Observation on a "darkness" that seems to hang over society

I think we are seeing an adjustment to technology.

While every generation does have its woes, this facet changes a lot of things. Where will it all end up is the main question to me. I do not think it is written in stone, or that it will necessarily "even itself out."

I dont think enough people are asking "where do we go from here?" Technology has vastly changed many cultures across the world, and it has an impact that is generational intrinsically. Some generations grow up never knowing any different, while plenty still rememeber the time before a Personal Computer was even a "thing," much less a common house hold item.

In my mind, its the difference between having a tool to better yourself, or having something to use as an excuse to do nothing whatsoever and sit in apathy. What we do with that tool determines everything.

Rarely have I seen someone ask "How do we use this tool in the best way possible," and even more rarely "Can we use this tool to benefit everyone who has access to it?" Currently, things like the internet are mainly looked at by governing bodies as California appeared in the gold rush. Its just data that is being mined, rather than a metal.

We all have our part to play, and how we develop these tools will determine the course for mankind as a whole. But, perhaps the problems are more deeply rooted than many realize. By having deep polarizations, perhaps enough will see where one path will lead and see the possibilities for choosing differently than we have throughout history.

Serdgiam
I think we are seeing an adjustment to technology.

While every generation does have its woes, this facet changes a lot of things. Where will it all end up is the main question to me. I do not think it is written in stone, or that it will necessarily "even itself out."

I dont think enough people are asking "where do we go from here?" Technology has vastly changed many cultures across the world, and it has an impact that is generational intrinsically. Some generations grow up never knowing any different, while plenty still rememeber the time before a Personal Computer was even a "thing," much less a common house hold item.

In my mind, its the difference between having a tool to better yourself, or having something to use as an excuse to do nothing whatsoever and sit in apathy. What we do with that tool determines everything.

Rarely have I seen someone ask "How do we use this tool in the best way possible," and even more rarely "Can we use this tool to benefit everyone who has access to it?" Currently, things like the internet are mainly looked at by governing bodies as California appeared in the gold rush. Its just data that is being mined, rather than a metal.

We all have our part to play, and how we develop these tools will determine the course for mankind as a whole. But, perhaps the problems are more deeply rooted than many realize. By having deep polarizations, perhaps enough will see where one path will lead and see the possibilities for choosing differently than we have throughout history.

Yes, very well expressed.

This technological world wide revolution and upheaval is on a world level, never seen before in all history. It is bringing all people together as far as communication goes.

The industrial revolution was a revolution indeed! I think we can safely dub our present social upheaval as a "Digital" or "Technological Revolution" quite literally. Some cultures have even gone straight from agricultural based to being at least in some part technologically based.

If we think we have had it bad imagine the changes that have happened in places like India. All this in one generation. It is mind blowing really.

Right now I am listening to my Israeli friend and her dub mixing in Tel Aviv, mean while communicating with people in the U.S as to why we are all feeling the society blues! I would never have met my friend of all these years if not for the internet. I would certainly not be able to participate in this discussion and be able to read all these words from you guys; your individual thoughts and feelings, your fears and concerns.

All we can do is roll with this. We have what our ancestors would not have dreamed possible at our disposal. It has changed the world, especially our real time social interactions. It has broadened our view in one respect, but has blurred a lot of previous REAL social interactions.

May be will adjust and everything will balance out? May be it has changed us forever and we will continue to become more digital in our social interaction. Personally, I would love us to do both. So, in real time, we are kind and considerate social beings and also mature in our digital interactions.

Hmmm, does this make sense? I hope so.

I am just glad all of you are out there and taking the time to bother with this social experiment and write all your thoughts down. I get lots out of it and hope you do, too!

I'll agree with most other people in this thread and agree that I think the majority of the blame goes to technology.

Need news? No need to walk down your driveway to get your paper in the morning. We have computers and smartphones.

Need to get in contact with somebody? No need to meet with somebody for lunch anymore. We have phones, email, facebook, twitter, etc, etc.

Need groceries, day-to-day supplies? No need to go out to your local grocery store. We have meals on wheels.

Need to hang out with your buddies and have some fun? No need to go out to your local bar/social scene. We have online video games where we can game together and chat.

Want to make a small profit on some of your old household items collecting dust in the basement/attic? No need for a garage sale. We have ebay/cragislist.

