When did the world become stupid?

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM

09/05/2011 05:29:11 PM · #26

James - Yeah np... I have some more that I like, so can post a couple.

Taken in Dec 1966 at the old Lakeside track (just outside Brisbane).

- Keep in mind this is taken with a 35mm fixed lens and this is 99% of the slide (just cropped out the round corners... which you can still just see on the top right)... point is that this is FAR closer then you would get today from a public area (and likely from a photg position either unless your in the inside of a sharp corner).
- One part I love that you have to look for is the cross on the left track far side where a past accident has not gone well.
- That white fence is not going to stop much if any car loses control.
- I have been to a lot of race meets and never got this close to the cars... The fans lose something big time for that now.... wire fences.. sitting 1/2 mile from the track.

RayEthier

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

09/05/2011 05:45:58 PM · #27

Originally posted by robs:

Ray - You know what cracks me up about that sign.... Yeah it's stupid cause anyone could figure that out and it's no doubt for the liability insurance not any sensible reason..... but the thing I love is the word "DANGER" written in English. I suspect the falls are not unknown to the global tourist trap... So people not able to read English (or the US/Canadian version of it anyway :-) ) are out of luck and have to reply only on the graphic :-)

It may come as quite a shock to you but the Canadian version of English is (for all intents and purposes)is identical to that spoken in your neck of the woods and I know this since I have visited OZ on a few occasions and I will be there again at the end of this month. \

Have a good one, :O)

Ray

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

09/05/2011 05:56:00 PM · #28

lol... Thought that might get a bite from someone :-) I'm only a few hrs from the Canadian border now days so can convert pretty well :-) I actually had more of a language issue living in London of all places..... partly because of the ASSumption that English is a common language.... you like that on bread or a bap? A what?

amsterdamman

Canon EOS-5D

09/05/2011 06:01:14 PM · #29

Originally posted by BrennanOB:

Of course if you really miss those days, you can move to a third world country where DDT is a common household spray, nine year old children smoke, cars don't have seatbelts, and lawyers wont get involved when you get mangled. Enjoy.

Yea, I agree, thats why I moved to Holland, although it is not like you describe, but there are no foolish lawsuits here, you can't succeed by suing for hot coffee being too hot. They use a system of logic and common sense to create and protect the greater good for all of society - that bad word - socialism! Its not my system, but I am very glad they exist and have been willing to take me into their country. So I agree, my life has improved greatly since I took that simple advice and moved to a different country than that of my birth.

But if you really think that lawsuits and lawyers make you safe, you may want to read more. Lawsuits are now factored into the equation, being sued is a part of modern business, they have lawyers on staff and are willing to fight a loosing lawsuit for decades since they make more money than they cost. Those costs are paid by the other consumers anyway, not the companies. Did you notice you list examples of oversight, and inspection. This has nothing to do with lawyers. Also your good lawyer examples came from the 70's or 80's DDT, asbestos, no seat belts, lead paint... I doubt anyone in their 20's even knows what any of that stuff is!

Yes, the law was set up for a good reason, but the OP question was: When did the world become stupid. The answer: 1980, or when the computer replaced large staff of skilled workers with a few unskilled button pushers. Making employees redundant and huge profits for the bosses as the world unwound from its earlier prosperity.

Cory

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM

09/05/2011 06:06:00 PM · #30

You know, it's been quite a while now that I've been worried about what all of this will do to the genetics and general "fitness" of our species. It is my theory that people who are currently living in conditions that ensure the worst suited (dumb, sick, foolish, crazy, weak, etc) are not able to survive, will, in an unknown period of time, actually become better suited to survival, while the "American" type people, will slowly progress into an unsustainable species that is simply not fit to survive.

It is for this reason that I would propose a de-nerfing of our world, remove the guardrails, and replace them with shiny metal spikes that point at the roadway (~45 degree angle for maximum effect), no more handrails, make sure every elevator can go to the roof, without a key, lose the mandatory airbags and crumple zones, and so on... Let's bring back some truth to the old saying which said: "If you're gonna be dumb, you'd better be tough!"

