Just for fun, maybe a distraction or plain humor.

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   tsmogposted 4 months ago

   What were people complaining about in 1957? Can you relate? Have they changed? Are they complaining about common things still common today? What about culture or society?
   
   

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      Credence2posted 4 months agoin reply to this

      Most funny, TSmog we are always running on a treadmill in circles, whatever era in which you were living there was always something to "bitch" about.
      
      As a kid working at the Denver Airport in 1971, I was appalled that people would actually pay 15 cents for a candy bar, the standard at the time was dime. My boss told me at the time it was the cost of overhead and running the business, took me a while to figure that out. That $1.60 an hour was burning a hole in my pocket.

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         tsmogposted 4 months agoin reply to this

         Good example, Cred. I too reflected on the early 70's when reading the humorous article. I worked at a gas station beginning the summer of '72 when gas was in the area of $0.36/gallon. I peeked seeing that is the equivalent of $2.53 today. hmmm . . . things were pretty good back then, eh? But, ten years later gas was $1.19/gallon.
         
         One thing I found interesting is the item/topic of what was being complained about is the same as today. For instance what they were paying a baseball player. And, the advancing technology with electric appliances. I still don't have an air fryer though it is the rage today.

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      Nathanvilleposted 4 months agoin reply to this

      Working from top to bottom, left to right, on the list; as relevant to Britain:-
      
      1.    No change.
      
      2.    The British public are generally more opened minded about sex and language on the screen.
      
      3.    No change.
      
      4.    No change.
      
      5.    No change.
      
      6.    Different attitude on minimum wage in UK e.g. British public more in favour of higher legal minimum wages.
      
      7.    No change.
      
      8.    Different, more liberal, cultural attitude in Britain on how teenagers dress (hair) etc.
      
      9.    I’ve never heard anyone complain in the UK about the cost of haircuts?
      
      10.    Next, Mars?
      
      11.    Yep, professional footballer’s contracts are phenomenal.
      
      12.    Yep, kitchen technology continues to advance.
      
      13.    No change.
      
      14.    No change.
      
      15.    No change.
      
      16.    No change – although several car battery factory plants are being built in Britain to help make Britain largely self-sufficient in electric car production by 2030.
      
      17.    Different political views in Britain e.g. the British people are far more amenable to paying taxes, than Americans, in exchange for a Nanny State.
      
      18.    Drive in restaurants never did really catch on in Britain.
      
      19.    The British people don’t seem to complain about the cost of travelling!
      
      20.    Not applicable in the UK as we have the NHS.

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         tsmogposted 4 months agoin reply to this

         Interesting analysis! Were you speaking of attitudes today on the theme of each topic?
         
         Doing a bit of wandering . . .
         
         Guessing, I would speculate the commenter age is 40 - 65? As I see it there was a thread running through the garment that being it is was a generational thing. What do you think?
         
         Curious, I did some looking about for articles about why do older generations complain about younger generations. I discovered several interesting reads.
         
         A New Study Reveals the Surprising Reason Why Every Generation Complains About 'Kids These Days' by Inc.
         
         Since at least the ancient Greeks adults have complained about the youth. Science just found out why.
         
         https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/a- … -days.html
         
         "The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise," Greek philosopher Socrates onced bitched (it's not recorded whether he was standing on his lawn shaking his fist).
         
         Despite the passing of more than 2,000 years his complaint sounds exactly like some modern oldster opining about the many faults of Millennials (including here on Inc.com). 
         
         In short, older folks have always lamented the sorry state of 'kids these days,' leaving behind a shockingly long and repetitive record of complaints. Which is kind of hilarious, but also perplexing. What is it exactly about middle age that seems to make people suddenly think the next generation is horrible compared to their own youthful foibles?"
         
         And,
         
         Why old people will always complain about young people by Vox (Nov 12, 2019)
         
         https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/ … psychology
         
         "Talking about generations in broad strokes makes for compelling, simplistic stories to explain the world and how it works. “These stories always persist and people will be looking for data to confirm their biases,” Kali Trzesniewski, a social developmental psychologist at UC Davis, says.
         
         But even if there’s a kernel of truth to the stereotype that young people are self-concerned, she says we don’t need to see it as a bad thing. “We think — and we don’t have great data on this — that narcissism is higher in young adulthood, and for me, that makes developmental sense,” she says. “They have to think about what they’re going to do for the rest of their lives. They have to be able to go out, and try things, and not be afraid of it. So you need a little extra confidence.”
         
