What we've lost since the Golden Era

[Mr Vim]

I'm almost certain this thread has risen before. And if it has, would someone kindly direct me to it?

But if that is not the case, I think I'd like to talk to anyone interested about the loss we have between this modern era and (in my opinion) a far better time.

Let's dispense with the medical advances and what not, I'm talking about... well.

Fashion: We're all here at this forum, because we dress in a manner that is slowly coming back but we have held it dear to our hearts long before that.
Men used to wear suits to the beach! And now you're lucky if people wear clothing at all.

Let's hear some of your thoughts folks. Inquiring minds would like to know.

 

[Tomasso]

(in my opinion) a far better time.

Not if you were African American.

I'm almost certain this thread has risen before

Too many times to count. Peruse the Lounge young man..........peruse....

 

[Miss Neecerie]

http://thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=33982


Is the biggest thread of things having gone away.

But Tomasso is right, its much better to stick to -things- rather then rehashing the same 'it was better then' arguments...since we are a varied lot of people here......its just a never ending discussion of the circular variety.


It's way more fun to discuss objects lost then changes in humanity anyhow

 

[Shangas]

I'll probably get broadsided for this, but...

Fashion/stylish dressing. As you say, Mr. Vim, there was a time when men knew how to dress properly. Sadly that's no-longer the case, except in a few pockets of humanity, such as here.

Good Music. Somewhere along the line, it became acceptable that a teenage boy with an unbroken voice singing "baby" six times in a row, was considered amazing. And true musical talent is shoved out the window.

Manners and Etiquette. Destroyed by extreme feminism and political correctness, manners and etiquette have gone out the window, mostly due to society now becoming a minefield of double-standards, easily-offended people and values so changed that we wonder if we have any left.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Durable, reliable bed linens. I don't care how many threads per inch your imported Egyptian long-staple sateens have, they aren't going to last as long as my Pequot Super Service Muslins, or feel as nice and crisp after a day on the line.

Unpretentious good food. Seems nowadays "good" is defined by how twee it is. Doesn't anybody know how to make and serve a good pork chop anymore?

The notion that technology should be the servant, not the master. And get that phone thing out of your ear, it looks ridiculous.

World's Fairs. Even if they were nothing but a lot of plaster and pipe dreams, they're still more entertaining that a corporate theme park.

 

[Silver Dollar]

Before anyone talks about the"good old days", we need to remember this. The late teens--the deadly flu epidemic of 1918.
The 20's--prohibition, rampant crime, drive by machine gunnings,
The 30's--The Great Depression, Dillinger, et al. The Dust Bowl, concentration camps in Germany (Dachau, 1934)
The 40's--WWII ( this was more than enough)
The 50's --The Korean War, the nuclear end of the world threat, Communism.
The 60's --Drugs, sex and rock and roll, Viet Nam, national political unrest
the 70's--The rest of Viet Nam, increasing crime, Disco :rage:
the 80's-- Iran, -----------

Were there really good old days or are we just kidding ourselves?

Lizzie, Shangas, I agree with everything you two said. (Except for the pork chop. I'm Jewish)

 

[Fletch]

Men vs. Gentlemen

I ain't necessarily a gentleman, so I may not be one to talk. But it seems that nowadays manliness is in undeclared conflict with gentlemanliness, and generally outranks it in society.

What's more, manliness as it's now understood is usually performative. It has to do with consumption, style, politics, and role-acting. It's lost its noblesse oblige, which is what tied it to gentlemanliness.

 

[Shangas]

Lizzie, Shangas, I agree with everything you two said. (Except for the pork chop. I'm Jewish)

Oh thank you Glad I brought you joy, Silver Dollar.

Another thing which I think we've lost from the Golden Era is simple education.

By this, I mean that children are being taught to run before they can crawl. They're taught Information Technology, computers, the internet, how to use calculators, how to do document analysis in English...

...But the basics, like reading, writing and arithmatic...are things of the past. Kids can't write properly, and they sure as hell can't spell properly. When I was in school, which still wasn't that long ago (less than 10 years), we learnt reading, writing and arithmatic. And now?

Give a kid a pen and you get block-printing. What happened to learning cursive? And then, they can't spell, because no emphasis is placed on it. I find it so sad. When I chat to people online who are my age (in their teens and twenties), all I get is...:

"Oh I dont type properly because its not important".

Yeah? Good luck finding a job where proper command of written English is important.

 

[Diamondback]

You have no idea how many internal emails I've seen from senior executives at a firm I'll just call "Major Defense Contractor" where the fourth- and fifth-graders I sometimes work with at a local school regularly have better spelling and grammar...

