• lizzard@thelemmy.club
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    9 months ago

    The Internet is what’s different. They lived through all of that but it wasn’t in your face. Not broadcast 24/7 on networks. On every social media feed. With the Internet and constant information it all can seem way more overwhelming.

    People are people and giving them a break is a good idea. But the idea that things are the same now as they were back then is wrong in my opinion.

    • imaqtpie@sh.itjust.works
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      9 months ago

      No one is saying that things are the same now.

      Things have been fucked up in completely different, but similarly severe ways, for all of human history.

      The flipside of the internet is that we have an ability to search for and find the truth, if we have the critical thinking skills. Before the internet, knowledge was controlled by institutions. All information that you could consume was filtered through the authorities first.

      It fucking pains me to my soul how profoundly naive and petty our generation appears when we start making these criticisms of previous generations. Not only do we reveal our complete ignorance of history, we reveal our lack of empathy as well, because even without understanding exactly what prior generations had to contend with, it’s not that hard to simply give them the benefit of the doubt and figure that they were more or less the same as us, given that we share the same genome.

    • tory@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Are you contending that boomers don’t use the internet and, therefore, were sheltered for decades? Because I assure you they’re very present in right wing spaces online.

      I dont understand the central idea that boomers have lived through less. It sounds like a ridiculous premise that minimizes the experiences of millions.