         With those discoveries I wondered who complains more liberals or conservatives. In the back of my mind was the old wives tale that people as they age move to conservative attitudes. I say old wives tales because research indicates over a lifespan 'most' remain stable with their belief, though if any do change it is more than likely a liberal moving toward conservatism.
         
         Who Complains More: Liberals or Conservatives? by Real Clear Science (Aug 8, 2023)
         https://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2 … 71458.html
         
         That article gives evidence supporting both perspectives; liberals complain more or conservatives complain more.
         
         Conservatives are more likely to complain in everyday service contexts due to their higher sense of entitlement by PsyPost (Jul 17, 2023)
         https://www.psypost.org/2023/07/conserv … ent-166581
         
         "We consistently found that conservative consumers expressed an increased willingness to complain about various service experiences. This was due to conservatives on average being higher in consumer entitlement; that is, feeling that they are not just ‘any other customer’ and are more deserving of special treatment and consideration than other customers.”
         
         The concluding paragraph is:
         
         “The predicted effect was quite robust across a range of different everyday service situations. Throughout the research we didn’t find evidence to the contrary; that is, that liberals complain more than conservatives. In the paper we propose a number of contextual factors, either individually or in combination, that might play a role, and future research might be able to more precisely pin down exactly when and why conservatives vs. liberals complain more vs. less.”

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            Nathanvilleposted 4 months agoin reply to this

            Yep, I was giving my perception of today’s British attitudes on the theme of each topic; and although I was far too young back in 1957 (just one year old) to know what people felt back then, where I said “No Change”, I was just making an assumption that little in attitudes has changed over the decades on that particular point!!!
            
            I got the impression that it wasn’t just one commenter but a compilation of commenters e.g. the Metro, a daily free British Newspaper, does a section just like that, where commenters (members of the public) can write in to give their brief views in a few words on popular topics, and they are all published together just like your article of 1957!
            
            Although, from reading the comments, I guess that most of the commenters, as you surmised, were probably middle aged and or elderly.
            
            Thanks for all the links; I found the first two of most interest to me as the last two focused on American politics, making it difficult to relate to British politics.
            
            Yeah, the pneumonia of the older generation complaining about the youth of today hasn’t changed in thousands of years, and I became very aware of it as far back as when I was in my late twenties e.g. my wife criticised a friend at work who was just 10 years younger (in her teens), and when my wife told me, I pointed out that she wasn’t any different when she was a teenager herself – I sunk in, and the following day my wife apologised to her younger friend for not being so broadminded.
            
            When, many years ago, I interviewed my grandmother (in her 80s at the time) on tape, to record and transcribe her life history, she complained about the youth of today, and then in the next paragraph told me all the naughty and stupid things she use to do as a teenager – and then it suddenly the contradiction she made clicked in her mind – and we had a good laugh about it.
            
            So your two articles, where they say “You're terrible at remembering yourself at 18” and “Our memory of the past is deeply colored by the present” gets to the hub of the problem.
            
            In such situation, I’ve always have tried to remember what it was like when I was 18 before I criticise – and it does help to make me les critical and more tolerant of the youth of today.
            
            Another point, which I didn’t see mention in any of the articles, which I think is also the problem of “False memory”; we all suffer from it, whether we realise it or not, so it’s something else to be conscious of before criticising others e.g. we can’t remember everything, and all too often our brains fills in the gaps with ‘false memories’, without us even noticing.
            
            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_memory

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            GA Andersonposted 4 months agoin reply to this

            You did say 'just for fun . . .'
            
            It is probably true that older folks have complained about younger generations forever, but the Socrates quote is a bit fishy. The quote isn't new and there doesn't seem to be a reference for the direct quote.
            
            The strongest support for the quote is that it is a paraphrased 'compilation' of Socrates' thoughts drawn from Plato's writings.
            
            The strongest support debunking the quote comes from philosophy scholars noting the origin of the direct quote has not been found (excepting the Plato mention), and the wording, and points of criticism don't sound like him.
            
            Oddly, the thought that Socrates might have said that is a bit demeaning to him.
            
            Even though the quote comes from [i]
            
            GA

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               tsmogposted 4 months agoin reply to this

               Maybe this may help you. Otherwise . . . okay.
               
               We're eager to hear your feedback on the stories we run and the issues we're covering. We won't be able to print all of your letters in the magazine, but consider your views important to the development of each issue of Inc.
               
               Please send letters to the editor and correction requests to: mail@inc.com.

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                  GA Andersonposted 4 months agoin reply to this

                  Yeah, my interjection about the Socrates quote was lame and off the wall. My bad.
                  
