Are you unhappy with the modern world?

[bicyclebuilder]

Without modern technology we weren't able to find out what our son Lucas* had. Discovering deceases and finding way's to cure them or prevent them is one of the things I'm gratefull to live in the modern world. As a matter a fact, at times like this I wish we were living in the future, where deceases are all discovered and cured.
That said, some people take modern technology for granted. Cosmetic surgery, body modifications, genetic manipulation. To every step forward there is an equal step back.

We often look back at the Victorian Era as if they were all polite, gentle people but there were uncivilised people to back then. Theives, frauds, liars. Same tricks, different technology.

As we grow older, we are more reflecting modern time with our past. "when I was a young lad..." my grandfather would start a monologue. Talking about how he worked at a young age, how he was drilled into religion, how he was drilled in school. "you kids are so fortunate" He'd say. "with your friendly schooling system, freedom of religion" My granddad usually stopped his monologue with "but you don't appreciate it!"
And guess what? He probably heard that same phrase from his grandfather.

[D.Oakes]

Catch 22 time....

First of all, in the world of medicine, I must say, I envy a lot of you who have been saved by modern technology, what has killed off a lot of my family has been the result of modern chemicals and technologies causing cancer or leading to other complications.  Most every other health issue we have had could have been solved with Victorian era medicine just as easily and my grandmother's health issues would never have occurred.  (for instance her skin cancer would have been avoided with Victorian fashion)  My grandfather would never have gotten into the car accident that required a blood transfusion that was poorly done and poorly screened and made him more susceptible to cancer.  (he didn't drink and died of liver cancer...)  He'd be a blind old man right now, still working on the farm and my grandmother would still be alive because he would not have died.  My mom would never have had chemicals in her body that caused colon cancer.  (given her age, the lack of colon cancer in our family, it was definitely something external, my aunt and I have a few hunches)  My favorite great-uncle would probably be a crazy old Civil War vet instead of Korea, but in a culture of respecting elders, he would have been treated a lot better and not dumped in a nursing home.  (plus with his sister still alive, he wouldn't have gone down hill quite as fast)  My father would probably be the only loser in the situation as he would have probably been shot by my great-uncle.  Heck, my great-grandfather even would probably still be alive as it was the death of so many of his kids that took him down and he to was banished to a home.  Thus, I too am worried about my life expectancy given that my only health issues all could have been solved in the Victorian era.  I have strong genetics to deal with "antique" health issues, but my genetics suck when it comes to resistance to modern problems.  (I wouldn't mind going Amish....live surrounded by antique technologies and materials, but with access to modern medicine should anything not easily solved arise)  

Now for my praising of the modern world: I love my fiance, but had we lived in the Victorian era she would have been locked up in an Asylum or much worse given her first husband's treatment of her.  If her and I are truly going to last, then I guess I love the modern world in this one instance.  If it were not for my university studies of psychology and my past hardships, I probably would not have the knowledge or the guts to handle her occasional episodes.  Heck if it were not for the modern world, the events that triggered her mental health problems would have never stopped.  

So that is my catch 22, without the modern world, the bulk of the people on this planet that I have loved would still be alive, but if it were not for the modern world, the woman I have come to love now would not be around.  But that said, the modern world better catch up with itself soon and solve the problems that its very existence has caused or my fiance will end up being a widow twice in too short a time.  

[Dr Fidelius]

I know it is a cliche, but no one who "longs for the past" actually wants to live as the majority of people lived then. Yes, it is hard to find good servants today. If we lived in Victorian times, we would have been the servants (if we were lucky). My ancestors a hundred and fifty years ago were Ukranian serfs and Irish peasants. (Okay, I have some Magyar, too, so some of my family owned the land instead of just working it.)
They moved up in the world about a hundred years ago when they had the opportunity to move to the USA and become coal miners and dockworkers. Still dangerous work, especially before labour unions were legal. My parent's generation were the first to have jobs that did not involve the daily threat of dismemberment.
The past sucked on almost every level. My imaginarium is based on the fiction of the past - the "way the future was," the way visionaries hoped life would become. That is still a work in progress.

