Do you find parents/other older relatives depressingly negative about The World?

[UnquietDad]

Spun off from MistressMaker's "clashing" thread so as to avoid going off-topic there.

My mother is 80. She is depressingly negative towards the 21st century. She sees any post-1970s innovation as contributing to the decline of society - even though she has patently benefited from modern medicine and labour-saving devices, and enjoys the added value of a home computer (which she is terrfied to use unaided) Sky box, washing machine, home grocery delivery, modern car with power steering, etc.

Things were "so much better" back "then". I'm not sure when "then" was, but by the sound of it everbody was living in somewhere very like Thrush Green as written by Miss fucking Read. And everyone was white, obviously.

Is this sounding familiar to anyone?...

We get a lot of "I just don't know what the world is coming to" and "I fear, really FEAR, for the future" and "This is not our country any more. It really isn't."

So I end up defending the world we live in despite what I know to be its shortcomings. I even find myself defending things I myself have not been totally happy with, like over-reliance on the internet and over-use of fossil fuels. I just don't want the DCs to come away from visiting grandma with such a negative vibe about the world they are growing up in!...

Mum was an evacuee and her home town was heavily shelled, so the war certainly played a big part in shaping her.

OK, I promise not to do "I had to wear shoe-boxes on me feet coz we 'ad no shoes!" ...
I grew up in central England. I am 55.

When I were a lass:

Most people had no phone, no car, no running hot water, few household appliances.
Many people had no bathroom. It was not unusual for the loo to be outside the back door.
There was no central heating.
Holidays, for most families, were a week at the English seaside. Flying was inaccessibly expensive for all but the few.
The class system was only just beginning to flex - people were still afraid to ask the doctor questions, and deference was rigidly shown at all times.
The unemployed had to queue for benefits, which were only given out after cross-examination by the clerk.
Corporal punishment was normal and expected.
A woman needed 'proof' before she could divorce; child maintenance was not a legal right.
Sex discrimination was legal. Equal pay for equal work was a ridiculous ideal. There were no maternity rights.
Male homosexuality was illegal.
There was a far stronger sense of community.
There was more respect for the law.
There was a more lively sense of hope, and of personal responsibility.

Now I'm nearly old:

Most people have a home with heating and a bathroom with hot water, eat well, have access to a car and go on foreign holidays.
Gadgets make our lives easier.
Most people have access to a wealth of information - more than any library could hold - presented in numerous different ways, free and immediate.
We have myriad ways to stay in touch with each other, and to make new friends.
Our personal rights, equalities and freedoms are protected by law. This extends to children and to pregnant women.
There is social mobility.
The sense of community has given way to a culture of the individual.

Crime rates haven't really gone up, but the feeling of endangerment has increased - I suspect this is down to the fragmentation of 'community'. Overall, the improvements have been fantastic. We are a healthier, more comfortable people, with broader horizons and greater security, than we were 50 years ago.

What bothers me is that all these changes occurred during my 'economic lifetime'. They've pretty much stopped happening afaics. I believe I'm seeing a massive shift towards scientific advancement - science will change many things in coming decades - but this is not powered by the will of the people, as "my" changes were, so we feel disempowered by comparison.

However - folks said the same thing in the early 60s. What actually happened was that the science opened new doors for ordinary people, which they promptly walked through.

I'd like to see 'community' make a comeback (and will never forgive Thatcher for killing it off!) but you can't make it happen with governmental witterings about big ideas. I think older people have good reason to miss that - but they've lost sight of how much day-to-day improvement there really has been.