                  GA

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                     tsmogposted 4 months agoin reply to this

                     Nah . . . I got it and appreciated the humor I was hoping I was adding to it.
                     
                     'Glad Julafton'!! In Swedish that means Merry Christmas Eve.
                     
                     Have a magnificent Merry Christmas if you celebrate it.

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                        GA Andersonposted 4 months agoin reply to this

                        We do and it will be the first 'rememberable' Christmas for my four-year-old grandson. So it will be great.
                        
                        Since I opened the door with his mention, allow me to casually say that he has learned to read 1st Grade-level First Reader' books by himself. This happened this past July. He was 3 1/2 years old.
                        
                        I've been waiting months for an opportunity to brag, both on him and me—I'm the one who taught him.
                        
                        GA

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                           tsmogposted 4 months agoin reply to this

                           That is amazing! Well done Maestro! Though not directly related to music, I bet hearing him read aloud  is music to  your ears.

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   Jodahposted 4 months ago

   Thank you for sharing this, Tim. I needed a good laugh about how much things have changed

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      tsmogposted 4 months agoin reply to this

      I got a good chuckle from it too, John. I saw it on Facebook and migrated here. 1957 was 66 years ago. The one that was revealing to me was the one about putting a man on the moon.

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   Vlado - Val Karasposted 4 months ago

   Tim -- It's truly hilarious -- while showing how people are never satisfied, so often not knowing how grateful they should be for what they have.

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      tsmogposted 4 months agoin reply to this

      Yup, there is always something to complain about. The economy, technology even though back then technology was not a common day term, and culture/societal topics. You are right one should look at what one has to discover gratitude. For instance, just communicating with you via the internet and using a platform like HubPages to do it with. I am truly grateful for that.

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   Vlado - Val Karasposted 4 months ago

   As an individualist of my own design, I don't like generalizing about people, since we are all different, and not "all" of the older generation is complaining about the younger generation. But those who do, possibly feel unconscious envy, also biologically older, with less youthful hormones, with less dreams, less liberated spirit.
   Talking about republicans and liberals, the same probably applies, as it's hard to label a mentality of multitude of people as being more complainers than the others. While it may be true that liberals are that -- more "liberal"-- and somewhat emotional in raising more questions and criticizing what they don't see as right -- politics is a caricature of a normal model of governing anyway. It shouldn't be based on conflicts but on knowing what the hell is good for the country and pursuing it with a joint force.
   For a little illustration, imagine yourself coming to a hospital with a health issue, and a bunch of doctors around you are arguing about your diagnosis and the necessary treatment.
   So, how is the nation supposed to feel as those in power are acting like some total pissed off idiots without some clear policies, but obviously just caring about their careers and pushing their own agendas.
   So, talking about complainers -- it should be voters, regardless if more liberal or conservative by their favorite ideology.
   Since the ancient times have been mentioned here, how about that ancient Latin proverb: "Concordia patriam firmat" -- or in English: "Togetherness strengthens the country".

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5. 92

   Nathanvilleposted 4 months ago

   On the same theme, my great-great-grandfather kept a scrapbook of Victorian newspaper articles all his adult life, including newspaper cuttings from his time in America from 1845 to 1857.
   
   He first went to Baltimore in 1845 to continue his apprenticeship in stone masonry, and finished his apprenticeship in Philadelphia.  While he was in American he made a lifelong friend with the Middleton family from New York, the husband going on to become a captain in the Union Army during the American civil war.
   
   In that scrapbook is a humorous newspaper article, over 150 years old, entitled “Modern Meaning to Old Words” – Some of it, such as the reference to doctors, doesn’t work in today’s society, but others, like the reference to Lawyer’s still holds its humour.  And some, by today’s standards, is in bad taste!
   
   Although it’s not dated, I think the newspaper article might be American (and thus published before 1857) in that Lawyer tends to be more of an American word that an English word e.g. in England we use the word solicitor rather than lawyer.
   
   

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      Credence2posted 4 months agoin reply to this

      I wish that I could track my lineage lines as far back. I wanted to write my own version of "Roots", but I would have call my version "Ruts", instead. Your forebear may have met Alexis De Tocqueville who was in his heyday at that time.
      
      He is best known for his works Democracy in America (appearing in two volumes, 1835 and 1840) and The Old Regime and the Revolution (1856). In both, he analyzed the living standards and social conditions of individuals as well as their relationship to the market and state in Western societies. Democracy in America was published after Tocqueville's travels in the United States and is today considered an early work of sociology and political science.
      
      The observations and definitions in the paper were quite witty, even if dated,
      
      I really have not been able to find a great deal of information about my ancestry prior to the last quarter of the 19th Century.

