worse off

[exigence]

I was just thinking, nothing has gotten any better for as long as i can remember things have just gone down hill the pas 20 years. Have any of you guys noticed this?

-Economy
-Environment
-Size of little Debbie snack cakes (possibly due to me getting bigger them staying the same size)
-Unemployment
-gas prices
-Cost of college education
-TV programing
-culture (maybe i just don't get the emo thing, and i'm not watching twilight i'm a guy)
-TVs themselves i honestly don't think HD tvs are any better i only like hat they're lighter weight
-Music srsly nothing worthwhile. bonus I challenge you to find originality in music after the 70's
-social security that we will have paid and not get any of


we are going to be the first generation in the history of the united states worse off than the last.

[Sonic#]

One by one.

-Economy- It's gone downhill in the early nineties, uphill for most of the nineties (at least domestically), downhill in the early millennium, uphill for most of this decade, and then downhill right now. I don't see it as having gone uniformly downhill. And no one can predict, as with any other downturn, how long it will last with much certainty. So the economic forecast is ambiguous, as it always is.
-Environment - You have a point here. At least environmentally, we're really screwing ourselves over in the long term. This goes for drastic climate change as well as pollution and overuse of fresh water, and so on.
-Size of little Debbie snack cakes (possibly due to me getting bigger them staying the same size) - They seem the same size to me. I don't eat them much nowadays though. Those zebra cakes are over 300 calories!
-Unemployment - Tied to the economy. It's been going up quickly for the past year or so. Again, there's no telling whether that's a short or a long-term adjustment.
-gas prices - The price of gas today, adjusted for inflation, isn't that much more than it was in past decades. If this was a year ago, I'd be more inclined to agree.
-Cost of college education - Yes, this has been a big problem. More people go to college, more people demand more for their college education, universities implement new technologies for their libraries, their labs, and their athletic facilities, the higher administration gets paychecks equivalent to some CEO's paychecks... so, yes, another point for you.
-TV programing - I like what's been on lately better than a lot of the canned sitcoms from the 80's. I also like a lot of the cartoons around now, as well as the anime. In this case, I think there's just more TV channels, so there'll be more good and more crap. And yes, reality television... again, some have done it well (I'd argue Project Runway and a few other shows know what they're doing) and some are the bane of existence (Fear Factor).
-culture (maybe i just don't get the emo thing, and i'm not watching twilight i'm a guy) - This is too broad a category. If you mean particular youth subcultures, there's far more out there than emo. Twilight isn't the summation of all culture either. That's like me saying the past twenty years have gone downhill because of the proliferation of romantic comedies. What do you mean by culture?
-TVs themselves i honestly don't think HD tvs are any better i only like hat they're lighter weight - I like my TV just fine compared to the one twenty years ago. They can be bigger, they can take up less space, they can show more pixels, and they can use video formats that show a higher level of detail.
-Music srsly nothing worthwhile. bonus I challenge you to find originality in music after the 70's - Very subjective, and I know we're going to disagree here. What do you want from originality? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neptune_(band)? Rap in the past 30 years has diversified and proliferated. I think Michael Nyman and Philip Glass are both doing very interesting stuff. Video game music has proliferated, as have new forms of synth-pop, J-pop, and so on. And then there's Enya. And I'm not even very good at knowing music. Others can say more, I'm sure.
-social security that we will have paid and not get any of - I think you can opt out of paying social security, in return for never getting it at all, if you want. Yeah, pay as you go turned out to not be such a good idea for the upcoming generation. I think you have a point here.

So, I think you have three points, two points which are more short-term than the twenty years you cited (the economy and unemployment), and otherwise I think you're overgeneralizing for the sake of a uniform downhill trend.

[phyco126]

One by one.