 

[Big Man]

One thing I think we've lost is good, solid, investigative journalism (not to mention integrity in reporting). It has been replaced by the sound-bite and the "spin". The pure crap on cable "news" (both from the left and the right) is so disgusting - and should be an insult to any educated person. :rage:

Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite, you are very much missed. :cry:

 

[Diamondback]

And we can also lament "civility of travel", back when catching a plane was something you dressed up for and the travel industry actually believed in a little thing called "Customer Service"...

 

[Paisley]

Was there a time when the ability to follow basic instructions was pretty normal, or is it something that was common then and went away? We've had so many admins at work who not follow a list of basic instructions. Just. Could. Not. They weren't exactly wet behind the ears, either.

 

[Fletch]

This is a 2 way street, Paisley. The ability to give instructions has gone way down too. Communication today is about speed and technology. Clarity is a nicety.

 

[AmateisGal]

Oh thank you Glad I brought you joy, Silver Dollar.

Another thing which I think we've lost from the Golden Era is simple education.

By this, I mean that children are being taught to run before they can crawl. They're taught Information Technology, computers, the internet, how to use calculators, how to do document analysis in English...

...But the basics, like reading, writing and arithmatic...are things of the past. Kids can't write properly, and they sure as hell can't spell properly. When I was in school, which still wasn't that long ago (less than 10 years), we learnt reading, writing and arithmatic. And now?

Give a kid a pen and you get block-printing. What happened to learning cursive? And then, they can't spell, because no emphasis is placed on it. I find it so sad. When I chat to people online who are my age (in their teens and twenties), all I get is...:

"Oh I dont type properly because its not important".

Yeah? Good luck finding a job where proper command of written English is important.

Oh boy. You are so right. That's why I'm extremely thankful that my daughter's school focuses on the basics - writing being one of them. She has had several writing projects this year (she's in the 4th grade) and also took a writing assessment test. She also has learned cursive and has beautiful handwriting.

As a writer myself, I cringe when I see the deplorable condition online and off of the written word.

 

[Paisley]

I know what you mean, Fletch...but I think we're pretty clear here at the office. Our numbered lists of procedures aren't exactly vague. Neither is "no smoking."

In general, regarding the topic, I'd say the main thing we've lost is common sense at all levels. It's been lost in everything from doing aerials on a crowded dance floor to doctors recommending starchy, sugary diets even for diabetics (starch breaks down into sugar) to issuing or taking out mortages that can't possibly be paid.

 

[Amy Jeanne]

I think today is a far better time. I'm sure if I dressed as if it were 1902 in 1937 I would have been sent to a mental institution lol

 

[Shangas]

Oh boy. You are so right. That's why I'm extremely thankful that my daughter's school focuses on the basics - writing being one of them. She has had several writing projects this year (she's in the 4th grade) and also took a writing assessment test. She also has learned cursive and has beautiful handwriting.

As a writer myself, I cringe when I see the deplorable condition online and off of the written word.

I am a writer myself and I take care and pride in my writing. My dad INSISTED on proper handwriting (cursive) and proper spelling and grammar. My uncle (an English teacher for nearly 50 years, and who is now 75 years old), was also a stickler for perfect English. He made *damn* sure his two kids (my cousins) learnt nothing less than the Queen's English. That went for written and spoken English. I think some of it rubbed off onto me, through my father.

But these days? Good grief...and good luck!

I've seen shocking examples of English from full-grown adults, to say nothing from people in my own age-bracket...and I'm not sure which one to be more terrified about. The latter, I should think, since youth is the future, and if that's the future, I'd rather not see it. Education...I mean real, proper, old-fashioned education...which concentrated on the basics first, before trying anything else...has well and truly gone out the window. I don't know about the United States or the United Kingdom, but here in Australia, it's seriously gone down the drain in the past few years (and that's official, from international education statistics).

I've seen people write stuff like:

"...I went out today and I bought some jean's..."

"...He was coming downstairs and right their in the kitchen, was his girlfriend..."

"...I'm telling you, that's not you're coat, it's mine!..."

"...I would of brought it in today, but I didn't know if you'd be here..."

...and I groan in despair.

Bring back traditional education. PLEASE! The world needs it.

 

[Fletch]

In the enlisted ranks of our armed services, it's actually very rare that anyone writes any other way. It has become as uniform as their way of speaking.

Since American servicemembers are required to have at least a high school diploma or equivalent remedial work, that gives you an idea of well our school systems are teaching the language, and how important it is to the public at large.

 

[Nick D]

The late teens--the deadly flu epidemic of 1918.

You forgot World War 1

 

[Amy Jeanne]

SHANGAS:

I collect vintage yearbooks and I can assure you that people in the 1930s had the same problems with "your/you're" "there/their/they're" and 's as they do today. When I saw it repeatedly in the signatures I found it to be endearing, actually.