While you can't do these things in real life any more, you can do them in Second Life.

[Tolya Ugajin]

On 3/13/2020 at 12:20 PM, Madelaine McMasters said:

This is the peril of nostalgia. We remember the past as a "better time", even though it wasn't. By almost any objective global measure (longevity, health, violence, etc.) things have been improving for all of recorded history. There are, of course, localized (in time and space) pockets of regression, but the overall trend remains. This is why I try to be careful to separate my feelings of nostalgia from my hopefully objective understanding of the past.

Also remember that the memories of your past were laid down by a "you" what was (hopefully) more ignorant than the current you. How much trust would you place in a child's understanding of the world at large? That's approximately what we do when waxing nostalgic.

The bold section is objectively untrue, at least if one sticks to "recorded history" instead of "modern history" and if one does not dismiss periods of generations in length as "localized in time".  One can go back through recorded history and point out periods (the periods of the Mongol invasions, the Black Death., the "Little Ice Age") where globally and for a period of one or more generations, the bulk of humanity (at least those with recorded history) could point to only a generation or two prior to see a lower level of violence and higher levels of health and longevity.  On a lower level (say, for instance, much of the reign of Marcus Aurelius, or the late 3rd century) you can find the same on a more localized level, but still impacting tens, of not hundreds, of millions.

The danger of nostalgia is in only remembering the "good" that we experienced, especially if it came at the expense of others, and not learning the lessons taught by the "bad".

Of course, sometimes we also ignore how good things are today because, well, it doesn't fit with what we want to believe about how much progress there has been.

[Fauve Aeon]

Words, thread, snark, opinion.

my takeaway: post more well tagged cool SL pix of my own and don’t worry about LL marketing.

m’kay...Yumyum. 

[Madelaine McMasters]

17 minutes ago, Tolya Ugajin said:

On 3/13/2020 at 12:20 PM, Madelaine McMasters said:

This is the peril of nostalgia. We remember the past as a "better time", even though it wasn't. By almost any objective global measure (longevity, health, violence, etc.) things have been improving for all of recorded history. There are, of course, localized (in time and space) pockets of regression, but the overall trend remains. This is why I try to be careful to separate my feelings of nostalgia from my hopefully objective understanding of the past.

Also remember that the memories of your past were laid down by a "you" what was (hopefully) more ignorant than the current you. How much trust would you place in a child's understanding of the world at large? That's approximately what we do when waxing nostalgic.

The bold section is objectively untrue, at least if one sticks to "recorded history" instead of "modern history" and if one does not dismiss periods of generations in length as "localized in time".  One can go back through recorded history and point out periods (the periods of the Mongol invasions, the Black Death., the "Little Ice Age") where globally and for a period of one or more generations, the bulk of humanity (at least those with recorded history) could point to only a generation or two prior to see a lower level of violence and higher levels of health and longevity.  On a lower level (say, for instance, much of the reign of Marcus Aurelius, or the late 3rd century) you can find the same on a more localized level, but still impacting tens, of not hundreds, of millions.

The danger of nostalgia is in only remembering the "good" that we experienced, especially if it came at the expense of others, and not learning the lessons taught by the "bad".

Of course, sometimes we also ignore how good things are today because, well, it doesn't fit with what we want to believe about how much progress there has been.

Did you read the part I bolded in red? I hope not. Read it now.

[Tolya Ugajin]

Just now, Madelaine McMasters said:

Did you read the part I bolded in red? I hope not. Read it now.

As indicated in my "if one does not dismiss periods of generations in length as "localized in time"." I obviously did.  Dismissing something as traumatic and global-spanning as the Little Ice Age (which effected pretty much the entire globe, lasted for a couple centuries, and which caused widespread hunger, disease, and warfare), as localized (in time and space) pockets of regression would be ill-advised, particularly when discussing something like "nostalgia".  Yes, when looking at things from the perspective of 3000 years of recorded history the trend line is overall positive - for now - but only the well-fed and safe could view the world from that perspective when literally your entire civilization is in ruins and only your grandparents can remember a time that was peaceful and the masses were free from want.  In situations like that, nostalgia is the only thing bringing hope.  After all, we're only one nuclear winter from that trend line going from positive to flat or negative from the dawn of recorded history.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

5 hours ago, Tolya Ugajin said:

Yes, when looking at things from the perspective of 3000 years of recorded history the trend line is overall positive

You might have finished typing when you wrote this, as, basically, that was the point Maddy was making.

6 hours ago, Tolya Ugajin said:

the periods of the Mongol invasions

Your subjectivity is showing! It was a darned good time to be a Mongol.

[Fauve Aeon]

7 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

Your subjectivity is showing! It was a darned good time to be a Mongol.

