I can't agree with that assumption. Sure, the population has increased, but the density of people in the cities was horrid at the turn of the 20th century. Just look back at the old neighborhoods in large cities, the sweat shops, etc. and you will find most of us are living in much better conditions.
Our parents and grandparents fought for better conditions in the workplace and in housing, but now the politicians are just taking control of every aspect of our lives. The tenements of New York City or Chicago did not need all the rules that an HOA in a suburb of California has in place today. Years ago, teachers with 50 students in a classroom had better control than teachers can have with 15 students today.
Yes, living conditions were not the greatest in the inner part of most major US cities, but an escape for a few hours on a Sunday into the open country side was a relatively short distance away.
Central Park in NYC was built specifically to provide some "escape space" for people living in the city.
Cleveland had the Metropolitan Park System known as the Emerald Necklace with includes golf courses, a polo field, lakes, etc for the same purpose.
I'm certain many other older established cities around the US have similar facilities that were probably established during the last quarter of the 19th century.
The cities and all the congestion they represent, have engulfed these "green" facilities.
If these facilities were to be established today, it simply would not happen. The cost would be totally prohibitive.
The demand for housing space has/is swallowing up open space at an alarming rate.
There are simply less and less open spaces where people can be alone, pass a little gas, and just plain get away from other people.
The population here in SoCal is expected to double in the next 20 or so years.
There is simply not enough infrastructure to support that kind of growth.
Increased population density is inevitable if that growth is to be handled.
Most politicians respond to voters.
Very few offer original ideas since you can lose elections that way.
As a result, voters can complain, but they also need to look in the mirror.
I had my rear end kicked by my coach, a 6'-4", 250 lb, former pro football player, when I was a freshman in high school.
I knew better than to let my parents know what happened.
I kept my mouth shut and got on with life.
If a teacher tried that today, they would be in court defending themselves from a lawsuit filed by the parents.
Times have certainly changed, and not necessarily for the better.
their respective lifetime. My grandfather would be appalled at what bothers me. His father would be in shock. Just down the street the Isle of Shoals sits out on the horizon. It always appears the same to me as it does to each generation. But if my great grandfather could stand on the shore and look out with me he'd probably state that its moved.
Almost everybody has turned into a goddamn sissy- we need more kicks in the ass, and less sensitivity. Nothing corrects abject stupidity quite as quick as a crack in the mouth- put an end to the stupidity, and we'll all have a nicer place to live, city and rural alike.
And it never took politicians to legislate that before. Parents can do it just fine, as long as they're not threatened with jail if they spank a kid for lighting the neighbor's cat on fire. Whiny, self-indulgent kids grow up to be whiny, self-indulgent adults. Even if they're good kids, they need to learn acceptable risk taking behavior on the playground- or they grow up to be weak and timid. Everyone used to know this crap, I don't know how it all got turned sideways like it has.
It's ironic that as we as a species continue to breed like rabbits, there are some idiots working as frantically as possible to make sure that not only does every single person *survive* as long as possible, but that we take extra care that no one need suffer anything worse than a paper cut.
Honestly, I believe that it is the parents fault now days. Just look at how many children go unsupervised for long periods of time. Remember back when if an adult saw you screwing off, they'd walk up to you and "talk' to you, or grab you by the ear and take you off to your parents. Now, if someone did that they would be in court up to their ass. When I was young just the thought of my father finding out I did something I wasn't supposed to kept me from doing it. The phrase just you wait til your father gets home was enough to make me wish it was only jail.
But, I am not going to let that happen to my kids, with my son all I have to do say that " you really disapointed me" and that make my son genuinly sad. The phrase wait til your father gets home still means something in this house. Oh, I don't ever hit him, but don't tell him that. He is a very good child with normal boyish behaviour, and I like that. I let him get away with certain things yet there are others that simply don't fly here. I tell him to go to bed he goes and without a fuss. It falls to us the parents to stop this problem.
Yeah! I remember. My parents always seemed to know who, what, when, where before I even got home. Thank God there were no video cameras back then. Of course, my parents did not seem to need any.
Not lack of supervision, but lack of value or morality, which is what keeps you from stealing when nobody's around. As kids we played in great gaggles for hours on end in isolated areas of the neighborhood as well as in the street, where the expansion joints made a somewhat elongated diamond for baseball. But we knew we could be sent home by any adult, and tried to put on our most civilized demeanor in front of them, even the ones we hated, because treating adults with deference was the _right_ thing to do.
All you have to do is look at the way adult/child relationships are portrayed on the great broadcast teacher to understand those days are gone. Who's the smart one, parent or child? Refreshing to see "leave it to Beaver" episodes where the loving parents carefully allow just enough freedom to sample the dangerous waters, while waiting to reel to safety. Almost as if they knew something about the business of life through experience.
If you don't have to defer even to the authority of your parents, imagine what kind of a citizen you'll become.
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