-Economy- It's gone downhill in the early nineties, uphill for most of the nineties (at least domestically), downhill in the early millennium, uphill for most of this decade, and then downhill right now. I don't see it as having gone uniformly downhill. And no one can predict, as with any other downturn, how long it will last with much certainty. So the economic forecast is ambiguous, as it always is. -I agree
-Environment - You have a point here. At least environmentally, we're really screwing ourselves over in the long term. This goes for drastic climate change as well as pollution and overuse of fresh water, and so on. -Indeed
-Size of little Debbie snack cakes (possibly due to me getting bigger them staying the same size) - They seem the same size to me. I don't eat them much nowadays though. Those zebra cakes are over 300 calories! -Its a possibility. Food companies try to shrink food stuff an ounce here and an ounce there to maintain profits without raising prices
-Unemployment - Tied to the economy. It's been going up quickly for the past year or so. Again, there's no telling whether that's a short or a long-term adjustment. -Yup
-gas prices - The price of gas today, adjusted for inflation, isn't that much more than it was in past decades. If this was a year ago, I'd be more inclined to agree. -I disagree, but not about gas matching current inflation. Gas is going up once again, and I have a very strong belief that we will be back to $4/gallon by next year. I hope I'm wrong, but...
-Cost of college education - Yes, this has been a big problem. More people go to college, more people demand more for their college education, universities implement new technologies for their libraries, their labs, and their athletic facilities, the higher administration gets paychecks equivalent to some CEO's paychecks... so, yes, another point for you. -Yeah, tuition sucks
-TV programing - I like what's been on lately better than a lot of the canned sitcoms from the 80's. I also like a lot of the cartoons around now, as well as the anime. In this case, I think there's just more TV channels, so there'll be more good and more crap. And yes, reality television... again, some have done it well (I'd argue Project Runway and a few other shows know what they're doing) and some are the bane of existence (Fear Factor). -I feel we have a larger choice than what we used too, but for whatever reason we've become more pickier about what we watch. Believe me, I can find something to watch right now if need be. History channel, discovery, some disney, some cartoon network stuff, other various shows such as Kings. Its all just a matter of personal taste in the end.
-culture (maybe i just don't get the emo thing, and i'm not watching twilight i'm a guy) - This is too broad a category. If you mean particular youth subcultures, there's far more out there than emo. Twilight isn't the summation of all culture either. That's like me saying the past twenty years have gone downhill because of the proliferation of romantic comedies. What do you mean by culture? -I believe Americans are far more in a hurry to get things done. Sure there is a general degradation in some parts of America, but its no different than what we have ever experienced before. My biggest complaint is that laws aren't keeping up, so now we have 13 year old girls who go to prison and have to register as a sex offender for sexting. The sixities had their hippies, the 80s had their punks, the 90s had their goths, we have our emos. And by the way, I'm a guy, I've watched, and now own, Twilight. I like that movie.
-TVs themselves i honestly don't think HD tvs are any better i only like hat they're lighter weight - I like my TV just fine compared to the one twenty years ago. They can be bigger, they can take up less space, they can show more pixels, and they can use video formats that show a higher level of detail. -HDTVs are bigger, getting much cheaper, use much less electricity, can carry a better picture (if only for the size of the thing), and can take up less space in your apartment or house. Because of their size and weight, that can no be put in places you couldn't have before, such as a small bedroom, or heck, even the bathroom. XD
-Music srsly nothing worthwhile. bonus I challenge you to find originality in music after the 70's - Very subjective, and I know we're going to disagree here. What do you want from originality? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neptune_(band)? Rap in the past 30 years has diversified and proliferated. I think Michael Nyman and Philip Glass are both doing very interesting stuff. Video game music has proliferated, as have new forms of synth-pop, J-pop, and so on. And then there's Enya. And I'm not even very good at knowing music. Others can say more, I'm sure. -I can disagree as well, mostly because I find all kinds of music very entertaining. I can list off several songs that I've never heard before (orginality). And what about various bands like Stomp? How they may their music is pretty neat. Or the blue band?
-social security that we will have paid and not get any of - I think you can opt out of paying social security, in return for never getting it at all, if you want. Yeah, pay as you go turned out to not be such a good idea for the upcoming generation. I think you have a point here. -This is a toucy subject. SS is running out of money because of the vast amounts of people who are retiring versus the amount of people putting anything in to it. Lets say the avereage SS income check for the retired is $500 a month. I'm putting in roughly $53 a month. How many others like me will it take to pay that one person? SS was designed for the retired and unworkable. The downfall is that retirees don't see a big check, but scams artists can milk SS for disability income in the thousands.