Boohoo, currently no Mongolian bbq outings either. Well, rats. 
 

[FairreLilette]

Oh my gaaaaaaaaaaah, I think we're like sharing like on FB....

 

[Lindal Kidd]

The monumental work "The History of Civilization" by Will and Ariel Durant shows the ups and downs.  Civilizations arise, and civilizations fall.  It's not very nice to be around during one of the "fall" periods.  But while the story of civilization is cyclic, there does appear to be an overall upward trend.

So you're both right.

[Pamela Galli]

Okay my other favorite brilliant book, From Dawn to Decadence, By Jacques Barzun, lays out how the last 500 year cycle has evolved. And yet we are in a time of decadence (not used as a perjorative) in which things start coming apart to lay the groundwork for something new (eg the Renaissance.).

http://movies2.nytimes.com/books/00/05/21/reviews/000521.21everdet.html
 

 

[Tolya Ugajin]

4 hours ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

You might have finished typing when you wrote this, as, basically, that was the point Maddy was making.

Your subjectivity is showing! It was a darned good time to be a Mongol.

Lol I'm a big fan of the Mongols - Chinggis is one of my heroes.  Essentially an outcast from an early age, killed his own half brother over food to survive, survived adversity after adversity, ruthlessly killed all who stood against him while simultaneously showing far more charity and mercy than any similar ruler, united disparate warring tribes, and with his iron will led them to crush the most powerful empires of his day, all the while displaying uncommon religious and cultural tolerance (as long as you bent the knee, so to speak) and intellectual curiosity...and a voracious sexual appetite.  What a role model!

Nonetheless, unless you were one of a million or so Mongols, it was a horrible time to be alive.  China lost roughly 100,000,000 to war, famine, and disease. The Iranian Plateau's population didn't recover until the 20th century.  Russia's national psyche was forever marred (even today we feel the effects of the Mongol invasions in Russia's foreign policy, although certainly the scars left by Napoleon and Hitler are fresher), modern Iraq was devastated, and the rest of Europe and the Muslim world lived in fear of renewed invasion by the Mongols for decades.  Oh, and even their biggest benefit to the West, a peaceful and open Silk Road, brought the Black Death to Europe just a couple generations later.  Nobody living in Russia, Central or SW Asia, or Jin China at the time was saying, "well, at least we're better than 2000 years ago!"

[Maryanne Solo]

On 3/13/2020 at 5:17 PM, Beth Macbain said:

There is a reason no reputable company is doing anything like this.

The latest level of "corporate conciseness" DEMANDS you send your, (apparently clingy), clientele a lengthy diatribe on how WE (the company), care for YOU, (the sucker paying big dollars), and how CovID19 wont be affecting your use of (mostly digital software I might add), "Grandma-ley" "Photoflop" "Abode" "3D StudioSnax" etc etc etc.

Surely the virus can't be as painful, deadly or annoying as being subject to this tsunami of Schmoooze?  

Autodesk seem to have started it all !
*gently face plants desk and starts snoring... 

 

[Beth Macbain]

13 hours ago, Maryanne Solo said:

Surely the virus can't be as painful, deadly or annoying as being subject to this tsunami of Schmoooze?  

I am paying close attention to those emails to see if they say anything about how they are treating their staff right now... like, if they're going to continue paying them. 

The first company I see that says, "Nope, screw 'em... they're on their own" loses my business forever. Any company, actually. 

[Rhonda Huntress]

33 minutes ago, Beth Macbain said:

The first company I see that says, "Nope, screw 'em... they're on their own" loses my business forever. Any company, actually.

That will be the public schools

[Beth Macbain]

17 minutes ago, Rhonda Huntress said:

That will be the public schools

My governor is pulling out the rainy day funds already to make sure no one goes without food, and that rent/mortgages get paid. Utility companies are promising to not cut people off. Stimulus checks are likely to be coming from the federal government. 

We just elected a new governor in November and a HUGE part of that is because the previous governor screwed the teachers, and as dumb as we Kentuckians are, that was enough to make us rage and get rid of him. Any politician who doesn't make sure the teachers get taken care of is going to find themselves being hugely unpopular even among their own supporters. If Kentucky can do it, any state can. The Fall of Matt Bevin is going to be a politician bogey-man story for years to come. 

[Coffee Pancake]

Between Mitch and Rand Paul .. any bar set by Kentucky is rather low.

[Rhonda Huntress]

14 minutes ago, Beth Macbain said:

If Kentucky can do it, any state can.

Texas is still debating on what we are going to do with the goal of actually making up the lost instruction days but this then cuts into the state mandated summer school sessions.  This also leads to situations where teacher A has a 180 day contract and teacher B has a 200 day contract because B will teach a summer session.  Yet over the course of the outbreak both teachers actually work the same number of days.  It gets to a questionable process of what is fair to who.

