Meltdown

gramar · 29-11-2013 09:48AM #1

I know some people's reaction to the below news is that they are things that have always happened and it's just that now they are reported more so it seems more prevalent. I'm not so sure. To me they look like increasingly frequent examples of society's slow but progressive meltdown.

Just to reference a few stories I've seen recently:

Yesterday a story about a horse that had been burned to death.
This follows another story about a donkey pushed over a cliff a few weeks back.

A body found in Meath that had been sliced up and scattered around a field.

The Lost Prophets singer and some fans carrying out some shockingly depraved acts.

A woman murdered in Kerry with an axe.

Just this morning a burned body has been found in a sleeping bag.

salacious crumb · 29-11-2013 09:51AM

Very rarely a news story shocks me, but that Lost Prophets c*nt and the horse burning were two of the worst things I've ever read.

Sunnyisland · 29-11-2013 09:54AM

gramar wrote: »

I know some people's reaction to the below news is that they are things that have always happened and it's just that now they are reported more so it seems more prevalent. I'm not so sure. To me they look like increasingly frequent examples of society's slow but progressive meltdown.

Just to reference a few stories I've seen recently:

Yesterday a story about a horse that had been burned to death.
This follows another story about a donkey pushed over a cliff a few weeks back.

A body found in Meath that had been sliced up and scattered around a field.

The Lost Prophets singer and some fans carrying out some shockingingly depraved acts.

A woman murdered in Kerry with an axe.

Just this morning a burned body has been found in a sleeping bag.

I do hope that the poor mans body found in the Phoenix park gets as much publicity and media attention as the horse unfortunate death did.

On the op I don't think so, media news stories are in some cases up to the second,It has always being a rough tough world out there,in my opinion the world/Ireland in General is a much safer place than it ever was

Kilgore__Trout · 29-11-2013 10:21AM

These are all terrible things, but on average, society probably isn't much better or worse than it was 2,000 years ago. We've always had psychopaths, tyrants, slaves, natural disasters, tragedies, and injustice. There's been some good stuff in there too.

The idea that things are getting worse is an old one, at least as old as ancient Greece. We're still here

Local-womanizer · 29-11-2013 10:24AM

I don't think it's getting worse, I'd say it's more to do with the advancement in the media. Also bad news sell.

gramar · 29-11-2013 10:29AM

Kilgore__Trout wrote: »

These are all terrible things, but on average, society probably isn't much better or worse than it was 2,000 years ago. We've always had psychopaths, tyrants, slaves, natural disasters, tragedies, and injustice. There's been some good stuff in there too.

The idea that things are getting worse is an old one, at least as old as ancient Greece. We're still here

All kinds of barbaric acts have been carried out since the beginning of time.
The general modernization of society over the last couple of hundred years did a lot to control society with the introduction of laws and the emergence of generally accpeted behaviours.

I think the information age of the last 20 odd years has been a step backwards in terms of law and order. Even though the resources to prevent and apply justice are greater than ever the number of serious crimes seems to be increasing.

Duggy747 · 29-11-2013 10:32AM

Close the week, it's fùcked.

We'll start again on Monday.

General General · 29-11-2013 10:37AM

End of days, motherf`ckers.

Whenever the news seems bad, I think; WW2.. worldwide, wholesale slaughter, for years, finished up by two nuclear bombs, state-sanctioned, on two cities & a fire-bombing of a third city as a kind of victory lap.

SEPT 23 1989 · 29-11-2013 10:42AM

the horse burners go on to burn men

Jonny7 · 29-11-2013 10:44AM

Actually it's not worse, society (apart from a few execeptions) is on the whole better than it ever has been

Just due to an ever developing media, communications, instant news, worldwide reach and so on more of these incidents are highlighted and reported

We also have a psychological human tendency to focus on bad news

Grayson · 29-11-2013 11:09AM

Kilgore__Trout wrote: »

These are all terrible things, but on average, society probably isn't much better or worse than it was 2,000 years ago. We've always had psychopaths, tyrants, slaves, natural disasters, tragedies, and injustice. There's been some good stuff in there too.

