In My Day : The Rise of Violence vs. The Lack of Technology

The good old days... Were the good old days really the good old days? Weren't our grandparents' days of yore once nowadays? Hasn't there always been a series of good old days to dream about and point to when the older generation felt that the youngsters were shitting up the world?

"Why in my day... Where's the morals? What kind of music is that?"

Every generation on Earth has heard some ranting version of this in their lifetimes. I imagine that I too, will look back to '08 and intone those very words - AH, the good old days.

But why is that? My journey is to question myself and others. Were these fleeting memories of days past really just that? Did people really live life better ethically? Or is here and now, the end all and be all of times?

I've been having a really big think about this. I started deeply thinking about it all while listening to my ipod, checking my email, and glancing at the caller ID on my Blackberry. I wonder what is the common thread that connects each generation. Answer - Technology.

Just why is walking forty miles in the snow and sleet to reach a one-room schoolhouse in Montana worth moralizing about? Lack of technology. No frigging cars...

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I mean to focus a study on:

- How the rise of violence compares to the introduction of technology.

- How does the introduction of Television, Internet, Computers, the Telephone, Cellular Phones, Cars, etc. contribute to violent tendencies?

- How does Technology let us further disconnect from society and others while increasing our capacity for violence and decreasing that for empathy.

Should be interesting...