So, I think you have three points, two points which are more short-term than the twenty years you cited (the economy and unemployment), and otherwise I think you're overgeneralizing for the sake of a uniform downhill trend.

My responses in bold.

[Werefrog]

I'm trying to get some work done, so I won't be able to respond like I want to (probably will tonight after getting my research done). But, I will say that something that doesn't keep getting worse (depending on how you look at it) is the size of food at fast food restaurants. At Burger King and Wendy's they now call "small" what used to be medium. They always ask me if I want a medium size, and I almost fall for it every time until I remember that the medium size is like 32 ounces or something ridiculous like that.

[GhaleonOne]

In terms of music, can there really be any completely new genre's? In regards to HDTVs, I think they're a whole hell of a lot better than old school TVs. HD programming is amazing if you look in the right place. Ever seen Planet Earth? Yeah, in HD, that show is abso-freaking-lutely amazing. In fact, lots of stuff on Discovery Channel is really amazing in HD. History channel has some cool HD stuff as well. As for actually TV shows, other than stuff on Discovery and History channels I barely watch anything other than soccer, so I can't comment much. Though I do get seriously tired of my roomate and his obsession with dumb MTV shows though. (Tila Tequila, Bromance and the like... bloody retarded I say) But then, I've hated that kind of TV programming since Real World first started.

[exigence]

these two points seemed to get shut down the hardest so ill further expand

TV's- every HDtv that I've tried cant carry a pal signal but my magnavox wooden console tv with faux brass handles can. I can actually fit every console i own plus my speakers on top of my tv, try to do that with one of your HDtvs. and honestly i really dont think they look as great as everyone says they do the color looks unnatural to me i think old CRT tvs look good its in the tubes the picture is creamy and natural with a little bit of distortion, try and imagine Hendrix without a tube amp.

Music- there being no original music after 1975 quoted right from my professor in music literature class. the guy shreds and i know he knows what hes talking about. look at popular music styles of the past and compare them to popular music now. Blues, Jazz, Ragtime, Country, Early Rock & Roll, Motown. Now we have unoriginal club rap that all sounds the same rock bands like tokio hotel (i cant even tell if its a dude or a chick judging from looks and voice) In the future can you imagine classic radio stations for this stuff.
don't think i'm putting all music past 1975 down i love a lot of it but it is what it is

[Werefrog]

Well, "popular" music may not be quiet as good. When I say popular music, I'm mean the music that you would hear on the billboard countdown and similar. However, there has been a proliferation of independent and "independent-spirit" music brought about by a change in the means of distribution. I would honestly say that there are more quality bands now then there were in the past.

The difference is that these bands are playing to a smaller amount of people than in the past. We don't have a few giant super bands that sell a tremendous amount of records. We have a lot of bands that are getting smaller pieces of the pie. There are also some pop musicians that are incredibly successful at selling records (still not as successful as those super groups of the past). This group is the one you'll hear on the radio. It doesn't mean all of music is bad because you only hear these bland pop stars on the radio. There are a lot of successful bands out there. They just don't have the amount of listeners to be popular on mainstream radio. They can still be successful on iTunes, stores like Amazon, and on indie radio stations (like this one I occasionally listen to http://www.woxy.com

I can't really picture what classic rock stations in the future will be like because I'm not entirely certain that they'll exist. In the future everyone might just have MP3 players in their cars and use the radio for talk radio, traffic, and weather reports.

I also find it funny that your music history professor says that no original music came out since 1975 seeing as this predates both punk and new wave. No matter how you feel about these movements, you have to admit they were innovative in many ways.