The idea that things are getting worse is an old one, at least as old as ancient Greece. We're still here

It's a lot better. Slavery is gone, women have the vote (maybe that one was a mistake

), our life expectancy is huge and I'm currently communicating with you through a magic window on my desk.
We live in one of the safest places in one of the safest times in history.

Grayson · 29-11-2013 11:11AM

gramar wrote: »

Even though the resources to prevent and apply justice are greater than ever the number of serious crimes seems to be increasing.

Statistically they're decreasing. They just seem to be because they get loads of publicity.

gramar · 29-11-2013 11:13AM

Grayson wrote: »

It's a lot better. Slavery is gone, women have the vote (maybe that one was a mistake ), our life expectancy is huge and I'm currently communicating with you through a magic window on my desk.
We live in one of the safest places in one of the safest times in history.[/QUOTE]

I agree but the point I'm trying to make is that maybe that level of 'safety' has peaked and now we're in decline. Permanent or not I don't know but definitely some kind of a recession as far as safety in society goes.

cali_eire · 29-11-2013 11:13AM

The availability of news almost as soon as it happens through web, social media and tv has changed how we "experience" events as a society from generations ago. Some of this change is positive as we have access to vast resources at our finger tips but I also feel some of the changes can at times give us a very disjointed view of the world depending on how we consume all this information.

I believe that ugly things have always happened but today I have the ability to know about a lot more of these instances that happened down the road, in another county or in another country from multiple sources very quickly and it can compound sometimes and make me loose a little bit of hope for humanity.

At that point I know I have amerced myself in too much "news" and I try to step back so I also can see there is a lot of genuine goodness that is out there in society. It might be something small like the Dunnes Stores Sales person you scoured the shop yesterday looking for my phone when I dumbly lost it or seeing the San Francisco turn out in their thousands to cheer on "bat kid".

News is great but dont let it jade you and make you afraid of everyone. There is a lot of good out there that can get easily lost in the dramatic headlines of the day.

Frank Black · 29-11-2013 11:15AM

Kilgore__Trout wrote: »

These are all terrible things, but on average, society probably isn't much better or worse than it was 2,000 years ago.

Seriously?
That's one of the dumbest things I've read on here.
I'd like to send you back in a time machine to spend a week in 'society' 2,000 years ago.

tin79 · 29-11-2013 11:30AM

It only seems that way due to FB, twitter (with associated moral panic) and all the other convenient outlets which let even the dumbest idiots vent to a wide audience.

seamus · 29-11-2013 11:53AM

tin79 wrote: »

It only seems that way due to FB, twitter (with associated moral panic) and all the other convenient outlets which let even the dumbest idiots vent to a wide audience.

On top of that, traditional media outlets are simply reporting more.

Before the days of internet news, space was limited. You had 30 minutes for the evening news, 20 or 30 pages of white space in a newspaper. So you had to pick and choose what was reported.
Now there's functionally no limit on what can be reported. So there's less QA on what goes out, instead people choose for themselves what they want to read. Turnover is also higher, because you can stick a story on your front page for 4 hours, then remove it and stick something else in its place when it gets stale.

5live · 29-11-2013 11:53AM

Kilgore__Trout wrote: »

These are all terrible things, but on average, society probably isn't much better or worse than it was 2,000 years ago. We've always had psychopaths, tyrants, slaves, natural disasters, tragedies, and injustice. There's been some good stuff in there too.

The idea that things are getting worse is an old one, at least as old as ancient Greece. We're still here

I was talking to the OH last night about this. 30 years ago murders were rare, so rare that they were television and newspaper lead stories for weeks. Now a murder is lucky to make the lead story and is all but forgotten within a week by society in general.

Its definately a more dangerous place now than 30 years ago:(

mad muffin · 29-11-2013 12:30PM

I know what evil lurks in the hearts of men

Atlantic Dawn · 29-11-2013 07:21PM

Yesterday a story about a horse that had been burned to death.
This follows another story about a donkey pushed over a cliff a few weeks back.