[D.Oakes]

Ahhh, the benefits of growing up in rural America on a farm....child labor, early days, hard work, getting sick, bugs, and awful smells, all with home remedies and quack doctors....I miss the farm to be perfectly honest.  And like I said, my family would still be alive if the clock were turned back a bit.  I've come to the conclusion that everyone who grew up in civilization thinks I am nuts, but I don't mind.  As much as my childhood sucked, (for other reasons) there was something truly spiritual about old school labor.  I raised a goat that won a blue ribbon.  I looked after the whole herd, but she was my favorite because I had taken care of her from the time she was born.  This was pretty much from age 5 until about 10.  What do city kids do?  They are responsible for....maybe walking a dog and cleaning their room.  When you grow up with that, it really doesn't seem horrible.  Truthfully I find most jobs I've had to be boring.  I like being able to use my mind and still get my hands dirty.  You can't get that sitting behind a desk using a computer.  And you didn't have time to whip out the smart phone.  Before I was born my family did a lot of other farming, but given that the younger members of the family had moved on, the older members couldn't keep up with the technological changes.  Granted now with all the green and organic things going on, if we still had the land, we probably could get back into it and make money, but we sold. 

[Dr Fidelius]

What an absolutely amazing coincidence. The years of my childhood were also the greatest years in the history of the world.

The food was better, the comic books and television shows were better, anyplace worth going to was on the bus line, summers lasted forever, and even blizzards were fun.

Oh sure, there was a war going on someplace called Viet Nam, the police were beating black people who dared to try to vote, and sometimes a river would catch on fire, but as none of that directly affected my youth, it doesn't matter.

At some point in the future, my daughters or grandchildren will ask me how I could have believed something or behaved in a certan way, and all I will be able to say will be that we didn't know better back in the early 2010s, and we have learned since then. Mankind grows and learns better; history is to be studied, nostalgia is no substitute for facts.

[Vagabond GentleMan]

Ahhh, the benefits of growing up in rural America on a farm....child labor, early days, hard work, getting sick, bugs, and awful smells, all with home remedies and quack doctors....I miss the farm to be perfectly honest.  And like I said, my family would still be alive if the clock were turned back a bit.  I've come to the conclusion that everyone who grew up in civilization thinks I am nuts, but I don't mind.  As much as my childhood sucked, (for other reasons) there was something truly spiritual about old school labor.  I raised a goat that won a blue ribbon.  I looked after the whole herd, but she was my favorite because I had taken care of her from the time she was born.  This was pretty much from age 5 until about 10.  What do city kids do?  They are responsible for....maybe walking a dog and cleaning their room.  When you grow up with that, it really doesn't seem horrible.  Truthfully I find most jobs I've had to be boring.  I like being able to use my mind and still get my hands dirty.  You can't get that sitting behind a desk using a computer.  And you didn't have time to whip out the smart phone.  Before I was born my family did a lot of other farming, but given that the younger members of the family had moved on, the older members couldn't keep up with the technological changes.  Granted now with all the green and organic things going on, if we still had the land, we probably could get back into it and make money, but we sold. 

The Dr. has a point...beware nostalgia, it is illusion.  Lots of stuff that happens in childhood, even a GOOD childhood, ends up being the Haunts that we forever attempt to exorcise or assimilate in adult life.

And don't be so hard on city kids without having been a city kid, my bene cove!

I had the luxury of spending about half my life in the city, and half in a REALLY rural area.

The city-kid life allowed me to glean a multi-cultural tolerance and appreciation that I absolutely did NOT have in the country.  Also probably learned a lot more about fighting in the city...though I fought in the country, too, even if the fighting was 'fairer'.
City life gave me early access to museums and monuments and culture and variety completely alien to rural life.

Now, with all that said and done, yeah, I still value those rural years much more...they defined me to a greater degree.  But, I'd never exchange those city years for anything, that's a fact.

[The Squire]

While reviewing some old files, I came across some captions I wrote for an exhibit I did in a small West Texas museum in 2009. The 'Imagine' title accompanied various dioramas and was intended to help students visualize the times by understanding daily life of the time. The world just a hundred or so years ago was much, much different from the modern world and daily life was much harder. It's fun to play cowboy, but few of the cosplayers could do the real work today.

IMAGINE
The buffalo cow and her calf are resting near Deep Creek in the heat of the day. They are part of the last giant herd of American bison that roam the Southern Great Plains. Just a few decades ago, there were millions upon millions of bison migrating from the Rolling Plains of Texas to the Northlands of the Canadian prairies. Now they are being hunted for their hides by the thousands every day. In ten years there will be less than a thousand of her species still alive in all the world. The year is 1876.

IMAGINE
The skinners are huddled around the fire, awaiting the return of the teamster wagons from Fort Worth. Snow has fallen for many days and the wind cuts through the canvas tents and the hide teepees. The buffalo hides are staked to the ground or stretched on poles, but they are frozen solid in the bitter cold. They will be heavy and hard to load and haul. It is the winter of 1878.