Cory

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM

09/05/2011 06:09:28 PM · #31

Originally posted by amsterdamman:

.. Also your good lawyer examples came from the 70's or 80's DDT, asbestos, no seat belts, lead paint... I doubt anyone in their 20's even knows what any of that stuff is!

..

Bah! I owned my first specimen of museum grade asbestos when I was only 26... :)

sfalice

Canon PowerShot SX60 HS

09/05/2011 06:18:27 PM · #32

Maybe the safeguards are too stringent. maybe not.

An awful lot of kids were maimed or killed from accidents that could have been prevented.

I can remember a couple of kids from my high school days who met that fate.

Would anyone now just let a young child walk to school, or wait unaccompanied, at a bus stop.

I have just finished reading the book "A stolen Life, a Memoir" written by Jaycee Dugand
who was snatched off a street corner 18 years ago at the age of eleven and lived a life of hell until she was
able to break away from her captors.

No, kids cannot be kept in cotton-wool during their growing up days, but at least they should
have a fighting chance at growing up in one working piece.

If helmets and restraining belts and extra supervision are part of the answer, well, so be it.

Okay, Rant (Off)
:)

Message edited by author 2011-09-05 18:19:26.

kenskid

Nikon D700

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

09/05/2011 06:24:28 PM · #33

I see about 5 personal injury TV ads on my television each day. The newest one says..."If you've been in a wreck with someone in a company car or truck or if the car had a business name on it, - call ...blah...blah...blah...

Originally posted by robs:

Ken - Yeah... and while the old joke about a 40 seater bus with 39 lawyers going over the cliff is a waste (of the empty seat)..... It's has to be the collective "us" that has to be doing it otherwise the suits would be out of work and do something more productive.

MelonMusketeer

Nikon D7000

Nikon MF 50mm f/1.4

09/05/2011 08:51:08 PM · #34

It's still pretty good out in the sticks in S W Florida, but for sure not nearly as fun as it was back in the mid 60's early 70's.
Here are a batch of examples.
There are a few from the Baja 1,000 in there too. That is about as close as it gets to having fun 60's style. There are no fences, the crowds are scattered along over 1,000 miles of race, and they think it big fun to lay traps for the race machines. If you are driving and see a crowd, you know to be super aware for any "local hazards" LOL. It's too much fun.
Melon's Redneck Toy Box

vawendy

Sony Alpha 1

Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS

09/05/2011 09:02:14 PM · #35

I miss merry-go-rounds

And teeter-totters

Though teeter totters could scare the crap out of you if you were riding with someone quite a bit heavier, and they really let it clunk down!!!

Though this picture gave me the willies, simply because we had a gym teacher in 6th grade, who was brought up on sexual harassment charges 15 years after I was out of elementary school.
He should have been. When I was in his class, he was having the good looking girls give him back and shoulder massages, and they could get out of running laps. Some changes are good.

LVicari

Canon EOS-50D

Nikon AF-S DX 18-105 f/3.5-5.6 ED VR

09/05/2011 09:47:44 PM · #36

Chalk it all up to information overload! We are bombarded with news about kidnappings, deaths, mishaps, crime, etc..all the bad shit that happens. So as soon as we hear or read about one of these things we tend to recall the news we heard about some poor soul that was a victim and think "oh, we better not do that or it could happen to us". Fear mongering is great for selling papers or getting hits on websites.

Not to mention that no one wants to be accountable for their own idiocy! One person falls off the edge of the sidewalk and the city is being sued!

Everyone is walking on eggshells!

The pics posted in this thread depict a time where people werent glued to their PDA's, and knew how to LIVE! even with all the toxins :)

jomari

Nikon D7000

09/05/2011 09:48:39 PM · #37

These bars would not meet today's safety standards by a long shot, but I survived them.

