I think it is easier, not necessarily better in every instance. I have been watching a program called out of the Wilderness and it has been very interesting. All of the people on the show were volunteers who knew that they would be taken to remote Alaska with a bare minimum of tools and necessities and they would be expected to make it on their own from there. They had to survive 3 month......with summer, fall like and winter weather all in those 3 months...Most of them said they certainly appreciated the lack of stress they felt and yet they worked very hard to provide their necessities...they hunted for food, chopped wood etc. My parents were part of the "back to the land movement" and what I have described above is pretty much their life......they got back to friends and family and appreciating ....They all said that they were much closer as family when they returned from the show....Probably proves that turning off the tv, getting rid of the phones, ipods and games isn't a bad thing.....Oh but them today's kid would be bored very fast and I can only imagine the attitudes they would have.

The thing that I appreciate most is having an abundance of food at my local grocery store and the finest of medical services....I wouldn't be alive except that I have had great doctors and hospitals to handle my issues.

Then there's shopping on the internet, things became cheaper, more available and easier to get.

One thing that was NOT better in years past, was that when someone was sexually abused, there was such a stigma to it that the victim didn't say anything about it, leading people to falsely believe that the community was safer than it was. Perpetrators carried on for decades, because it took a long time to get caught, and then if the case even went to court, the victim would be put on trial, which was a huge deterrent to reporting. I don't think our society is either more or less safe than "the old days", but now we know enough to take measures to keep our children safer than we used to. Of course, with the internet and 24 hour news, incidents get more publicity than ever before, so some people still think our world is more dangerous than it was years ago. Take it from me.. it was pretty dangerous THEN.

Amen Susan!!!

No smoking in restaurants, at least in Lexington. It's so nice not to have to sit there coughing my head off in a smoky room, not enjoying my meal.

I remember when everyone would look the other way when a man beat his wife, and there was nowhere a battered woman could go for help. The saying was "a man's house is his castle" and if he beat his wife and kids, that was his business. It was frowned on, but no one did anything about it.

I'm not sure our educational system is better but I do know it's better for those with special needs. We no longer put them in homes and tell their families to move on. I think that would have been very difficult then.

I think the sexism from days past is less now than it was then. I won't say gone, because it still exists but women have come a long way.

Adding to what Susan said.. most people think it was so much safer for kids then than it is now.. but I think it is the opposite. Kids are taught what's inappropriate and to report things now. When I was growing up.. me and my best 2 friends were all abused sexually in some way. All by people we knew and at different times in our childhood (or young adult lives), none of us told.

I like this time for one important reason, a baby is baby no matter if the parents are married or not, it is not a bast***. The mother doesn't have to be sent away and hide the fact she was pregnant like she was an embarrassment. Over all I like this era we live in.

Give the good old days over these days any day!

I don't believe the myth of the "good old days" for many of the reasons listed above. Especially for women, I really don't think there has been a better time to be alive.

Years ago the parents were allowed to discipline their children, and I do not mean beating them. Again the teachers were allowed to control the situation, children who bullied were usually kicked out of school, or sometimes even beat up by others. Yes it happened, and there were some cases worst than others.
Law enforcement were respected and usually obeyed.
Family support was available along with friends and neighbors. Gardens were always planted and shared. Many items were made in USA and usually lasted forever. People went to church sometimes 2-3 times a week. You could argue politics with people, but they still respected you.
People were happy when you bought something new and they did not feel they had to buy the same thing, only bigger and more expensive
Without some TV, cell phones, face book etc, people talked to each other and if someone got fired, lost a relationship, broke up etc, you did not have to worry about getting shot or cleaning up after a suicide. Life went on.

Sexual abuse, wife beating, inequality of women were always with us and no doubt always will be. Things were different back then, but "better" is open to debate. Nostalgic reminiscing is fun, though.

It can depend a bit on your age - where in the old millenium you spent your childhood and formative years. After WWII when the vets came home, married, built or bought a house, started families just about anyone who wanted a job had one. (Not like today!) The future looked promising. Budgeting, saving, paying one's bills and meeting obligations was what people did even if it was difficult... and it often was.

We kids played with toys that didn't do all the playing for us; spent a great deal of time outdoors both in the summer and winter. We used our imaginations and learned to amuse ourselves; learned to transport ourselves by opening a book. Hard to believe now that getting the old piece of furniture black & white TV was life changing!

Kids today are a lot more cosmopolitan and worldly wise than we ever were, but many are going to be struggling to find a decent job - or a continuous string of decent jobs - and the money to move out of the folk's basement. Even with all the electronic toys, they're not going to have it easy by any stretch of the imagination.

Although I had a very pleasant childhood and life, in general, was good, I have no desire to go back.

I think today is better because of all the equality. Also,today we have reliable birth control, it is acceptable for a woman to work outside the home and divorce is more acceptable. It's not just sexual equality today, it is racial, religious and sexual preference equality.

I guess advances in medicine would be what I consider the best change. I don't know which was better - now or the good old days. For all of our steps forward, we seem to have taken a step or two back. Positive change usually causes something else to change for the worse. I'm not sure that we're not in a worse off position as a whole.

I guess workplace violence has occurred for centuries, and there is documentation that it existed during the Roman Empire, but documentation was inconsistent. With the realities of accountability, and improved reporting, it can seem like it's relatively new to our society. I'm not sure if there's more of it now or not.. but it's not a new phenomenon.

However, I do long for the healthy employment possibilities that existed years ago.

Growing up I had not a care in the world. I had a loving family, siblings to play with, a warm home and food and never worried about anything. My parents kept us very safe. Yes it seemed like the Good Old Days (1950's and 1960's) but then bad things happened. We worried about war, being bombed by the Russians, then our President (Kennedy) was shot and the world didn't seem as safe.

You're lucky you were safe, Jannie.

I keep looking for all the signs that show how our society has become more enlightened.... and I see all of them here in this thread. Along will all good things, there is a price to pay..the down side, if you will...but even with the 'downside' I think we are in a better place. Nanny

i think my sense of security isn't the same since 9-11...i hate always living under some color code, electronic stripping to get on a plane...being afraid of my mosque neighbors, when they're just ordinary people...

i guess i wasn't as aware of the cuban missle crisis (what hs student does?) and it wasn't mentioned in the family...