Social consequence

  It's rather amazing how fast we adapt and adopt. I barely give it a thought when taking out my phone to take a picture. It really wasn't all that long ago when I wouldn't even dream about that. Heck, I remember when color photography was big deal. Now I casually take out my phone, snap a picture or take a video, and instantly share it with someone anywhere in the world. I can even print it and it be sitting on the output tray of my computer when I get home. And I'm amazed at how much that phone is capable of doing. Lots of actions I don't know how to do but I'm told it can do it. 

  I was never a big Dick Tracey fan, he was just a bit before my time, but he had a watch something like our phones today. I don't know much about that, I only saw it in comic books. The first superhero I remember seeing on television was Batman. I realize that superman was around before that on television but I don't recall every seeing it. I just had all the Saturday morning cartoons. That's where I learned about Opera music and the acme company. Every time I see Acme I think of those road runner cartoons. Saturday morning was the only time I saw those shows, we didn't have any means of recording them. It wasn't until the late 1970's that the technology to do that became available to the public. Now all that technology just seems so old fashioned and out of date. Beta, VCR's and video tape. I still have video tapes taken with my JVC compact digital recorder. I have purchased the device that enables copying that to my computer. It's a slow process. Well, I still have cassette tapes too. Heck, I've even got a few 45's. 

  It isn't just technology that we adapt to. The whole social society in which we live and operate changes constantly. It what the scholars call a social conscience. In my estimation many people today don't have much of a conscience at all. There is no shame in their game. Whatever pleases them is just fine, and everyone else has to accept that, indeed, embrace and empower them in their actions. But that is also the part that generally troubles all of us as we age. When societal norms change, it is difficult for us to adapt to that new attitude. It is dependent upon a few things. First, does that change directly affect me? If it doesn't, I may be more tolerant. Then does this change affect my financial status? That is the one that will really get people fired up. 

  Still the change in societal norms is the hardest to accept. Societal norms are a reflection of the morality of that society. They are often codified in the laws of the land as a means of imposing that morality. Laws, after all, are created to protect the innocent from those that would do wrong. That is until those same laws begin to impose a different morality, a different sense of justice or equity upon the population. Then that population may revolt. Consider the causes for the American revolution. It was about the King imposing his norms upon the colonies. Once it started to really hit the old pocketbook, that was enough.

 Born into one world we will all die in another. These blogs of mine have started to form a sort of chronicle of that passage. Granted I mostly talk about what I know best, my opinions and what I'm observing in the world around me, but I do offer insights. It's my feeling it is up to the reader to see those, all I can do is shine the light. Our conscience is the foundation of our lives. As a general rule it isn't advisable to change the foundation once it has been established. We are all told about growth and change. Having a conscience is accepting that there will be consequences for your actions. When you are willing to sacrifice your conscience for temporary gain, that is the beginning of decline. It's as true with governments as it is with individuals. It would seem that the rise in technology often creates a decline in conscience. It has been said ignorance is bliss. I'd suggest technology may mask awareness, causing an ignorance of the role of conscience. Technology is an ever changing thing, not a good thing for a foundation at all. There will be social consequences in doing so.