to work longer hours and get deeper in debt where they won't have enough time to enjoy those things.

The solution is: live below your means, spend your money wisely and you don't need to keep up with the Jone's. Live your life according to your rules and not the rest of society. Live somewhere you don't have a neighbor one foot away.

When I was your age, I regret not having someone to guide me. I recommend you start thinking about what you want to do later in life career wise. Make sure you stay focused on school so you'll always be self sufficient if you're alone (I made this mistake).

I think many people spend more time on the computer or texting than quality time with others.

[Perna]

Lots of people in the past have felt the way you do, Indie, it does seem lot's harder with change going on ever faster and faster. But the fears just change from one thing to another; I remember in the 1960's not being part of the "in crowd" :-) and peace, love, hippies, etc. and having my college overrun by National Guard and being tear-gassed just for being on the way to/from the dining hall, being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was a lot more scary to me than ignoring technology is now.

I was a computer professional when I worked so not being up on twittering, texting (my phone doesn't really do texting or have a camera even) and all the new graphics and things happening on computers makes me feel "dumb" but that's always been the case; there are always things we don't understand or aren't part of; wait until you get old enough to stop listening to "music" and it flows by you so you turn on a station you use to like and have no clue and don't like anything at all they're playing.

I would join a group like the Society for Creative Anacronism: http://www.sca.org/

or read about the Luddites and Neo-Luddites: http://greenfield.fortunecity.com/cr...13/neolud.html (the Luddites broke up printing presses when they were first invented; can you imagine going from a world of no books to books?)

[KathyM]

Hi Indie

My son was watching "Saturday Night Fever" the other day and said: "I wish I would have grown up during the 70s - you guys got away with everything." In a way, he was right. We weren't surrounded by cameras and permanently connected to the internet and cellphones. We had the freedom to sneak behind the bleachers without anyone seeing us.

It really wasn't that much easier. I grew up in the 60s/70s. There was only telephone line. I was allowed only 5 minutes per call - say what I needed to say, and hang up. I was not allowed to sit and chat over the phone with my friends because my father needed to keep the phone line open for an emergency.

The only music available was my little battery operated transistor radio, and there were only two stations. There was only one car in the family too, and my father used it for work. If wanted to go somewhere, we had to walk.

If your car broke down on the side of the road, you had no choice but to walk or wait for strangers to help you - but they didn't have phones either.

We had no AC (still don't), but we only had one fan in the living room. We didn't have central heat either, so my bedroom would get brutally cold in the wintertime if I closed my door. Even then, it was only one little heater for the entire house. As a kid, I'd wait for the heater to kick in - then race over there to warm up as I woke up. Our legs would turn blue on our walk to school, but girls were not allowed to wear pants. Even when they were, we had to wear them under our skirts and take them off when we got into class. It looked funny so we all put up with purple legs.

When my mother began to show symptoms of her amyloidosis, doctors blew her off as a hypochondriac because they didn't know about the disease at the time. They told her to shut up and drink wine to calm her nerves - then said she'd feel better if she went home and made a nice meal for her husband, like a "good wife" should. They told us to ignore her "attention-seeking" behavior. They finally threw her into a psych ward when she became too much trouble for them.

Certain foods were only available during certain seasons. If you wanted an apple, you had to wait for them to ripen in the fall.

If you were a boy back then, you would have to sign up for the draft and go to Vietnam. If you were a girl, you'd have to say good-bye to your boyfriend. If you had no boyfriend, there weren't many to choose from because the able-bodied boys were all in the military. Most of the girls just gathered around and cried about the war. The others turned to sex, drugs and rock and roll - they tuned in, turned on, and dropped out. Many of them died from heroin overdose or blew their minds out with acid. Counseling was not available.

Hollywood paints a great picture of life back then. Us old fogies do too sometimes - when we choose to remember only the good times.

[fade2blue]

You are SO not alone Indie! With all the amazing technological advances in medicine and gadgetry etc., it feels like we are losing family and community. We are losing our ability to relate to and connect with each other, missing out on compassion and face to face interaction. We stay locked up in our cellular little world, talking on our computers, phones and other gadgets. With all we have gained, how much have we lost? If I won the lottery I would love to buy a large piece of land and build a nice old-fashioned community. Not one where we would do without the modern conveniences, but where it would be people-centred, and where we could work together and share together, and care about each other. No, you are definitely not alone!

[Indie'sOK]

Thank you everyone. I know that some things, modern medicine and counseling for example, are great things to have and I appreciate them. But like Fade2blue said, the most important reason for my thinking what I do is that we have lost so much with what we've gained. Sure, we can connect to the world with the click of a mouse, but that takes away from the time we spend with our loved ones. Simplicity is great when only the unneccesary things are taken away.