IMAGINE
It’s an hour before sunup and Perry Bracey, chuckwagon cook, has a cow chip and mesquite root fire going strong. The sourdough bisquits are mixed up and resting til time to put ‘em in the Dutch oven, but the coffee’s already bubblin’ and talkin’ and the smell is causing some of the cowboys to stir in their bedrolls. The night riders will be in soon to get first breakfast before the whole outfit is up and ready for another day of driving 5,000 head of longhorns from the Renderbrook-Spade Ranch in Mitchell County up to the railhead at Fort Griffin. The year is 1881.

IMAGINE
The land is plowed and the mules are hitched to the 4-row seeder, ready to plant 40 acres of Von Roeder Stormproof Cotton. The creak of the windmill can be heard in the distance. The sun is rising and it will be a long hard day. The year is 1907.

IMAGINE
You live in this box-and-strip cabin, 15 miles from the nearest town. You have no car, no refrigerator, no running water or indoor plumbing, no electricity, no TV or radio, no telephone, no computer. You cook on a wood burning stove and read by the light of a kerosene lamp. The year is 1916.

[D.Oakes]

Ahhh, the benefits of growing up in rural America on a farm....child labor, early days, hard work, getting sick, bugs, and awful smells, all with home remedies and quack doctors....I miss the farm to be perfectly honest.  And like I said, my family would still be alive if the clock were turned back a bit.  I've come to the conclusion that everyone who grew up in civilization thinks I am nuts, but I don't mind.  As much as my childhood sucked, (for other reasons) there was something truly spiritual about old school labor.  I raised a goat that won a blue ribbon.  I looked after the whole herd, but she was my favorite because I had taken care of her from the time she was born.  This was pretty much from age 5 until about 10.  What do city kids do?  They are responsible for....maybe walking a dog and cleaning their room.  When you grow up with that, it really doesn't seem horrible.  Truthfully I find most jobs I've had to be boring.  I like being able to use my mind and still get my hands dirty.  You can't get that sitting behind a desk using a computer.  And you didn't have time to whip out the smart phone.  Before I was born my family did a lot of other farming, but given that the younger members of the family had moved on, the older members couldn't keep up with the technological changes.  Granted now with all the green and organic things going on, if we still had the land, we probably could get back into it and make money, but we sold. 

The Dr. has a point...beware nostalgia, it is illusion.  Lots of stuff that happens in childhood, even a GOOD childhood, ends up being the Haunts that we forever attempt to exorcise or assimilate in adult life.

And don't be so hard on city kids without having been a city kid, my bene cove!

I had the luxury of spending about half my life in the city, and half in a REALLY rural area.

The city-kid life allowed me to glean a multi-cultural tolerance and appreciation that I absolutely did NOT have in the country.  Also probably learned a lot more about fighting in the city...though I fought in the country, too, even if the fighting was 'fairer'.
City life gave me early access to museums and monuments and culture and variety completely alien to rural life.

Now, with all that said and done, yeah, I still value those rural years much more...they defined me to a greater degree.  But, I'd never exchange those city years for anything, that's a fact.

My rural days have gotten me accused of being too brutal when it comes to city fights.     I do give you the multi-cultural tolerance.  When I first moved out of the hills, most of my first friends were black because the white kids all picked on me for being a redneck.  Ironic....

Don't have medical insurance now, so for me it's back to the old days.  Heck, even when I did have it, I tended to avoid the doctor like the plague.  I ended up saving a foot with vodka once.  (if your kid tells you not to look at his/her foot and gets quite angry when you try to....knock the child out and look...it's probably VERY bad, I was bordering on gangrene, in hindsight....I probably should have gone to the doctor, but I took care of it)  The last time I went to the doctor was about 3 years ago, it was basically because I had become too weak to take care of the problem myself.  Now that I know my hunch was correct, if it happens again, the pocket knife is coming out. 

If I die like my family has, or by a reckless driver, I am seriously going to come back and haunt everyone who has told me not to want to be in another time period.  People love their comforts, I'd trade them in a second.  Having a fiance now and getting lectures on how I handle myself, apparently I've been living like a Spartan since June....   What I can't handle are boring routines.  I honestly don't think I'll ever shake that feeling of not being where I want to be.  Maybe it's that so much bad stuff has happened in my life that I'm quite literally addicted to it.  I like the adrenaline, I like being forced to make quick decisions.  I can't stand just following a book. 

[Zeppelin Kapitan Fritz]

     My rather plain-spoken and less intelligent sounding way of thinking about this issue...

