Was Life Better 50 Years Ago

I'll be honest, I get as nostalgic as anyone.  I often like to think about how much easier things seemed back in the "good ole days".  Maybe in many ways it was easier, but not so much in the ways that people think.

One of the first things people love to complain about these days is the cost of living.  Has that changed that much? Not really.  Sure in the 1950's you could buy a car for $1,900 dollars, you could fill up it's tank at 25 cents a gallon, but you also were probably making $3,000 a year, or 57 dollars a week.  Now that is 15 times higher. So if you increase the cost of gas 15 times, you get $3.75.  If you increase the cost of a car that much you get $28, 500.  So I'd say pretty comparable. Now if you take the price of a small black and white TV back then, about 100 dollars, ten times that much would get you a pretty sweet high end TV these days.  So even coming out of a recession we cant say financially we were any better off back then.

How about safety?  Well as of right now, the crime rate in America is at it's lowest since the 1950's.  And it is still declining.  The crime rate is actually lower right now than it was before the recession.  I know you think I'm crazy but its not that there is more crime, it's that now you hear about it more. Something I've been saying on the show for some time now.

I think you see my point by now, I could go on about how much better our medical care is, that is astronomically better.  I could tell you that we as a society are actually more intelligent and better educated. I could even bring up the advancements in plumbing.  Imagine an outhouse?

So why do we seem so miserable?  Why are our stress levels out of control? Well, I already touched on it in past blogs and even in this one. Information overload.  We don't feel safe because if you watch the nightly news, you would think crime is out of control and the Police just can't make a difference.  Not true.  Then of course there is the internet.  Back in the 1950's, unless your friend or neighbor came to your house or made a special phone call, you didn't know they were sad.  Now you open your Facebook account and you are berated with, "I'll miss you Gram-pa", " Our beloved Snoopy, R.I.P", "I hate Mondays , why cant I find a job?"  " So and SO is now "single" and of course my personal favorite, "FML".  NO matter how much you think you don't care these kinds of things do effect you.  If you have any sense of empathy at all it will get you a little down.

So, if your getting really stressed, turn off the TV for a while, turn off the computer and turn off your cell phone. I know it sounds crazy but the world will go on with you tuned out for a little while.  The tsunamis will still hit the islands, the bank in the next county will still get robbed, the economy will still rise and fall and that girl that you barely know but you are Facebook friends with will still hate her life. The difference will be you wont know.  You will be "refreshing" your spirit and your brain with some relaxing music, a hot bath or Heaven forbid, a good book.

I know it sounds crazy to you right now, but trust me.  At least try it for one night. You will thank me in the morning, because of course your not going to miss the Sean and Richie Show for ANY reason!

God Bless.