Anything that used to require face-to-face interaction has been replaced, and the world's social skills and obligations to care for our fellow humans have suffered as a result.

reply to post by Dawnbreaker


If what you say is true, then I believe we will be our own demise, not an apocalypse. As an evolutionist, I believe we will just die off when we stop using the higher thinking ability given to us. Like ideas; justice, love, equality, space-time, empathy, forgiveness, trust.

reply to post by Revolution9


When referring specifically towards technology, and how we are developing new platforms and innovations, an important question to ask is; "Are we creating these things to control or enable?"

The answer is in our actions, not the words we would use to answer. Depending on which path we take, I think we will either be the end of ourselves or usher in an era where global society works as a community.

I would never blame technology itself for what we, the creators of said technology, choose to do with it out of our own volition. Its too nebulous and vague to take responsibility anyway, at least until AI advances (if it does). No, I think its much more effective to realize that the source of the problem is not in the tools we create, but how we use them.

We can change it though, and write our own cultural story. We do that anyway.

Destinyone
I think the loss of personal space has caused a lot of people to close themselves off to those around them. To put up a wall of indifference as if to say...this is my space...not yours. Cramming people into living in tiny spaces, does strange things to them.

Can so see that. I was brought up on estates and around cities, but when I moved out to the country for a couple of years there's such a change in attitude in how people interact. And like you, I put it down to sheer volume. In the countryside, you go walking somewhere, you might bump into someone every now and again, but in the towns and cities you can't even count the amount of people you pass. Makes sense though, couldn't imagine wanting to smile and say high to some fifty odd people I might pass just nipping to get a quick shop.

I like the way you look at it though, like there's more need to claim your personal space when surrounded by more people.

reply to post by openminded2011


Good Post, and very thought provoking. I'm in the pessimists crowd. Given the wide spread apathy to the very real and extremely dangerous changes in government and society, I think this situation is going to continue to deteriorate. Things are going to be worse than you can imagine. The rule of Law has in essence broken down on a fundamental level. Each time in history that this has happened...there was wide spread poverty, death and destruction. In this environment, psycopaths come crawling out of the wood work and decend upon humanity like a plague.

Let's follow a scenario here where the US defaults on it's loans (which it will have to eventually...math doesn't lie no matter what garbage stats they pass off as "real data"), and the government comes to a grinding halt due to political wrangling that has nothing to do with solving anything. In this scenario, Americans will continue to lose jobs, and homes to the total ruin of the middle class. There will be only 2 classes in the New America...the have's...and everyone else.

Our education systems will continue to pump out mindless, indoctrinated zombies that are just smart enough to do the few menial tasks that the ruling class of the 1%, still can't get a machine to do. After all, what fun is it being ruler of the world....with no one to serve you? The family will be completely destroyed....children will be colder, lacking the compassion and epathy normally taught by their parents. We won't have a shred of privacy left in this brave new world that has been created while we went quadding and took vacations to the Carribean, or took the boat out with the kids on the lake, because we were too lazy to really look at what the government was doing to "keep us all safe".

Humanity has never been more divided. This is by design...can't have peace breaking out....thats bad for the bottom line. For the reasons mentioned and a host of others....I hold out no hope of a "great awakening". As resources of all kinds become more expensive and harder to get....things will get really messy. Can you imagine half of the US living in poverty? Maybe more than half. Thats whats coming.

There is just no political or social will to change things on the scale thats needed to put humanity back on the right path...we will continue the downward spiral shouting "green shoots" all the way to the bottom.

reply to post by openminded2011



So when this thread first posted i avoided it. I knew where it would go by the title and I'm really struggling with this sad reality myself. It makes one feel hopeless which is why it can't do me any good to read it. Fine.

Didn't surprise me one bit it started to trend high on the home page. After awhile it was undeniable i was going to have to read this. So I did. Great read because for how sad it is, its also very true and worse yet we seem powerless to do anything about it. Greed has poisoned mans soul.

I personally don't believe anyone should be Emperor. It's no ones business. We shouldn't rule or conquer anyone.

It's funny as I was reding the thread i thought, huh maybe ill reply with good old Charlie Chapman and Bam, there he was. There was probably no better truth then the words he spoke in that scene. So so tragic this world. We should be ashamed.

reply to post by openminded2011


You're not alone in your observations, here in the U.K. I've seen a steady decline in education and the standards of human consideration for one another have dropped also. I am not sure of the reasons but television and the media as a whole telling people what to think isn't helping.

Money, being the only thing that most people seem to worship, is being sucked out of the system by those who desire it most, leaving the rest to get nasty in order to cure their desire for it. Governments set a bad precedent, if the U.S. can spy on whoever they like then that must make it ok for everyone else to do that, if governments can engage in propaganda campaigns, then that must be ok for other people also.