     I wish I could say there was a better time to live in than today, because today really sucks (for most people), but there really wasn't. I know for a fact that previous time periods sucked as well, just in different ways. They may be nice to visit, but I wouldn't want to live in them. The future will probably be no better if the direction we are going in is any hint. That is the sad truth.

P.S.

     The idea that previous time periods sucked more than today is flawed. Life sucks for the vast majority of the world's population today in much the same ways as it did before, and still sucks significantly for many people in our own countries, it is just that we are fortunate enough to not be those people.

[Vagabond GentleMan]

My rural days have gotten me accused of being too brutal when it comes to city fights.     I do give you the multi-cultural tolerance.  When I first moved out of the hills, most of my first friends were black because the white kids all picked on me for being a redneck.  Ironic....

Very interesting!  My experience was I think more typical...in the country, dudes fought 'schoolyard rules'...there was a lot of 'honor' and 'fairness' involved.  Might have been cuz I was living in a state that had been settled by rugged individualist Pioneers originally, then by Southerners fleeing post-war South, so there's a culture-thing there regarding Honest Fighting, Dueling, etc. as it related to manliness in general.

City fights were far crueler.  Bring your friends, bring a weapon, sneak up on 'em, revenge is certain regardless of who 'wins', etc...

If I die like my family has, or by a reckless driver, I am seriously going to come back and haunt everyone who has told me not to want to be in another time period.  People love their comforts, I'd trade them in a second. 

I appreciate the sentiment absolutely, though I don't quite follow here specifically...
Why will you return to haunt folks if you die by reckless driving?
Cuz it's 'modern'?
Cuz I reckon you could have been run over by a reckless drunken Egyptian Charioteer some thousands of years ago...or a reckless drunken horseman at virtually any time in history...etc., ya know?

Anyway, I'm one of those folks you'll indubitably come haunt, so I'll have Chili-pepper rum waiting for you.  Just don't throw my s**t around, k?  There's not enough room in my mess to house your ghost-mess as well.   

[D.Oakes]

I appreciate the sentiment absolutely, though I don't quite follow here specifically...
Why will you return to haunt folks if you die by reckless driving?
Cuz it's 'modern'?
Cuz I reckon you could have been run over by a reckless drunken Egyptian Charioteer some thousands of years ago...or a reckless drunken horseman at virtually any time in history...etc., ya know?

Anyway, I'm one of those folks you'll indubitably come haunt, so I'll have Chili-pepper rum waiting for you.  Just don't throw my s**t around, k?  There's not enough room in my mess to house your ghost-mess as well.   

Not everyone had a horse.  America is where you drive to the poor house.  Too many people have cars, many of them truthfully don't NEED them.  And truthfully many people shouldn't be trusted with anything above the power of a child's tricycle.  If I took a gun and started firing off in the middle of the street, I'd be arrested immediately.  If some idiot gets behind the wheel of a car and blows through a cross walk, nobody even blinks.  What's more dangerous?  It all depends on the aim.  Now consider that many people over the age of 16, even people who are legally not allowed to have a gun, all have a one ton (more or less) dangerous weapon and regularly misuse it.  Any other century it would be a matter of staying off the railroad tracks, staying away from the middle and upper class, and hiding in the hills when the Macedonians came to enlist you to fight the Persians.  (elephants....yikes)  At least with a horse one could simply carry a pike with them.    

Yeah, I'll definitely stop by.   

[Vagabond GentleMan]

You DO have a point...my counterpoint would be that in the days when only the 'Nobility' owned horses, chariots, elephants, etc., they could generally run you down without any consequences whatsoever, and often did.

True, not everyone who hurts or kills someone with their auto gets apprehended (no 'type' of criminal has a 100% incarceration rate), but there ARE serious consequences for even accidental auto injury/homicide.

Sometimes when I consider things, I have to imagine that in the days before DNA analysis, fingerprinting, and all that clever CSI stuff, there had to have been an unfathomably tremendous relative unsolved crime rate.

...Hell, I personally feel I would CERTAINLY have indulged in profoundly more villainy myself if I felt I had a greater 'get away with it' factor...

[Tower]

After spending some time in Sierra Leone, the worlds second poorest country I can honestly say that I would want to live in another time, even if it was like Sierra Leone.

I could write a book on why but the short version is that the skills that I have and the kind of personality I was born with would be better suited to a different time.

I'm not saying I would be more comfortable or live as long or even be happy but I think I would have a greater sense of purpose. In Sierra Leone I saw whole families sitting outside there shacks making gravel by hand. They where literally smashing larger rocks into gravel with a hammer and pilling the results up in front of them to sell to the road crew that was moving through. To me it looked like a better job than any I have ever had. It was no harder than most of my jobs and no less boring but at least they could see the purpose of it.