Mike

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD Canon Mount

09/05/2011 09:50:52 PM · #38

hell, my kids don't even have swings at school because the kids can get hurt.

HawkinsT

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Olympus G-Zuiko Auto-S 55mm f/1.2

09/05/2011 09:55:41 PM · #39

It's these signs that always amuse me... and makes me wonder how they get around the clearly apparent dilemma that someone needing a sign such as this to alert them to the presence of stairs, surely needs a pre-sign sign to alert them to the presence of a sign also, so that they don't walk in to it.

Anyway, I just bought myself a lens with thorium (radioactive) elements from the 1970's today - they really don't make them like they used to - so take that health and safety! =)

LVicari

Canon EOS-50D

Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D ED VR

09/05/2011 10:01:48 PM · #40

Originally posted by jomari:

These bars would not meet today's safety standards by a long shot, but I survived them.

This is my daughter!! My daughter climbs anythign she can get her hands on! She is always shimying(sp?) up the poles of the swings and swing from one playground equipment to the next. I always get parents giving that look, you know the look, the look of "dont you know your daughter is up there? well arent you worried?" NO! "you should really do something about it" what? "what a bad parent you are."

I get a kick out of watching the "Oprah" moms at the play ground freaking out because my daughter is on top of the playground while they are strapped to their kids for fear of johnny getting a scrape on his knee. :)

TheDruid

Nikon D3X

09/05/2011 10:04:56 PM · #41

Well, todays "the sky is falling" society is an oddity. Made up of the free thinkers of the 60's and 70's. Proving to be more hypocrtitcal then the society they were rebelling against.

Ozzie

Nikon D90

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-120mm f/4G ED VR

09/05/2011 10:38:59 PM · #42

That sure has brought back memories of my childhood! Walking barefeet to school, on a busy isolated road, through cow paddocks.

My parents had one of those classic fibro homes with an asbestos roof in Brisbane. When we were pre teenagers, and teenagers, we would be on the roof with a bucket and a scrubbing brush cleaning the roof in the hot sun, not knowing the dangers of doing that!!

We'd find old bits of cardboard, and go sliding down any grassy slope we could find, some had rocks hidden here and there.

Rode a bike to school with no shoes, or helmet. This was in the 70's.

We had merry go rounds and seesaws like the ones in the photo Wendy posted. The slippery slides were made of metal which used to get SO hot!! If you weren't careful, you could get burned!

Message edited by author 2011-09-05 22:40:43.

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

09/05/2011 10:45:13 PM · #43

Originally posted by heatherd:

The slippery slides were made of metal which used to get SO hot!! If you weren't careful, you could get burned!

Safety Tip: The newer plastic slides get really hot too!

09/05/2011 10:59:53 PM · #44

Originally posted by heatherd:

The slippery slides were made of metal which used to get SO hot!! If you weren't careful, you could get burned!

Yeah I remember those... 40C something outside with sun that tears strips off ya... You figured out not to use those silver slides real fast :-) Never had the plastic ones as a kid but slides were a winter thing not summer :-)

09/05/2011 11:05:03 PM · #45

Originally posted by LVicari:

Chalk it all up to information overload! We are bombarded with news about kidnappings, deaths, mishaps, crime, etc..all the bad shit that happens.

That might be part of it but it's not all of it..... As kids we knew some people around town should be avoided (while some was the old witch in old house thing... some was not). Maybe our parents told us maybe not... I don't recall now.

In my case it was a small town and life was more outside then it is today (with tin roofs inside in the summer was HOT!)... always lots of people on streets and they would just tell ya to go home if it was too late or you were been an ass (too much and your mother always knew before you got home).

09/05/2011 11:06:34 PM · #46

Originally posted by MelonMusketeer:

Melon's Redneck Toy Box

Holy shite.... want to adopt an slightly old slightly pudgie son? :-)) There are some really cool toy's in there....