Thursday, July 21, 2005
Three Things that Changed My World
Several years ago I was thinking about what major cultural things have happened in my lifetime. If I could only name three, they would be Television, Birth Control and Personal Computers.
I think my generation has a defining moment. We ask -- where were you when you heard that Kennedy was shot? November 22, 1963. That was the shared moment when many of us tuned into politics, and really cared about it all for the first time. That moment sharpened the focus between the generations -- young versus old. It felt like the old were killing off the young. There was an ideological generation gap and it widened and widened until intelligent conversation was impossible. Nixon revealed the seamier side of power usage.
The second cultural shift was the birth control pill. For the first time, women had the power to make decisions about their own reproduction. This was a two pronged fork in my view. The church of the day decided that birth control was anti-life, therefore a sin. Women began to believe that the church was irrelevant in their day-to-day life. For economic, health, and family power distribution issues, the pill was a simple solution.
God died, according to Time magazine and women started going to work, with careers in mind. I am still astonished that American's think that sex is the biggest sin, and that men need to control women's wombs to ensure those babies are theirs. By 1976, the two-income family and the oil issue had caused so much inflation that the housing market in California tripled in value in six months. A house that cost $30k in June cost $120k in December. The pill effected church attendence and the economy in dramatic ways.
Finally by 1986, in the work place, the personal computer shifted a power base of technocrats in white coats back to basic management. At the same time, the business culture was going through another paradym shift -- the emphasis on the team structure. There was strong horizontal movement to widen the scope of the team's focus with individuals playing starring roles in symphonies of groups making good decisions and profits. Access to the data made just-in-time inventory and material managment possible.
The personal computer started hitting the desks and let the manager do her own stenography, copying, organizing, data analyzing, and letter writing. Pink collar support staff melted away. Profits increased, budgets were controlled and schedules were met.
I wonder what three things will happen in my children's lifes that will have the culture impact that my three things did?
Television brought us together in the here and now, all seeing and feeling the same things at the same time. The pill gave women freedom to direct their own lives. The personal computer is letting us have and organize the information we need to learn and make informed decisions. Business and schools will never be the same.
I think my generation has a defining moment. We ask -- where were you when you heard that Kennedy was shot? November 22, 1963. That was the shared moment when many of us tuned into politics, and really cared about it all for the first time. That moment sharpened the focus between the generations -- young versus old. It felt like the old were killing off the young. There was an ideological generation gap and it widened and widened until intelligent conversation was impossible. Nixon revealed the seamier side of power usage.
The second cultural shift was the birth control pill. For the first time, women had the power to make decisions about their own reproduction. This was a two pronged fork in my view. The church of the day decided that birth control was anti-life, therefore a sin. Women began to believe that the church was irrelevant in their day-to-day life. For economic, health, and family power distribution issues, the pill was a simple solution.
God died, according to Time magazine and women started going to work, with careers in mind. I am still astonished that American's think that sex is the biggest sin, and that men need to control women's wombs to ensure those babies are theirs. By 1976, the two-income family and the oil issue had caused so much inflation that the housing market in California tripled in value in six months. A house that cost $30k in June cost $120k in December. The pill effected church attendence and the economy in dramatic ways.
Finally by 1986, in the work place, the personal computer shifted a power base of technocrats in white coats back to basic management. At the same time, the business culture was going through another paradym shift -- the emphasis on the team structure. There was strong horizontal movement to widen the scope of the team's focus with individuals playing starring roles in symphonies of groups making good decisions and profits. Access to the data made just-in-time inventory and material managment possible.
The personal computer started hitting the desks and let the manager do her own stenography, copying, organizing, data analyzing, and letter writing. Pink collar support staff melted away. Profits increased, budgets were controlled and schedules were met.
I wonder what three things will happen in my children's lifes that will have the culture impact that my three things did?
Television brought us together in the here and now, all seeing and feeling the same things at the same time. The pill gave women freedom to direct their own lives. The personal computer is letting us have and organize the information we need to learn and make informed decisions. Business and schools will never be the same.
# posted by Dornar @ 3:02 AM 