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         Nathanvilleposted 4 months agoin reply to this

         Thanks for introducing me to Alexis De Tocqueville, I’ve never heard of him before, but he sound’s an interesting guy.  Whether my Great-great-grandfather met him we will never know, but certainly (from the family stories passed down over the generations) he did meet a lot of interesting people in America.
         
         I know how frustrating it must be not to be able to follow your family roots back far, my wife’s father was Irish (born in Belfast), so she hasn’t been able to trace her paternal side of the family back very far because most registration records in Northern Ireland were destroyed in their civil war in the 1920s.
         
         However, she had better luck on her maternal side, as she has links with the Howard family, who from medieval times have had close links with the Royal Family, and as such owned lots of castles and lands across Northern England, some of which we’ve visited in recent years.
         
         On my maternal side of the family, my Great-great-grandfather, born in 1829, just around the corner from where I live (less than 5 minutes’ walk away) wrote his own family tree in his diary, going back to his grandfather, born in 1760 in Hanham, Bristol (just 2 miles from where we live).
         
         I’ve since been able to trace my maternal side of the family back to when it became a legal requirement in England to keep births, marriage and death records in the 1550s; all of which are now freely available on line.
         
         Although I haven’t been able to trace my family tree back any further than the 1550’s, I have been able to follow the history of both my paternal and maternal family names, with interest:-
         
         My father’s family (The Russ’s) came across from Normandy, France during the 1066 invasion by William the Conqueror (Battle of Hastings) and was awarded lands in Somerset (just 50 miles south of Bristol); while my mother’s family (The Baglin’s) (bow men) came across with the Norman Army from Normandy, France during the 1066 invasion of England, and were awarded lands by William the Conqueror in Gloucestershire (just 25 miles north of Bristol) – which explains why when I had my DNA tested for Genealogy, it shows that my British blood is genetically almost exclusively from the south west of England, mixed in with a little bit of Celtic blood from Wales (just across the border, 10 miles away).
         
         So in a thousand years both my paternal and maternal families have hardly moved more than 50 miles from my current location!!!

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      tsmogposted 4 months agoin reply to this

      Thanks! Cool you have that scrapbook. I wish I had something like that. I like a lot of the witticisms with the article. getting a chuckle here and there. I think the one for 'nothing' rings true. I thought about 'My Dear' with my parents and I seem to remember them saying, 'Dear' when about state a position.

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         Nathanvilleposted 4 months agoin reply to this

         I too had a chuckle when I read the Victorian definition of “Nothing = the extent of human knowledge” 
         
         My great-great grandfather was a prolific writer; as well as his scrapbook, I’ve also got his diary, including his own family tree and history in it which goes back to his grandfather, all his other writings and poems, and a framed picture (an artist impression, done by a friend of mine, showing where he was born e.g. on a house just above the railway tunnel).  I also have in my collection the two books he published on phrenology (his profession), and his tools of the trade:  below is a photo of his scrapbook and collection of writings.
         
         

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            tsmogposted 4 months agoin reply to this

            That is really cool. Where did you get his stuff from? Your parents or aunts/uncles?
            
            Have you considered making a memory box of your life to be passed down to you son? You could include the stuff from you great-great-grandfather.

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               Nathanvilleposted 4 months agoin reply to this

               When I was 13, and visiting my grandparents, I spent an hour in their loft (exploring it), when I came across a large cardboard box filled with all my great-grand father’s stuff, including a 1797 ‘cartwheel’ penny coin (measures 1 ½ inches in diameter, and weighs over an ounce) ; and my grandmother let me keep it – So I took it home and spent the following weeks just going through the stud, and reading all his written material.
               
               It was that find that got me interested in genealogy (family history).
               
               When I was 16 I transcribed his poetry, and had it published in a limited run, of which a few copies were sold through a bookshop in Bristol, and which various public libraries across Bristol copies of.
               
               With the advent of the Internet, I transcribed all his writings and works, and published them on my genealogy website for the family and future generations; including his two books which he published on phrenology, which Cambridge University now has links to on their ‘Victorian Web’.
               
               I found reading the newspaper articles from American and Britain in his scrapbook gives an insight into the mind-set of Victorian era Society in both American and Britain.
               
               Some of links to his works and material:-
               
               •    https://www.nathanville.uk/victorian-newspapers
               •    https://www.nathanville.uk/phrenology/project-one-dzrnp
               
               My favourite poem written by my great-great-grandfather in 1876 is “Wanted A Barmaid”:-
               https://www.nathanville.uk/poetry-by-ge … -two-4w7l2

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