Then there are all the other parts of the school system besides the teachers.  Bus drivers, cafeteria workers, administration, IT, and all that jazz.  The lower you are on the ladder the more likely you are to get cut and those are the people that can afford it the least.

But we are working on it.  Texas is a prosperous state and I have faith we will do what needs to be done. Not all states will be so lucky.

[edited to say any numbers are pulled straight out of my pocket and intended for example purposes only]

 

Edited March 17, 2020 by Rhonda Huntress

[Coffee Pancake]

The only certainty seems to be that any provisions made today, are woefully inadequate tomorrow. There is still a lot of denial about this not being all over in a couple of weeks, let alone running well into the summer.

[Selene Gregoire]

3 hours ago, Rhonda Huntress said:

That will be the public schools

They lost my business in 1977.

 

The year I graduated high school.

Edited March 18, 2020 by Selene Gregoire

[Lindal Kidd]

4 hours ago, Rhonda Huntress said:

Texas is still debating on what we are going to do with the goal of actually making up the lost instruction days but this then cuts into the state mandated summer school sessions.  This also leads to situations where teacher A has a 180 day contract and teacher B has a 200 day contract because B will teach a summer session.  Yet over the course of the outbreak both teachers actually work the same number of days.  It gets to a questionable process of what is fair to who.

Texas is about to have a much bigger problem, along with everyone else.  Kansas seems to be out ahead of the curve on this one...they just announced all their K-12 schools will be closed for the rest of the school year, and are working to get online home-schooling curricula and materials out there.

[Maryanne Solo]

Term break in 3 weeks here.
There's talk of bringing the holidays forward to allow a kind of natural isolation< (if everyone does the right thing).

That might be helpful. 🤔

[Ceka Cianci]

Our plant sent all the day office people home to work from there..then they sent 85 people from production home with pay for two weeks..

They said if it gets worse they are going to send another 85 home.. and then if it's gets even worse,everyone home with pay..

This all started before there was any announcement of a federal  stimulus.. This is just our company trying to do it on their own..

This is just at our location..they are doing it at all their other locations as well..
 

I think the thing that really irritates me about the government at the moment is, We have the largest defense budget in the world and we are lacking in test to help defend ourselves against this virus much sooner..This should have been something we were more on the ball for with the size of the budget.. This is part of defending the American people..

They really dropped the ball..

We really need a lot of private  sector involvement and then we'll have plenty..

 

 

Edited March 18, 2020 by Ceka Cianci

[Coffee Pancake]

Small companies are doing better where they can afford to.

Big companies are doing stock buybacks (cash grabs), sending people home without pay, laying people off (or worse, reducing them to zero hours so can't even claim unemployment) and giving the middle finger to contractors.

My partners employer (A top 50 Fortune500 company) sent everyone an email showing support and saying they would be covered .. only if you read carefully, it basically said that unless you can provide documentary evidence of being directly affected by the virus, you get nothing. Everything is tied to testing and evidence of testing. In the mean time, everyone is expected to show up to work. If a competitor cuts staff and store hours, they will ... and cut everyones hours and pay too.

GOOD LUCK !

 

[LittleMe Jewell]

3 hours ago, CoffeeDujour said:

Small companies are doing better where they can afford to.

Big companies are doing stock buybacks (cash grabs), sending people home without pay, laying people off (or worse, reducing them to zero hours so can't even claim unemployment) and giving the middle finger to contractors.

My partners employer (A top 50 Fortune500 company) sent everyone an email showing support and saying they would be covered .. only if you read carefully, it basically said that unless you can provide documentary evidence of being directly affected by the virus, you get nothing. Everything is tied to testing and evidence of testing. In the mean time, everyone is expected to show up to work. If a competitor cuts staff and store hours, they will ... and cut everyones hours and pay too.

GOOD LUCK !

 

Sports is one of those areas where it so often seems like it is all about the money.  The top players are paid crazy amounts because of how much money sports brings in to the team owners.  Thus I often have a rather negative view of sports franchises.  Therefore, I was happily surprised to read that the MLB (Major League Baseball) teams have pledged $30 million to provide some pay for the ballpark workers that will be out of work due to the delay in the season.

[Amina Sopwith]

I'm arranging a Skype party for this weekend with a few girlfriends, including a couple who are self-isolating. It occurred to me to introduce them to SL and do it that way but I don't think that would work. We want to see and hear each other anyway.

[Selene Gregoire]

14 minutes ago, Amina Sopwith said:

I'm arranging a Skype party for this weekend with a few girlfriends, including a couple who are self-isolating. It occurred to me to introduce them to SL and do it that way but I don't think that would work. We want to see and hear each other anyway.

Why not do both? If possible.