At least in "victorian" times you could see that things where getting better, even if they weren't for you at least you could read (or hear) about grand new discoveries and projects going forward. Hell, even my parents generation had the moon. We have nothing.

When I look at the world around me all I see is an entire civilization trapped in a death spiral moving towards maximum entropy.

I really am the kind of person who should never be given weapons of mass destruction because I would use them without hesitation. Not for religious or political beliefs but just because the current world is so damn boring.  I would rather see it crash and burn now while there is still a chance of rebuilding rather than go on and consume every last resource before crashing and leaving nothing behind for the survivors.

Our world only has a limited number of chances for advanced civilization built into it. Maybe even only one and we're literally burning through it for no real purpose. I would rather live in a time when this wasn't so obvious and there was something to believe in.

On that note, Merry Christmas.

[D.Oakes]

You DO have a point...my counterpoint would be that in the days when only the 'Nobility' owned horses, chariots, elephants, etc., they could generally run you down without any consequences whatsoever, and often did.

True, not everyone who hurts or kills someone with their auto gets apprehended (no 'type' of criminal has a 100% incarceration rate), but there ARE serious consequences for even accidental auto injury/homicide.

Sometimes when I consider things, I have to imagine that in the days before DNA analysis, fingerprinting, and all that clever CSI stuff, there had to have been an unfathomably tremendous relative unsolved crime rate.

...Hell, I personally feel I would CERTAINLY have indulged in profoundly more villainy myself if I felt I had a greater 'get away with it' factor...

Even then crime happens.  Threat of punishment does nothing to stop crime.  I would only turn to crime if a set group of circumstances revealed themselves and even then it would be vigilante activity instead of "normal" crime. 

If I got killed by a reckless driver, I personally would not care one way or the other that person was caught, I'd be dead...I'd much rather be alive.  At least in earlier times versus a horse, I could much better defend myself against flesh and blood.  A car is a bit tougher to take down...

After spending some time in Sierra Leone, the worlds second poorest country I can honestly say that I would want to live in another time, even if it was like Sierra Leone.

I could write a book on why but the short version is that the skills that I have and the kind of personality I was born with would be better suited to a different time.

I'm not saying I would be more comfortable or live as long or even be happy but I think I would have a greater sense of purpose. In Sierra Leone I saw whole families sitting outside there shacks making gravel by hand. They where literally smashing larger rocks into gravel with a hammer and pilling the results up in front of them to sell to the road crew that was moving through. To me it looked like a better job than any I have ever had. It was no harder than most of my jobs and no less boring but at least they could see the purpose of it.

At least in "victorian" times you could see that things where getting better, even if they weren't for you at least you could read (or hear) about grand new discoveries and projects going forward. Hell, even my parents generation had the moon. We have nothing.

When I look at the world around me all I see is an entire civilization trapped in a death spiral moving towards maximum entropy.

I really am the kind of person who should never be given weapons of mass destruction because I would use them without hesitation. Not for religious or political beliefs but just because the current world is so damn boring.  I would rather see it crash and burn now while there is still a chance of rebuilding rather than go on and consume every last resource before crashing and leaving nothing behind for the survivors.

Our world only has a limited number of chances for advanced civilization built into it. Maybe even only one and we're literally burning through it for no real purpose. I would rather live in a time when this wasn't so obvious and there was something to believe in.

On that note, Merry Christmas.

Purpose is the key.

Guess that is why I will have a Merry Christmas.   

[Athanor]

Our world only has a limited number of chances for advanced civilization built into it. Maybe even only one and we're literally burning through it for no real purpose. I would rather live in a time when this wasn't so obvious and there was something to believe in.

Whatever "purpose" you find in life is - and can only be - the purpose you yourself give it. This can be purely personal or collective; and at the end of the first decade of the 21st century there's plenty of scope for both, I would say.

 On a purely personal, and Steampunk-specific, level, preservation of artifacts of past ages or the creation of new artifacts that some future generation might see fit to preserve; more collectively, there's still lots of scope for meaningful action to reduce environmental pollution, invent clean energy systems, alleviate poverty and disease in the Third World, campaign for an end to obscene income disparities; on a national, or even international level, how about working towards a manned (or should that be personned) mission to Mars and the Outer Planets. And that's just skimming the surface.

I can think of hundreds of better things to do than breaking rocks for a living.

Athanor.

[CoS_Ethan]

Especially in China.