[Kizyr]

TV's- every HDtv that I've tried cant carry a pal signal but my magnavox wooden console tv with faux brass handles can. I can actually fit every console i own plus my speakers on top of my tv, try to do that with one of your HDtvs. and honestly i really dont think they look as great as everyone says they do the color looks unnatural to me i think old CRT tvs look good its in the tubes the picture is creamy and natural with a little bit of distortion, try and imagine Hendrix without a tube amp.

Why do you need a PAL signal? Do you buy your appliances and consoles in Europe? As for the HDTV--are you using an HDMI cable? If not, then the signal is no better than a magnified regular signal.

I don't really feel like responding to your points as I wouldn't have much to add beyond what others have said. But these are honest questions here, since it actually sounds like you may be missing something in your HD setup. KF

[exigence]

Pal games for dreamcast i user rca cables and the European version of soul calibur works fine on my old magnivox, the the colors and contrast are so far off no adjustment can make the game visible and ive tried the game with both 50 and 60hz nothing seems to work for that game except good ol' tubes.

I have watched movies with the hdmi. just to give you an idea where im coming from i also prefer incandescent bulbs to new cfl bulbs, sure they use more power are less efficient dont give as pure of a light but its that soft glow that cant be beat and i think old tvs also have a glow like that that newer sets just cant match.

[phyco126]

Just because you are a professor in something, doesn't mean that your opinions suddenly become facts. The statement that no new original music has been released = your professor's opinion, nothing more. Nothing wrong with an opinion though, so long as it isn't tried as fact (which we have all done or will do at some point or another).

HDTVs, I can move mine much easier, its bigger, so I get a w00t picture, and while I can't say the same for games, but movies look ub3r on them (even just regular movies on none-hdmi cables). Also, I can put all my consoles and DVD players on a shelf of a table-esq entertainment center. Putting all that stuff on TVs is actually pretty bad, considering that TVs put out a lot of heat, and the newer tech DVD players do too, as well as newer game consoles.

Now granted old school TVs have the best contrast/color, but that gap is closing, and right now I really can't tell the difference. Also, how old is your TV? What brand? I bought a 42" LCD TV yesterday and I have no color issues or contrast issues, but it its also 120Hz and was hella expensive. Well, expensive for me at least. Technology progresses very fast, so what didn't work yesterday likely will work today, or tomorrow at the latest. They even have a 240 Hz TV for sale, or TVs with contrasts in the millions, etc. Not entirely sure how we are worse off because you can't play a couple of games.

I love incandescent bulbs too, but CFLs lowered my electricity bill and they last MUCH longer (though some sockets can burn them out oddly fast, not sure why). Again, just because you are not used to the light (warm yellow = awesome for reading books at night, so I agree) doesn't make us all worse off. If anything, CFLs make us better off due to electrical use declines. (Though, I'm gonna say I don't agree that they are the future, MERCURY! Bleh).

[exigence]

well my grandma just got a brand new LG ill give that one a try, as for the heat i think most of it goes out the vents in the back i don't think it could go through the thick wood slabs that surround it.

The more i think about it the more i think hes right. Hip hop started in the 70's so did new wave which really isn't new at all except for the instrumentation and punk rock, there really isn't anything new after that.

[Werefrog]

Rock and roll was just folk music made more palatable to the consumer's taste by simplifying it and putting young, white heartthrobs as front men for the music that originated in black folk culture. Seriously, there was nothing revolutionary about rock music in the musical sense (in the cultural and economical aspects, yes, rock was revolutionary). So if you want to say the only difference with New Wave was the instrumentation, fine. Just realize that I could go through and say that about every musical movement from 1950-1975 (apparently, 1975 was the real day the music died. quick get Don McLean on the phone. Maybe, he can make a new, longer version of American Pie about it).

Edit: You also really need to realize that just because a genre started in the 70s doesn't mean it quit evolving. That's like saying there was no development in rock since its early days, which is absurd.