Large sections of the human race are rotting out from the inside and I would tend to think that some of us can feel it as we are all connected.

reply to post by openminded2011


This is what we wanted. Throw God out, we can make our own rules. How has that been working out so far?

There has been a consistent effort to divide this country since the election of Obama. Prior to Obama, we had a relatively "free-minded" press that wasn't afraid to go after politicians. I read plenty of anti-Bush criticisms from all sides--conservative and liberal media outlets. Woodward and Bernstein chased Nixon out of office for much lesser acts than Obama's drone assassination, IRS scandal and NSA spying. Since Obama, only "racists and right wing nutjobs" question the presidency, according to the media....meanwhile the media/news outlets have become his greatest cheerleaders. From race to religion to politics, the media has continued to fan the flames of extremism on both sides, promoting an agenda that can only divide us further.

7 years ago I could discuss politics with friends. Now the topic is taboo at friendly gatherings.

I believe this is the intent of our current government, and they couldn't do it without the assistance of them media.

Zanti Misfit
I was Born in 1956. As a Child , the World back then was a Beautiful Place . It all seemed to Change around 1980 . I feel like I have Lived Two Lives , Then and Now . The World I Live in Now is Cold and with No Compassion amoung the People I interact with . Now I know why others like me Relish the PAST..........

hi all.

today from my 4th floor window, I heard a very loud anger-rap music from a passing car.
lots of anger, the singer tells how he has not enough women, drugs, money, etc.
[how can one listen to this type of music, for hours, and not be affected?!]

my 72 years of input.
---maybe I can blame this on the liberal left or the spirit of the times, but there should be now NO meanings to anything. how could there be, why someone will be deeply offended!
like the new York school teacher who had to give up teaching about Christmas as each of her 31 kids come from a different culture!

I recall too that challenging discovery about the pre-Hopi Indians and how they went from peaceful to utter war like, as a 100+ year drought made everyone compete for resources.
I see this at work here! everyone seems to just *know* that we will run out of everything and that the Big Boys will claim everything. want to take a nice family vacation to the sea beach? NO! the row of condos blocks out even the sun and you need a $50 bill just to enter any eating place.
many rural places are not much happier as only the people who cannot dream seem to not leave.
the few dreamers there seem to think that a shopping center will solve everything.

the good ole days. I recall when someone told me in college in 1960 that he was taken out behind the barn once a week, on general principal, beaten with a wide leather belt, the father installs a sense of authority in him!
now the tide has turned and the 100,000 years of Oppression are being overthrown!

there was a local café, I read, in the Tallahassee Democrat, a few years ago, when a mother with three brat kids ruined the meal for everyone in the café. finally the reporter got up to face the mother, the mother says to her, "how *Dare* you tell me that I have to thwart my darling's lives! they NEED to be FREE to express themselves and not be beaten like of years ago!

might no be End Times or war that takes us all out; might just be that everyone attacks everyone, with knives, guns, fire, and everything burns!

hundreds of millions of USA rats pushed to the end of the Gangplank, and they are gonna fight back!

what going to happen when min wage needs to be $100 an hour?
what is going to happen when 60% of everyone is homeless and living in tin shacks by the rivers?!

religion?
the largest abusers of all......

yes, somewhere down there are Real Spiritual values, but *you* have to find them yourselves. does not help if society is going bonkers around you!

once, the husband only needed to work.
now the wife does too.
the kids are really orphans . the texting kids help raise each other.

the manufacturers are only too happy to meet the demand. the demand of how 80% of the clothes buying power is in the hands of teens. no one is "supposed to" have a shirt that last for six months let along six years!

blips.
superficial as possible.
get to where you are going by interstate and see nothing along the way.
birth-to coffin: see nothing!

some day all of the old souls will Just Leave. only the baby young souls will be left.
the next thing will be called, "the tribulation"!
see the movie, THE ROAD? that will be their future.

someday the Gods will return and claim their own, Judgment will then rule for everyone else.

[and even ATS has it where my computer was attacked by a trogon virus as I clicked on this site.]

freestone

kingofmd
reply to post by openminded2011

 

This is what we wanted. Throw God out, we can make our own rules. How has that been working out so far?

On that point, society is better off without religion and when it's finally wiped out there will be less dead people around the globe.

reply to post by kudegras

I am someone who retired from social work. I worked with the elderly, child protection and with the chronically mentally ill. Being a social worker is a calling. It is not for the the weak. You will see the worst of humans but you will also see the best. It requires you to have a heart like a baby and skin like the hide of a water buffalo. Your daughter will most certainly need your support. Many friends and family members will not be able to handle the truth of what is really going on in society. She will need someone to talk to. I believe social work is one of the highest callings and not everyone will be able to handle it.

