When folks around my age (69) talk about the good old days and how the world is going to Hell, I ask.. "Which good old days are you talking about?" I'm not sure if they're talking about the Big Band Era and classic movies or the Holocaust and the KKK lynching blacks.
In the fifties, I wouldn't have dared to take my wife (who is black) to my hometown in southern Wisconsin. Now, we move comfortably and are warmly greeted everywhere we go. Truth is, I don't miss a lot of what is called the Good Old Days, despite being distraught at times about the present. Just remember, These will be the "Good Old Days" to people forty years from now.

If you're looking for hope in mankind, you're always going to dig for diamonds in the dirt. If all I had was Bush and Blair and gas for $2.25, life would be depressing. I have desire to hijack this thread to talk about faith, but faith gives me hope that mankind alone can not.

Wrote a song about it... first verse pretty much sums it up:

"I take cold comfort in the ways of man
I see no justice in this land
I feel the anger of the un-stayed hand
May my heart find rest in Thee"

Jerry