A grandmother's perspective

We are blessed to claim 13 grandchildren with #'s 14 and 15 arriving soon. It is so interesting to pass through each phase of life and recognize my thoughts and feelings as nothing new. It seems that every generation bemoans the lack of respect and good manners in the younger generations. Each generation of grandparents fears for the conditions of the world as their grandchildren come of age. I think it really is getting worse, though. There were certainly questionable morals in ancient Roman and Greek civilizations but they didn't have the technology we have to allow access for "the masses". They didn't have widespread pornography, even in the homes of "good" people. They didn't have people who made money making movies of everything from sexually abusing innocent children to brutal murder. They didn't have the deep fear of fellow human beings that seems to permeate our world. Even in what we call third world countries, people fear oppression and abuse by those who hunger for ever- more power and wealth. We have very few "simple farmers" who just go about taking care of their own plot of land, raising their family and living until they die, worn out from hard work but having loved ones surrounding them. I have been attending a birthing class with my youngest daughter. It has surprised me to hear many young, healthy women express refusal to undergo, naturally, the pain of childbirth (I am, of course, not including complications of birth which require more medical intervention). I wonder if it had been more prevalent, would I have insisted upon anesthetic to avoid what has been a very natural pain for billions of women over hundreds of years? I don't want to believe the human race is getting weaker at the same time we are getting more decadent. Do we distance ourselves from pain, by using complicated weapons instead of knives and clubs, watching repeated violence in movies or other media until it means nothing to us, or numbing ourselves with our drug of choice? I know we are spoiled beyond the wildest imaginings of nearly anyone but truly forward thinking science fiction writers of the past. We have "reality" shows about survival, but I wonder how each of us would fare when in a desperate situation without the promise of some huge amount of money and fame? I hope we would expose the hero rather than the savage in us. I think we have the potential to be stronger and more capable than we sometimes give ourselves credit for.