L2L Debate- Is the current generation better off than their parents' generation?

In our L2L Monday session last week, we had to discuss whether or not we are better off than our parents' generation. We paired off in twos and talked about both sides of the argument-the advantages of modern living, as well as the advantages of life about fifty years ago and respective disadvantages. This proved to be an interesting topic for debate, which I admit I got quite passionate about!! While the overall consensus seemed to highlight that the current generation has a much better quality of life than that of our parents approximately fifty years ago, I held a more alternative view of how there were many positive aspects to life of the past generation.

I chose to point out that as part of modern life we are a society consumed with the media and ever-increasing use of technology, whilst ignoring the more traditional aspects of life such as direct, personal communication and the simplicity of just living without being contrived by the opinions and perceptions of the media.

However, I must accept that as part of life fifty years ago, the power of religious institutions had a great influence on how people lived, especially in Ireland; a power that is not unlike how we are influenced by the never-ending bombardment from the media, through television, magazines and newspapers but to name a few.

We live in an era where everyday life is quite fast-paced, we feel the need to be constantly stimulated by our surroundings, and we have a dependence on technology to perform tasks for us with rapid speed and efficiency. As a result we have become less patient, and less appreciative of the present moment. We have become more consumed with social media at the expense of engaging in real personal interactive situations. How many of us have experienced someone texting constantly on their phones while ignoring your attempts at trying to engage in a real conversation with them? It has become a very familiar situation in our modern world. Many people, myself included, would probably have a freakout at the thought of abandoning our mobile phones for a week, or living without radio, television, or internet-modern telecommunications which we have taken very much for granted. 

As with any interesting topic, there are a lot of other areas and aspects that could be discussed, but I am trying to not to go off in a tangent! I think I did enough talking in the group discussion!