This 101 year old lived through a world war with rationing, would have been born into the great depression, saw the rise and fall of Nazi Germany, the Cold War and Cuban Missile Crisis, the Kennedy Assassination, the Nixon years, the oil crises and recessions, Gulf wars, 9/11...
On the healthcare front there was the proliferation of lead (in paint, toys, fuel, everything), smog from cars and coal burning, toxic fertilizers, the rise and fall of smoking, the discovery of HIV, Polio outbreaks, things like the Cuyahoga river fire (where rivers were so polluted they literally caught fire every couple decades). The mining town my family lived in would just throw the arsenic and mine tailings into the lakes because they figured it couldn't hurt them there, and that was a common thing to do at that time.
Gen X and Millennials are not the only generations who have faced adversity. It's a rough moment now for sure, but it's not unique. We shouldn't fall into baseless optimism but also don't shouldn't neglect human strength and creativity. We have new problems, and we have new tools.
> We shouldn't fall into baseless optimism but also don't shouldn't neglect human strength and creativity. We have new problems, and we have new tools.
Thank you for this comment, it helps to contextualize two moods that I have, as one who has struggled with depression (not currently, but off and on):
When I’m in a low mood it’s easy to see and dwell on the new problems and discount the efficacy of the new tools.
When I’m in good spirits it’s easy to see the new tools and (temporarily) forget about the new problems.
>This 101 year old lived through a world war with rationing, would have been born into the great depression, saw the rise and fall of Nazi Germany, the Cold War and Cuban Missile Crisis, the Kennedy Assassination, the Nixon years, the oil crises and recessions, Gulf wars, 9/11...
Sure, not stealing his thunder, but that's how selection bias works. Not everyone got to live to 101 despite maybe even living healthier lives. I know people in their 40's who already died of cancer. Life can always throw you a curb ball.
>Gen X and Millennials are not the only generations who have faced adversity.
As I said, it's a rough time right now, we're going through a lot. But we passed environmental reforms before, we removed lead from gas, we invented vaccines, we set standards for chemicals, we've cured a few people of HIV, there is good to find out there.
Yes, there is obesity and yes, there will be long COVID, but the health-positive initiatives (more women actually encouraged to work out; men not perceiving weightlifting as gay; marathons are a normal thing now; herpes zoster vaccines helping with long-term immunity against a probable cause of Alzheimer’s dementia; cigarette smoking as socially unacceptable behaviour) will tip the scales in favour of longevity towards making it to 100-120.
On the healthcare front there was the proliferation of lead (in paint, toys, fuel, everything), smog from cars and coal burning, toxic fertilizers, the rise and fall of smoking, the discovery of HIV, Polio outbreaks, things like the Cuyahoga river fire (where rivers were so polluted they literally caught fire every couple decades). The mining town my family lived in would just throw the arsenic and mine tailings into the lakes because they figured it couldn't hurt them there, and that was a common thing to do at that time.
Gen X and Millennials are not the only generations who have faced adversity. It's a rough moment now for sure, but it's not unique. We shouldn't fall into baseless optimism but also don't shouldn't neglect human strength and creativity. We have new problems, and we have new tools.