> In a time not so long ago there was far far far far far far far (get the point?) less corruption and lying and cheating going on in this world of ours. We didn't seem to hear of too many problems back then.

>PS Not at all trying to prove right/wrong, but rather an alternate point of view.

Jim;

Well, here is another point of view.

Corruption, lying and cheating should be Olympic events. In the past we have been naïve and were able to survive what the mind of man is capable of applying as reality. The fact is that man can think and act. Throughout all of recorded history man has been involved with corruption, lying and cheating. Such attributes are not solely the domain of the present. In times past things were much worse from a historical perspective.

Today things are different as the media dictates what is news and what is not. Take one example from the recent past: If Clinton did anything wrong it requires the office of the special investigator to take immediate action. Reagan and Bush Senior did a hell of a lot more than Clinton, and Bush junior can be added to that list. Clinton was chosen by the media and the establishment to be the center of attention. For eight years our congress was tied up with investigating the affairs of Clinton rather than running the country.

Starting with President Lincoln, being President of this nation could affect your life in ways you had not imagined! The world of today may not be as bad as we are lead to believe. Today if someone in a remote country is harmed it can make the news. We are thus bombarded with information over flow and it is a difficult phenomenon to deal with. It was just a few years ago people would not discuss many topics. The attitude of the media was different then as to what got reported and why.

I recall in the writings of Mark Twain how he felt about burglars, who broke into people’s homes and stole from them. That was 1875. What has changed from yesterday to today is technology. Hurting others is easier but is not new.

I am aware of a number of brutal kidnappings and murders that occurred during the last 100 years. These were similar to contemporary events. The difference is the media – I keep coming back to that term.

So in response to the portion of text from your original post above I would say the reason we did not hear much in past years was because of the attitude of the media and society. There were many corrupt politicians in years past that make the politicians of today look like children.

Speaking of children - until 1895 it was not against the law in the United States to kill your children. In that year New York City was the first place in this nation to make that an offense. Could that be a part of the problem as to why so many children died in this country up until about 1910, taking disease into account. You see up until 1910 or so if you had 4 children in this country chances were that only two would survive past age 5.

Exposing the wrong doings of powerful people is an event that the media of today and recent past takes great lengths to report. You know it is a slow news night when they give you a news bulletin like I saw during the 1980's, “Ten years ago Patty Hurst and the SLA…”.

I just have to mention my fellow Californian, Richard M. Nixon. Now there was a politician! We could cite F.D.R., or go back to Jefferson. Perhaps I am not going back far enough but I have almost run out of Presidents. We could go to other leaders like the Caesar’s. Now there was a family – each one plotting to kill the other to have power. Remember the Centurion guards? Those 100 soldiers were Caesar’s means of protecting him from being killed by Senators or civilians. We could go back to Egypt’s rulers and find out even they were protected from the public.

Take me back to the good old days... You fill in the blank. How about the Wild West when all men carried a pistol for defense? Amazing we have gotten this far. :)


Tom