Horse was already dead

A body found in Meath that had been sliced up and scattered around a field.

Meltdown alright

The Lost Prophets singer and some fans carrying out some shockingly depraved acts.

Meltdown alright

A woman murdered in Kerry with an axe.

Murdered by her son, contributing factor may have been the wind farm in the hils surrounding their home causing her autistic son distress, may not be an out of the blue meltdown at all.

Just this morning a burned body has been found in a sleeping bag.

Meltdown.

Vito Corleone · 29-11-2013 07:23PM

I've never been shocked by any news story I've read.

BillyMitchel · 29-11-2013 07:24PM

No offence OP but have people and animals not been getting butchered and sliced and burned alive since humanity began?

Me? · 29-11-2013 07:39PM

The world is ****ed because of humans. We are the greediest, vilest species to ever walk this planet. We have no respect for members of our own species or any other species that shares this planet.

We poison our atmosphere to mass produce rubbish, while exploiting the poorest and weakest in doing so. I know I am generalizing and am aware that a very small percentage of the world's population are directly responsible for what is going on in the world but indirectly we are all responsible for the sheer fook up that is Earth.

I read somewhere, I think it might have been here that someone gave someone 2 euro for the toll and they were amazed by the generosity of the act. Have we to applaud this as an act of good because the bar has been set so low.

I don't think there is an act to be carried out that will actually shock me at this stage of my life. We have sunk that low.

renegademaster · 29-11-2013 07:47PM

Grayson wrote: »

Statistically they're decreasing. They just seem to be because they get loads of publicity.

or scamming the stats more like

D1stant · 29-11-2013 07:52PM

5live wrote: »

I was talking to the OH last night about this. 30 years ago murders were rare, so rare that they were television and newspaper lead stories for weeks. Now a murder is lucky to make the lead story and is all but forgotten within a week by society in general.

Its definately a more dangerous place now than 30 years ago:(

No. This is a myth. Western Society is getting safer all the time. There is evidence for this, if you want to look.

Cousin it · 29-11-2013 08:09PM

Grayson wrote: »

It's a lot better. Slavery is gone, women have the vote (maybe that one was a mistake ), our life expectancy is huge and I'm currently communicating with you through a magic window on my desk.
We live in one of the safest places in one of the safest times in history.

There's more people currently in slavery than ever crossed the Atlantic from Africa.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lisa_kristine_glimpses_of_modern_day_slavery.html

http://www.freetheslaves.net/page.aspx?pid=348

theblaqueguy · 29-11-2013 08:13PM

Cousin it wrote: »

There's more people currently in slavery than ever crossed the Atlantic from Africa.

Free my brothers and sisters

Yellow121 · 29-11-2013 08:24PM

Back in the day life wasn't worth anything. People used to die for any reason. Fights to the death were common occurance, people headed off to battle all the time. The World has gone soft.

HansHolzel · 29-11-2013 08:30PM

http://www.rte.ie/news/2013/1129/490023-horse-death/

The horse was dead with a while.

Someone decided to cremate it.

An acorn fell on your head, the sky isn't falling in.

Judgement Day · 29-11-2013 09:08PM

D1stant wrote: »

No. This is a myth. Western Society is getting safer all the time. There is evidence for this, if you want to look.

But you can't be bothered to supply any links. :rolleyes: There's no point in saying life was more dangerous back when our ancestors lived in caves. It's a simple fact that compared to 30/40 years ago Ireland is a much less safe place today. Back then there was no drug problem/gang violence/random violence and homicides were extremely rare. Old people were generally left alone - even by criminals.

5live · 29-11-2013 09:09PM

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Horse was already dead

Meltdown alright

Meltdown alright

Murdered by her son, contributing factor may have been the wind farm in the hils surrounding their home causing her autistic son distress, may not be an out of the blue meltdown at all.

Meltdown.

Source?

Meltdown

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