How do you feel about PROGRESS ? age may influence answers .

[blues90]

Trying to put politics aside and just to focus on the people of america .

How do you feel about what is called progress in this country . Have we come to a fork in the road and gone in the wrong direction . Have we advanced to really made america a better place . Have we gone to far . Have we really saved time as we have been promised by all the new technology .

You get the idea I hope .

I have my own thoughts and ideas but I would prefer to hear what others feel and think .

[messiah2012]

1. Progress = exploitation of natural resources and human beings by the power elite.

[1620rock]

2. If you mean breakthroughs in medical science, space and

astronomy, computers and technology. I'm all for it.
If you mean urban sprawl, less farmland and forests, and more tract housing. I'm dead against it.

[blues90]

5. All of it , it all goes hand in hand in a constant flow .

[Warpy]

3. I'd like to see some

I'm tired of watching everything fall apart due to neglect because a few rich families are strip mining this country for every bit of wealth it has.

I don't care if I like the shape progress takes. I just want to see this country focus on its people, not on money.

[JacquesMolay]

4. If you equate 'progress' with materialism, I'm afraid ....

... that the above poster is correct - there's not enough natural resources to support our lifestyle for another 5 years. We're going to have to 'think backwards', and it's no longer going to be about how much stuff we can consume, but how efficiently we can meet people's needs with what is left.

[napi21]

6. Many things have improved, but some have deteriorated too,

You're right, age does impact the answers.

Women ARE much better off today than they were when I took my first job in 1961. Back then, most women were file clerks, secretaries, nurses, and maids. Some went to college, and even then they had a difficult time getting a job in their profession.

Life for blacks are better today than they were then, thanks to the efforts of MLK and those he motivated.

Science and technology has made unbelievable advances, and overall, I think they made everyone's life better. I know I wouldn't want to survive without my computer!


HOWEVER............


The death spiral of Unions has dramatically harmed the middle class, and I'm afraid we won't see much improvement...in my lifetime anyway.

The surge of the power of corporations and their control of our Government is hurting everyone except the very wealthy. I view today as similar to the days of the robber barrons who crashed and burned during the Great Depression. I was only born during the GD so most of what I know is from stories my parents told me, but I do vaguely remember ration stamps.


OVERALL......

I do think things are better today. I have a home, a dishwasher (that was once just a dream of mine!), a washer, dryer, microwave, etc. and although I still watch every penney I spend, and comparrison shop and bargain hunt all the time, it's still much better than when the one thing I wanted so bad was a rose bush to plant in my yard, and I had to crochet a dozen doggie toilet paper covers and sell them to be able to buy one!

[Javaman]

7. Progress is for suckers! nt

[blues90]

8. When I look back through my life and compare it to now

First off I am a white male with 58 years behind me .

I realize and am fully aware how thing may be better for women now than before . The big thing back in the 60's for womens jobs was key punch . this was the new wave . For the most part they were teachers , office workers or nurses . But even now they don't get paid what a male does for the same job .

As far as blacks there is more opportunity however they are still held down in many fields .

I am ok with the computer other than it becoming an easy way of outsource as well as the phone or cust service jobs . I don't like medical info being spread out for all to see even though there are great medical avances through technology , only those who have insurance can benefit from this , so it's good for some and a lost hope for many many others .

We have lost our way and many jobs throught technology , so I really have to question if the trade off is worth it .

Progress for the most part for me spells out disaster more than the good it does because in the end it benefits only the few with the massess thinking they have gained , but then this does depend on your age , race and sex to a great extent .

Progess has allowed destruction and over population growth , if it allows one to live to 100 , I don't see the benefit in that . If it can save a live that will end up a life of nothing then what has been gained .

It's fine to study the universe but there is no benefit to this when on our own earth we face depletion and destruction . This is why I do feel we took the wrong path at the fork in the road .

We use or allow to be used many advances as ways to kill and wage war .

We have spread out and covered the earth with roads and highways lending to more and more homes of abomination that only allows more population growth which then allows more sucking up of resources and pollution . We have done all this without conscience or care as if there is no end to resource .

So progess in my book = greed , profit and the loss of human interaction and human value as well as the destruction of the planet . I liken it to a spoiled child who gets whatever they desire without a care of the end result , easy come = no value learned .

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

9. I'm old enough...

that I'm still amused when people debate about progress over the internet.