[Hez]

I could write a book on why but the short version is that the skills that I have and the kind of personality I was born with would be better suited to a different time.

I have noticed that our current culture only fits specialists, experts in some particular narrow wedge of knowledge or ability, it has no room for the jack-of-all-trades.  The person who can turn their hand to any task, who could find a way to make it work, was very valuable on a farm or a frontier or a ship whereas now they are considered unskilled and relegated to routine and often meaningless jobs that make no use of their skills and provide no end product to give a sense of accomplishment except possible an order of fries.

At least in "Victorian" times you could see that things where getting better, even if they weren't for you at least you could read (or hear) about grand new discoveries and projects going forward. Hell, even my parents generation had the moon. We have nothing.

For the poor the industrial revolution and the Victorian age actually made things much worse.  Coal mines were hellish.  Progress and machines put huge numbers of farm workers out of work and left their families to actually starve to death.  Great new discoveries mean nothing when your child is cold and hungry.  

Hell, even my parents generation had the moon. We have nothing.

CML used to be a terrifying diagnosis.  it is still scary but in 2001 the development of Gleevec made it one of the  most treatable of the blood cancers.  We are looking further into space and deeper into the ocean than ever before.
Who knows what will come next.

On that note I wish for you all, but especially Tower, a New Year that rejuvenates your dreams, exceeds your expectations and leaves you with a sense of accomplishment and joy.  And occasionally tickles your funny bone.

[Captain Shipton Bellinger]

We are looking further into space ... than ever before.

This is what scares and infuriates me most about the modern world. We can learn a lot from looking, but damn it, we need to get off this planet!

Pick your apocalypse: global climate change, comet/asteroid impact, a repeat of the Siberian or Deccan Traps eruptions (which accompanied two of the largest mass extinction events known), plague of zombies, or just a general running down as the increasing population uses up available resources. It doesn't really matter which - right now mankind is pathetically vulnerable.

It's all very well saying "Something will turn up - it always does", but what if it doesn't? What will we do when Yellowstone blows again? When that near-Earth asteroid is a bit too near? When the methane clathrates in the oceans and tundra are released into the atmosphere? When we run out of oil and have nothing with which to replace it?

We will die, that's what. We will die in unimaginable numbers and perhaps go down into extinction.

Humans are crap at long-term planning, and we never seem to learn from history's lessons. We care about what may happen to our children and (maybe) grand-children, but don't really let that get in the way of a comfortable life now. We care even less about our grand-children's children, and anything beyond that - well, the future can look after itself.

Bullshit.

We need self-sustaining colonies off-planet, and we need them now.

Rant over.

A Happy and Prosperous New Year to each and every one of you. Let's hope it's not our last, eh? 

[Vagabond GentleMan]

  Threat of punishment does nothing to stop crime. 

Sure as hell does a lot to stop ME from committing crimes...

I would only turn to crime if a set group of circumstances revealed themselves and even then it would be vigilante activity instead of "normal" crime. 

Well, yer indubitably nobler than I am...I'm sure I'd indulge in vigilanteism, Robin Hood (robbin' hoodlum? ) type stuff, the smiting of personal enemies for sometimes less than noble reasons, and just breaking laws that I philosophically disagree with (of which there are many), etc. >shrugs<

I'm not immoral, but I border on amoral often enough.  "Anti-Heroic Personal Code" type stuff or what have you.

....

All this talk about End Times and choosing the apocalypse and the 'boring' modern world...

Living in the End Times is exciting...maybe the most exciting time period in all of history.  That seems...intuitively obvious...

[Vagabond GentleMan]

...Afterthought:

I can't speak for you, Tower, as an individual, but for most of the Western World (assuming middle-of-the-road middle-class, etc.) the ability to have the opportunity to travel TO Sierra Leone (or international travel in general) is a convenience of the modern world.

In eras gone by, to have opportunities for world travel was a real rarity...you were either quite wealthy, or of a particular occupation (sailor, soldier, etc.)

So again, I don't want to make assumptions about you, Tower, for I don't know your story, but in general as an average working-class bloke who's saved his pennies and indulged in world travel on a budget more than a few times, I myself would have to think twice about chastising the Modern World that ALLOWED me to experience 'exotic other lands where things are different'...

[Tower]

This is what scares and infuriates me most about the modern world. We can learn a lot from looking, but damn it, we need to get off this planet!

