The Stresses of Modern Day Living

It is all too easy to dismiss those within our community who say 'life was better years ago' .Such comments generally receive a gentle yet condescending rebuke - 'thats what they all say' . It deserves more than that. What we are faced with today, may be the nirvana in fifty years time, but we can only live for the present, and let us examine, very generally,how life is for the majority today compared to a generation ago.

There is no doubt, in this authors experience, that materialism has taken a dangerous grip on society today. Everywhere one looks, one can see gleaming new SUV's or sleek new saloon cars parked in apparent affluent surroundings. These surroundings would once have been tagged 'middle class' and yet now, they are the new rich, with their 60 inch plasma television, sparkling new cinema sound systems and beautiful furnishings in pleasant well decorated rooms.
Under the surface however, most people who have these 'luxuries' have purchased them on a 'get today,pay tomorrow' basis and are building up a dangerous amount of debt, just to keep up with the neighbors.

A generation ago, such tendencies, would only be the preserve for a few per cent of the population. Credit simply was not as easy to get as it is today. Yet, it is the ease that which credit has been obtained in recent years, that has lead to the major sub prime problem we all have seen in recent months.
Unless there is a major collapse of the economic system, this bubble of credit will continue with an inevitable burst, sometime in the future.
Let us also examine the moral decline over the past half century. In my opinion, this is very heavily driven by television culture, the desire to copy what is on screen, to know what everyone is doing, rather than being left to one's own opinions and beliefs. Gun violence in particular must in some way be blamed on media driven culture. By this I mean television and modern music. One can of course write a whole book on the actual influence of both.

The respect for elderly people is going too, and these people who went before you and me, deserve much better. They shaped and built the western world into what it is today. You may criticize whatever government you live under, but the fabric of society is created by the people, not politicians, and we should not forget that.

Today most people work much more than a 40 hour week. The pressure to work longer, commute longer,and loss of lifestyle this brings, is a major contributor to the pressure building on todays people. Children suffer most, while both parents must work to pay for the big house, and car in the driveway, they may get to see their parents for a brief period in the evening, during the week. The family no longer sits together to eat. A bite on the go is the new lunch, or dinner.
The lack of family interaction is a vital factor in society decline.

I believe that people need to be helped to see that life is too short, to step back from the high stress lifestyle and see what the sky looks like at dawn or dusk, to hear sounds that one would not hear, and to listen to their children, whose voices are not heard ordinarily. Even a few minutes each day to talk, eat together and think about the bigger picture will produce the desired effect. It is something I have done and I am not regretting it at all. Enjoy life, respect your family and your elders and you will go far. Oh, and smell those flowers when you see them.