Great American 100 year DUMBDOWN

As is well observed, one hundred and so years ago the people in America lived by self sufficient means. People learned their tasks or traits and applied them. Most were done by hand, hand tools, pen and ink, needle and stitch, etc. to produce something or go without.

Automation was thought to help in many tasks. Then it became ubiquitous. Hand made efforts diminished and further, the methodology became a thing of the past and ability to organize and produce by hand was forgotten. But that inconvenience was perceived as tolerable. Less effort. The automation that took away individual productivity and sense of accomplishment was desirable. It became a looked forward way of life, even a hallmark or status of living with a great many, e.g. be the first to own one of these...., instead of fashioning by oneself.

Then came warnings in the 1950's, mostly kept to newspaper back pages, about the lack of ability to understand and accomplish individual tasks. That a growing dependency on automation can create a skill deficiency, a lax and lazy miasma. Skilled hand labor diminished. The warnings were dismissed.

Societies of management and dependencies grew and became ubiquitous. Attention of a great many people were directed to other ways than constructive, direct, manual application. Individual free choice gave over to the choices provided only by centralized, indifferent, organizations' and corporations' programming which were out of touch with now minor neighborhood needs, except maybe by impact of volume supply, hence abandoning the balance of mutual regard relations. Most leisure time was not commensurate with productivity. (This is truly a great tell whether Americans can maturely adapt to a wide scope of change.)

It was not commensurate with educational communication either. Slurs became a norm. It was found, in a study in the early 2000's, that once the common adult of the 1960's had a vocabulary knowledge of 30-45,000 words; is now found to be at 10,000 words known. This affects the skill of the individual to express oneself.

Even though the assumed benefits of modern living were brought about by people who expressed self initiative, the same self initiative of significance, if exhibited today, tends to be downplayed or marginalized for a very great number who attempt to do so. Emphasis and prioritization clearly shifts away from the individual and their involvement or contribution. One example, in the past decades, bosses would visit with the workers' families, after all the workers did the bidden jobs, or honor the worker by attending their funeral or viewing. Now, the bosses consider themselves to be "too busy" to engage in such attitudinal activity. (May portray stratification or devolvement.)

Ever increasing subjugation of the diminished American continues. Institutions now provide or make decisions on behalf of the new, dependent American individual as well as their eligibility for health and well being. Such a vastly different way of life in just merely one hundred years.

[This does portray evidence of entropy in society!!]