Progress - Some Good - Some Not So Good

KC sent me the following e-mail. The original mail had a different picture of a 1906 Ford, but I couldn't copy it.

THE YEAR 1906

1906 Model N Ford
This will boggle your mind, I know it did mine!

The year is 1906.
One hundred years ago.
What a difference a century makes!
Here are some statistics for the Year 1906:

The average life expectancy was 47 years.

Only 14 percent of homes had a bathtub.

Only 8 percent of homes had a telephone.

There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles of paved roads.

The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.

The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower.

The average wage was 22 cents per hour. True, but money went further.

The average worker made between $200 and $400 per year. True, but money went further.

A competent accountant could expect to earn $2,000 per year, a dentist 2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year. True, but money went further.

More than 95 percent of all births took place at home.

Ninety percent of all doctors had no college education. They attended so-called medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press and the government as substandard.

Sugar cost four cents a pound. True, but money went further.

Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen. *sigh* By now you get the point!

Most women only washed their hair once a month and used borax or egg yolks for shampoo. Some also used home made soap.

Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from entering into their country for any reason. Sounds good to me, unless they are willing to enter legally.

Five leading causes of death were: 1. Pneumonia and influenza 2. Tuberculosis 3. Diarrhea 4. Heart disease 5. Stroke

The American flag had 45 stars.

The population of Las Vegas, Nevada, was 30! That's really hard to picture!

Crossword puzzles, canned beer and ice tea hadn't been invented yet. Neither had Al Gore been born, so of course we knew nothing about an internet or Global Warming.

There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day. Or President's Day. I wonder about Groundhog's Day? Did they do the Groundhog thing back then?

Two out of every 10 adults couldn't read or write. With American education what it is today, especially in public schools, we may be getting back to that.

Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores. Back then pharmacists said that heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health. Now that we made it illegal it's more popular than it was 100 years ago. There's big bucks for the peddlers. I need to think on this one a bit. Everytime we make something illegal it sells like hotcakes! Remember what happened during the Roaring 20's when alcohol was made illegal? Okay, I'm not that old either, but I'm sure you've read about it. There were Speakeasies everywhere, and many people who didn't drink took it up because for some, making something illegal makes it more attractive.

Eighteen percent of households had at least one full-time servant or demestic help.

There were about 230 reported murders in the entire U.S.A. There were also less states and less people back then, and no Hollyweird media influencing our youth.

Now, I forwarded this from someone else without typing it myself, and sent it to you and others all over the United States, Canada & possibly the world, in a matter of seconds. I have retyped it, added to it and posted it, and it will go out to the U.S. and many other countries, also in a matter of seconds. Unfortunately, so will a load of other stuff that is absolute bs, but that's progress.******************************I think this is amazing too. But not all is progress. 100 years ago abortions weren't legal. There were no battery operated clocks, battery operated cameras, battery operated watches, battery operated sex toys (remember, I said not everything was progress, LOL!) 100 years ago women on their periods didn't have tampons, but there was nothing around like butt flossers either. (Yuck!) We have people running around in bikinis instead of bathing suits that go from your throat to your knees, but we also have very oogly people running around on beaches in the nude. (Also Yuck!) 100 years ago homosexuality was thought of as disgusting; now we have some moonbat homosexuals having parades where they run around showing all their "stuff" and they've become more disgusting and offensive than they were when they were quiet about it. 100 years ago we had a population that for the most part took some pride in themselves. Now we have people walking around in stores looking like your worst nightmare: hair rollers, bedroom slippers and pajamas don't seem to even get a second look any more, not to mentioned pink hair, green hair, spiked hair, striped hair, and no hair at all with tattoos on bald scalp. Let's not forget pierced noses, pierced chins, pierced tongues and pierced things I don't even want to mention. 100 years ago there wasn't any such thing as Rap! (I don't even need to explain that one!) 100 years ago women couldn't even show their knees (that came along in the 1920's), and they definitely didn't walk around in public with all their fat wobbling around sticking out of the bottom of their shorts. Don't tell me you haven't noticed it. All the wrong people seem to love wearing shorts. 100 years ago obese people had a hard time buying clothes, which is probably one of the reasons the majority of Americans didn't let themselves get obese, another reason being people did more physical labor, walked more, and there weren't any fast food chains. Now they are manufacturing clothes that are larger than ever, most people walk as little as possible, and the prettiest women's clothes are in the "plus size" section of department stores. As a person who wears a normal size, I have a hard time finding what I like, which is why I usually wear jeans, western boots and the like. Don't get me wrong, I like wearing jeans and cowboy boots, especially steel tipped cowboy boots, but I also like to wear a nice dress once in awhile and they are getting harder and harder to find in a size 12. I'm 5' 9", actually almost 5' 10", and most clothes for my height are made for fat people. This is not progress! Most people 100 years ago thought Christianity was a good thing; now it's being attacked in the worst way every day.

Progress, like Freedom of Speech, is a wonderful thing. But both have a double-edged sword. Progress, as the above e-mail testifies, has given us much; but we haven't progressed in many areas. On the contrary, in certain areas we seem to have degressed; 100 years ago we didn't have Atomic or Nuclear bombs. Freedom of speech means people are allowed to say things that we don't like and absolutely don't agree with, and that means our enemies, enemies of America can spout their hate speeches without fear of retribution.

So, every cloud may have a silver lining, but every silver lining also has a cloud. But I wouldn't change everyone's right to speak their minds. That's what makes America great!

This post trackbacked to Angel's Nostra Aetate Open Trackback Weekend.



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