What a difference a century makes!

@Pose123 (21635)
Canada
June 11, 2008 2:52pm CST
Very few people will dispute the fact that the twentieth brought more changes than any century in our recorded past. It is only when we look at these changes however, that we come to realize just how astounding they really are. Let's go back one hundred years to 1908 and check some statistics. The average life expectancy is 47 years, only 14 percent of homes have a bathtub, 8 percent have a telephone, and there are only 8000 cars and 144 miles of paved road. The maximum speed limit in most cities is 10 MPH. The average wage is 22 cents an hour and the average worker makes between $200 and $400 per year. More than 95 per cent of all births take place at home. Sugar costs four cents a pound, eggs fourteen cents a dozen, and coffee sells for fifteen cents a pound. The three leading causes of death are (1) Pneumonia and influenza,(2)Tuberculosis and(3) Diarrhea. Two out of every ten adults can't read or write and only 6 percent of all Americans have graduated high school. At the end of the year, there have been only 230 reported murders in the entire USA! Oh, become I return to 2008, would you like me to bring you some coffee, and perhaps a little sugar?
4 people like this
6 responses
@mssnow (9484)
• United States
12 Jun 08
LOL Yes Coffee and sugar would be only for the rich if it costs as much then as it does now. I cant imagine what the next 100 years will be like. We might be living till we are 200. lol Wouldnt that be a pretty site. Who knows you and I might see 2108.
2 people like this
@Pose123 (21635)
• Canada
12 Jun 08
Hi mssnow, Thanks for commenting. What an interesting place the world may be by then! I'm afraid I'll need a drink from the fountain of youth before I even start the next hundred years. lol. Blessings.
@beeeckie (802)
• United States
11 Jun 08
That's very true. Sometimes I actually do think about that, how amazing the 20th century was in the course of history. Think about it, we're only about 600 years out of the Dark Ages!
2 people like this
@Pose123 (21635)
• Canada
11 Jun 08
Hi beeeckie, Thank you for responding. What I find amazing is that for hundreds of years, there was almost no change in the way people lived, but when it started it had this snowball affect, and it seems to be gaining momentum all the time. Blessings.
@faith210 (11224)
• Philippines
12 Jun 08
Hi Pose123! Our world is so advanced now in terms of technology. We live in a world of convenience yet so dangerous and even empty somehow. Sometimes, I wish to live in the world of my forefathers. Life may be hard then, there are no conveniences like what we have now but I only wish for a simple life where simple pleasures can really mean so much without being overshadowed with the bills to pay, the traffic in the streets, the crimes in the news. Well, it is just a wishful thinking and I guess, I am used with this busy life so I guess, I will just return to the time when I was just young. haha..Life is simple then too. Take care and God bless!
1 person likes this
@Pose123 (21635)
• Canada
13 Jun 08
Hi faith, Thank you for responding. You are certainly not alone in thinking this way, but things do change and well continue to change. I think we can still live a simple life if that is what we want. I think we are often using the new technology in the wrong way. We must learn to live together in peace and get rid of poverty so that everyone will have enough. Blessings.
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
11 Jun 08
WE sure do not really appreciate all the tremendous changes that have come over that century. we just take all our perks so forgranted.WE complain about wages but would we like to work for only 22cents an hour? or see our families stricken with all sorts of diseases that are now wiped out. we are living in fantastic times and we should enjoy the fact.
@Pose123 (21635)
• Canada
11 Jun 08
Hi Hatley, Thank you for commenting. It seems to be having a snowball affect too, we may accomplish more in the next 25 years than we have in the last one hundred. Blessings.
@jer31558 (3683)
• United States
12 Jun 08
Actually, if you just bring me some gas for my automobiles I would be able to afford the sugar and the coffee.
1 person likes this
@Pose123 (21635)
• Canada
12 Jun 08
Hi jer, Thanks for responding. Now that is a thought! Blessings.
@gabrifvg (167)
• Italy
11 Jun 08
100 years can make a huge difference in better or worse... true, we live longer, but the 20th century saw wars that couldn't even be imagined before, cililian casualties became a normal thing, while once they were carefully avoided. true, we can use nuclear energy, but we also created bombs so powerfull they could destroy the planet (and let's not forget Chernobyl). true quality of life has gone up for many of us, but many more were better off before. (our lifestyle is already hardly sustainable, and only 20% of the world's population life in the industrialized world). true, we have a lot of comodities, but the planet is evidently suffering from extreme exploitation and pollution of it's resources. true, we might have found cures to many illnesses, but we're also in the middle of a cancer epidemic, and our lifestile literally created stress and depression in massive quantity. we have gained a lot in this century, but nothing comes for free, and we should also be conscious of the price we keep paying
@Pose123 (21635)
• Canada
11 Jun 08
Hi gabrifvg, Thank you for responding and adding to this discussion. I agree that there were many negative things as well. I hope we can eventually learn from to live together in peace, and to take better care of the planet as well. Now that would be real progress. Blessings.