If I had a religion, this would be it. No advancement that does not further this goal has any relevance. World peace, curing all disease and creating equality for all are completely useless until we can secure the survival and expansion of our species. Those things I mentioned probably would make it easier to get off this rock but are probably not even possible without space travel in the first place. People seem to forget that in the past there have been natural disasters that reduced the total population of the human species down to a few thousand individuals. We've been that close to extinction and yet not a single country in the world is making a serious effort to expand into space.

I myself would have to think twice about chastising the Modern World that ALLOWED me to experience 'exotic other lands where things are different'...

First off, I didn't do it on my own penny. A friend of my father needed a medical type person to go along with her as part of visit to an orphanage that her church runs in Sierra Leone. If it wasn't for this bit of luck it would have cost me half a years pay to go, not to mention that its very difficult to even get into the country at all unless you are part of some organization.

It was a great opportunity but not likely to happen again.

Second, the modern world has made it necessary to travel half way around the world to find someplace that doesn't look like everything else.  Even the countries in europe that I traveled through seemed remarkably (and disappointingly) American. Apparently africa is the only place that sucks so bad that it hasn't been converted yet.

People were traveling to Sierra Leone in the 18th century so its hardly a modern experience. In fact much of the reason I think this trip was so fascinating was that it was something that could very easily have happened hundreds of years ago. The wealthy wife of an oil man taking on a medic to accompany her on a charity mission to darkest Africa? What could be more in period?

I actually think there may have been more chances for travel in the past for someone like me. Honestly, if could walk down to the docks and sign onto a ship I probably would. Yes, there are still ships but its damn hard to get on one now without years of  specific education. They all just want diesel mechanics and electricians now. Its not good enough that I'm not afraid of heights, heavy lifting or can tie a knot, not to mention that I can read, navigate by the stars or actually trim a sail. And before anyone says that reading is a modern connivence of school I was taught how to read by my mother two years before I ever set foot in a godforsaken school.

Where are the press gangs when you need them? Seriously, half the things that people where forced to do a couple hundred years ago I would sign up for.

Living in the End Times is exciting...maybe the most exciting time period in all of history.  That seems...intuitively obvious...

Of course, but the problem is that the end we are facing is a slow one and not likely to get exciting for another couple generations.

[19th Century Space Pilot]

Well, I'd say it's already getting exciting (bearing in mind the curse "may you live in interesting times"...) - I'm not even 18 yet, and longetivity runs in my family, so I may have at least another century of my natural life left, the majority of which should be active (if I can get to space within the next couple of decades, I might last even longer - fewer diseases that can kill me, and the lower gravity helps in old age... I just need decent enough shielding to deal with the radiation). I'm going to trace my family tree sometime, see what my families medical history looks like - so far it looks like autism is the only thing that runs in my family, and that's nothing bad 

In Sierra Leone I saw whole families sitting outside there shacks making gravel by hand. They where literally smashing larger rocks into gravel with a hammer and pilling the results up in front of them to sell to the road crew that was moving through. To me it looked like a better job than any I have ever had. It was no harder than most of my jobs and no less boring but at least they could see the purpose of it.

In a Steampunk world, they'd be out of a job - we'd have a steam powered smasher to do the job. Do remember, a shovel can do the job of a hundred men with teaspoons...

Now, as for what I miss about the olden days is the complexity of our technology - it's so complex, no-one can be at the cutting edge of science and technology in their garage any more, unless they're Tony Stark. Fortunately, that's changing again with the advent of DIYbio, 3D printing, and the like. Also, there's no incentive to make quality goods, because no-one gets into chip manufacturing for it's own sake, whereas a Tailor will have the satisfaction of a job well done.

As far as medical technology goes, I must wonder how advanced we could have gone with only Victorian technology. Surgical techniques, certainly, could have still gone far, surely?

Hmmm. It's obviously not the technology people dislike. The fashion?

[Atterton]

I think surgical techniques would be partly dependent on the kind of scalpels you'd have. Using a laser-sharpened scalpel is likely an advantage, one the Victorians wouldn't have.

Towers: I'd imagine a large part of the reason why many sailors were pressganged into service was because of the conditions rather than the work itself. In Denmark we have school ships, which are really old tall sail ships, with 12-14 year old kids manning them. They however don't get 10 lashes if they do anything wrong or have to live off old biscuits. However if you feel smashing rocks into smaller rocks counts as purposeful work, how about becoming a construction worker? There you could see your progress day by day.

[Vagabond GentleMan]

Second, the modern world has made it necessary to travel half way around the world to find someplace that doesn't look like everything else.  Even the countries in europe that I traveled through seemed remarkably (and disappointingly) American.

