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| Imagine you were an American born in 1900 (Page 1/1) |
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Jake_Dragon
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MAY 21, 02:22 PM
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| quote | Imagine you were an American born in 1900. When you are 14, World War I starts, and ends on your 18th birthday with 22 million people killed. Later in the year, a Spanish Flu epidemic hits the planet and runs until you are 20. Fifty million people die from it in those two years. Yes, 50 million.
When you're 29, the Great Depression begins. Unemployment hits 25%, global GDP drops 27%. That runs until you are 33. The country nearly collapses along with the world economy. When you turn 39, World War II starts. You aren’t even over the hill yet.
When you're 41, the United States is fully pulled into WWII. Between your 39th and 45th birthday, 75 million people perish in the war and the Holocaust kills six million. At 52, the Korean War starts and five million perish.
At 64 the Vietnam War begins, and it doesn’t end for many years. Four million people die in that conflict. Approaching your 62nd birthday you have the Cuban Missile Crisis, a tipping point in the Cold War. Life on our planet, as we know it, could well have ended. Great leaders prevented that from happening.
As you turn 75, the Vietnam War finally ends. Think of everyone on the planet born in 1900. How do you survive all of that? A kid in 1985 didn’t think their 85 year old grandparent understood how hard school was. Yet those grandparents (and now great grandparents) survived through everything listed above.
Perspective is an amazing art. Let’s try and keep things in perspective. Let’s be smart, help each other out, and we will get through all of this. In the history of the world, there has never been a storm that lasted. This too, shall pass. |
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Stole this from FaceBook.
I loved talking to my older relatives about what it was like growing up. Most of it was what you would expect. But sometimes you got the story that opened your eyes.
A distant cousin use to steal apples and sold them while trying to find work.
Growing up on government assistance was a thing we had to deal with and at a young age we just didn't understand.
Uncles were being drafted and my grandmother was out of her mind about losing another child.
Life was not easy, most of my family were farmers and worked the land, went to war and came home just different.
Farms were replaced by factory work and the farms got smaller. Then everything went overseas.
Everyone wants it now and cheap. But that only gets us where we are now. If covid didn't do anything else it should have opened our eyes to the hazards of relying on offshore supply chains.
So lets hope what we suffer today as an inconvenience will make us more resilient in the future.
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82-T/A [At Work]
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MAY 21, 06:53 PM
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Awesome post.
There were some good things that happened in there too though, to be sure... those were focused on the bad times, but there were some amazing things that happened as well... and learning to take advantage of innovation and change is also a good thing.
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Valkrie9
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MAY 25, 07:26 AM
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cliffw
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MAY 25, 08:11 AM
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Born in 1921.
My Grandmother lived to be 106, born in 1917. Passed in 2023. I love and miss you Granny.
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ray b
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JUN 06, 01:20 PM
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MY DAD WAS BORN IN 1897
WHEN HE WAS 53 I WAS BORN IN 1950
I AM
CLOSE SO NO IMAGINE NEEDED i HEAR IT GROWING UP FROM HIM
KID JOBS MOST HAD ONE HE HAD A BUNCH
SIGN PAINTING 0N ANYTHING LATER = MOVIES MARQUEES FIRST NO PLASTIC LETTERS
STORE SALES ECT BUSY 1/2 DOZ MOVIES PLUS MORE STORE SALES EVERY WEEK
THEN HE LEARNED TO DO GOLD LEAF LESS WORK MORE MONEY
PLAY DRUMS IN BIG BANDS AT NIGHT
NO OR FEW CHILD LABOR LAWS
HE WAS RICH ENUFF / TO BUY A OFFICER TRAINING SLOT BY 21
REPORTED IN 11-1918 AND IT WAS OVER
SO DISAPOINTED BEGAIN WORKING IN CAR COLOR FROM THE SIGNS COLOR
AND STILL DRUMING NIGHTS FOR UP TO $100 A NIGHT STAR WAGE FEATURED DRUMMER
SELF PROMOTED AND HE DID THE SIGNS / ADDVERTS
LUCKY NYNY MOB BOSS RAN OFF WITH HIS FIRST WIFE
BUT IT DID NOT LAST
ONE KIDS REAL LIFE[This message has been edited by ray b (edited 06-09-2025).]
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cliffw
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JUN 07, 11:05 AM
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| quote | Originally posted by ray b:
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Interesting ray b.
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