I agree with a previous poster. The love of most is growing cold and people have become lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

Well I will give my opinion in the form of a list. And it goes as follows:

1. Western society in general is very individualistic. And when there's strong individualism people tend to only care for themselves. People fell they are just to busy to help anyone but themselves these days it seems like. If you look at our economy for example, such as the stock market, you want your stocks to go up, but whenever your stock goes up, inevitably another stock somewhere is going down. So your basically hoping for your own interest, and don't care much for the other peoples misfortunes.

2. Technology has played a large roll also. In the older days, there wasn't a more sophisticated way of communication. People would be out and about more often. Today when have cell phones, the internet, gaming consoles, and a lot of other forms of entertainment we didn't used to have. So people tend not to go to public events much anymore, since people can simply entertain themselves at home for the most part.

3. In a comedy special of Doug Stanhope he made a pretty good point. He said that since there are much more people then there used to be, it seems almost like the "value" of a individual human has gone down. If you look at the market, ANYTHING that is very common has a low value. And it almost seems that now applies to humans. Years ago you heard people saying how everyone used to know everyone. That's true because that community didn't have nearly as many people as it does now. At least in the vast majority of places. Doug then went on to say, imagine if you had a cat. When you come home, you gave that cat a lot of attention. Now imagine if your house had 200 cats the next day. You would experience a much bigger difference then when you only had one cat.

These three are probably the bigger reasons. You can also associate so many other things along with it also. The fact is that as humans our entire system is warped, corrupt, and failing. And all of these systems we've setup have basically "brain washed" people. Our reality in daily life is so backwards today. Consumerism, materialism, crony capitalism, corruption, greed, selfishness, wealth, along with so many other things are what is destroying our country, and our world. And it all pushes us away from one another. And makes it much easier for "TPTB" to maintain control.

reply to post by Kumo77


You bet! Great way to go since I keep telling myself if the price goes up I'll quit! What a lie

Now if I can just pass them out! It's like you have a cig? Sure and hand them one RYO and they go, No Thanks with that sad look on their face.

Lately their has been a crackdown on RYO cigs. So I had to change where I buy my filter's and papers; China!
Under $15 I can get 2500 papers and 2000 filter tips. Hint: ebay.com.

One would think that I'm covered for almost everything, stockpiling my RYO! Look at it this way, I will then be able to share a RYO.

Zoyd23
Prior to Obama, we had a relatively "free-minded" press that wasn't afraid to go after politicians.

Wait, what? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA hold on sorry, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

The press has been bought and paid for for a very long time. I personally have always loved Seymour Hersh and i saw an article on Prison Planet where he gave a scathing rebuke on editors and journalists alike. Out with them all, but see the problem has been and always will be government spooks ensuring their propaganda is the propaganda you hear.

We are a truly despicable species. Our history proves this. I don't know if we are any worse than we were at any other point in our history? There just happens to be way more of us now. We have always been brutal and I suspect we always will be.

So many of us like to think we are good people. Few of us measure up. People who are truly "good", are few and far in between and our world likes to eat them up.

reply to post by openminded2011


I think it's great more people are coming to this same realisation and are starting speak up about it. I don't feel so alone with my perceptions.

Tay and I were talking last year about this same thing. We joked that 20 or 30 years ago we were considered the crazies, the fringe-dwellers. And today we seem to be the sane ones as a general madness steadily consumes the remainder of humanity.

I've been watching this happen now for over 40 years, and especially the last 20 years when the process has really sped up. There is nothing you can do to change it. All you can do is continue to do what you know to be right and leave the rest to frolic in their perceptions of personal greatness and superiority.

reply to post by Synallaxis


" As a lot of you have already stated, it started about 30 years ago. Prior to that, most people had perspective. "

I hear you Brother , a Sense of who and what we Really are has been Lost . Humanity is at it's Worst Today . Greed seems to have Conquered Conscience , Compassion has given way to Selfishness , and Intolerance of those less fortunate than us has lead our Society to the brink of Selfdestruction . A time in the not to distant future will decide if our Civilization can Survive the continuation of so much of the current Negativity we are subjected to day after day , and the eventual Enslavement of the Masses by the Technocrats is inevitable if People in general do not Fight to preserve the Freedoms we now have that they are trying to subversively take away from All of us......