I imagine this is a matter of perspective, cove.  Traveling through first world European countries, I myself thought similarly.  However, a great number of European individuals would be rather insulted that one might call their country "remarkably American".
In fact, when I actually got to KNOW individuals from first world European cultures, I found them remarkably DIFFERENT from Americans.  The similarities are only "Skin Deep", and even then we're only considering the First World.

Apparently africa is the only place that sucks so bad that it hasn't been converted yet.

This is nigh offensive, though I'm sure it wasn't intended to be.  The assumption that "Africa" "sucks" when we're talking about an entire CONTINENT in which you've visited but one country is...well, rather presumptive.  Africa has 47 countries (some disputed) and even those National boundaries are unhelpful when you speak of how many myriad African cultures exist.
Not to mention that there aren't other "Sucky" Third-World countries in North America, South America, Asia, and granted smaller pockets in Europe and Oceania, but there are also still so-called "primitive" Indigenous cultures on, yep, all of the continents as well.

I actually think there may have been more chances for travel in the past for someone like me. Honestly, if could walk down to the docks and sign onto a ship I probably would. Yes, there are still ships but its damn hard to get on one now without years of  specific education. They all just want diesel mechanics and electricians now. Its not good enough that I'm not afraid of heights, heavy lifting or can tie a knot, not to mention that I can read, navigate by the stars or actually trim a sail.

Actually, there are still opportunities to sail Tall Ships, and sounds like if you were motivated, you have the skill set necessary to land one.  I looked into it myself...but I don't HAVE that skill set, and passed up an apprenticeship (like a damned fool) when I was 23 or so.

And I'm still going to have to say that travel is far, FAR easier now than ever before, regardless of skill set.  You can get a job in an airport chucking luggage around and end up flying anywhere in the world you'd like a couple of times a year.

That's right, un-skilled labor, world-traveling.  That's damned miraculous.

Of course, but the problem is that the end we are facing is a slow one and not likely to get exciting for another couple generations.

Again, perspective.  Apocalypses come and go, there's a cycle of Empire-fall-Dark Age-rise-Renn-Empire.  It never seems to be an Apocalypse like an action movie.  It's always slow.
It might be worth reading !Tch-Kung!'s Post-World-Handbook or some of the works by Hakim Bey to understanding that enjoying the End Times is about actively noticing what's happening right now that IS exciting and Post-Apocalyptic.  I promise, there is plenty.

Abe Lincoln legendarily said: "If you're looking for the Evil in Men, expecting to find it, you most certainly will."

Well, same goes for "the Times".  It's easy and indeed lazy to focus on what you don't like about it, for complaining is easy.  It is worse indeed when escapist romantic nostalgia for bygone eras becomes involved, e.g. the fictional Don Quixote.
Oftentimes, and I'd say MORE often than not, this mentality is used as an excuse to maintain apathy and avoid taking responsibility rather than anything else.

"In olden days, I woulda just..." blah, blah, blah, instead of going out and DOING whatever it is you wanna do.

You wanna be a professional Jouster?  They exist.  If you want it, go get it.  Sail a tall ship, travel the world on a low or no budget, rob from the rich and give to the poor, build an airship.
Making it happen requires practical creativity and ambition, but it's all available.

Hell, I just saw a show on drug-running where Mexican Cartels built Trebuchets to lob massive weed-bags over the Border Fence to be collected by trucks on the other side.  So, you want a job engineering and building Medieval siege-weapons for good pay?

In today's world you can start your year by hitting up a sex-club in New York that anually has all-Klingon orgies complete with all-Klingon language and "traditional" Klingon mating rituals.  Then head out to LA for Elizabethan Vampire blood-drinking events.  Then go see an American Civil War battle.  You can STILL go hang out with the Yanomami people in the Amazon or the San Bushmen in the Kalahari or the Dayak in Borneo.  You can STILL trek up mountains to chill with Lamas in Tibet or make Moonshine with criminal Hillbilly bootleggers in Apalachia.  You can build a bicycle-powered airplane like the Gossamer Condor, and then check out a monkey with a chip surgically implanted in his brain techno-telepathically manipulating a robot hand.  Then help some Mexican drug-dealers trebuchet-catapult ganja into the US.  Or choose instead the Columbians, in a sub.  You can still be an adventurer, or a pirate.
And by the way, we've been to the Moon. 
AND we live in the End Times.

I just have to shake my head.  This Sh*t is F*cking Awesome.
I just can't shake the idea that the old-timey-nostalgia is a crutch excusing the self from taking responsibility vis-a-vis seizing the day today.

[Atterton]

Mr Vagabond, I feel I should raise my drink to you for that last post. You said many good things there.