Things That Have Changed in My Lifetime

Since I have been on this earth, some pretty amazing shifts in the way the world works have occurred.  This is my non-conclusive list of things that have fascinated me.

• Television replaced radio and the printed word as the primary way people were entertained and informed
• Television is being replaced by the internet
• Al Gore invented the internet
• We have built airplanes that can carry a human to 100,000 ft and three (plus) times the speed of sound, but are no longer capable of that
• We have built airplanes that can carry 400 people
• Air travel has replaced rail travel as the primary means of long distance travel
• We went to the Moon, and are now seeing the US abandon the means of manned space flight
• There has been one successful and two failed attempts on the life of our President
• We have supported an independent Israel, and now appear to be ready to abandon it
• America has lost its place as THE leading industrial power
• We have out sourced significant portions of our manufacturing capability and can't understand why unemployment is so high
• We are becoming a service-based economy that will be dependent on other nations seeking our services, which we are outsourcing to the lessor developed nations.
• Where once we had a dozen successful aircraft makers we now have two
• Where once our automobiles were the envy of the world the world brings their cars for us to buy
• Once we welcomed immigrants and they assimilated into society so they could be Americans, now immigrants sneak into the country and maintain their original cultures
• We built an interstate system of roads, that makes the Autobahn pale in comparison, but now we are allowing it to crumble 
• People came to America for a chance to succeed based on their hard work and perseverance, now we have people who have spent their whole lives believing the State owes them a living
• When people succeed we don't set them as an example, we tear them down
• We have moved from people who become famous for daring, skill and courage to people who become famous because they are on TV or the internet
• We celebrate stupidity in shows like Jackass
• If people don't agree with us we call them names
• We have become a ME first society
• The idea that Communism is a viable economic model was shattered when the USSR collapsed, yet still dictators are able to sell that idea to their countries
• Muslim fundamentalists  declared Jihad on the rest of the world
• Christian fundamentalists have taken over the Republican Party
• Communists have taken over the Democratic Party
• Global cooling occurred in the 1970's and global warming is occurring now -- everyone thinks it is caused by something
• The end of the world has come and gone several times
• The Y2K collapse didn't
• Canadians are now rioting -- What's up with that?
• No one has found Amelia Earhart 
• Submarines have circumnavigated the world underwater without women 
• We still don't know if you can have sex in space
• Hippies banded together to force the US to abandon South Vietnam, which promptly became Vietnam
• Hippies cut their hair and are now responsible for wars in Panama, Iraq (twice), Bosnia, and Afghanistan (although Bosnia and Afghanistan shouldn't count because they are part of that Jihad thing)
• Nuclear power plant failures have caused major problems in Russia, Japan and the US, still some think they are a great idea -- this is one of those "you've got to expect losses in a big operation" issues
• 60's rock and roll still dominates popular music
• Finally, anyone want a kitten?