This thread really resonated with me. I have spent a great deal of time lately thinking about how society of today compares to that of the past. There was a time when we were a self-sufficient people willing to endure many hardships to improve the life of our family (or simply for the sake of adventure). We have "progressed" into a society where very few (if any) people could survive on their own for any length of time. Furthermore, society in this country seems to have embraced the victim mentality, to the point that few people are willing to truly take responsibility for their actions and/or situations. There was a time when people were willing to do whatever they felt was necessary to improve their situation, even if that meant packing their belongings in a pack and heading into an unknown territory on foot, based on the rumor of a better life. Imagine the same situation today; a family has no money, no mode of transportation and the area in which they live has no available jobs. How many people do you think would be willing to walk 100 miles for even a guaranteed job. How about 1,000 miles for the possibility of a job? No, I suspect most would feel like a victim, and expect the government to bail them out.
I am sure there are individuals who have truly progressed. But I feel that overall, as a society, people are weaker now than ever. I know I am weaker in most regards than my ancestors. I am not self-sufficient, and seriously doubt I ever will be. I don't think I would be willing to walk halfway across the country in hopes of a better situation for me and my family. I would like to think I would, but realistically I don't think I would.
I find it difficult to see progress in a society were the majority of citizens could not survive without a car or electricity. People survived for thousands of years without those things. The panic over $4.00 gas doesn't seem very progressive to me. The ability to say, "I'm not going to pay $4.00 a gallon for gas, I'll find an alternative.", now that is progressive.
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