# Times have changed, my have they



## 36058

We have almost all heard people lament the days when they didn't have to lock their doors, or rather lament that those days are no longer with us. 

But it really is true. People, places were safer 40 years ago. 

I spent a few years hitching when I was 16-18 years old and covered over 100,000 miles discovering North America. Never a scintilla of fear entered my body that whole time. I went everywhere and anywhere, anytime. I found myself stranded at night outdoors in Wyoming when the temp dropped to 30 below zero, and the world took care of me providing a motel willing to let me crash in the lobby, and just in time before I risked losing fingers. 

On one occasion I met up with a couple of guys in Kansas and traveled with them all the way to WA state where I invited them both to stay in my homestead cabin along the edge of the Green River. During our journey one of the guys confessed to having just left FL where he had killed his wife. (I don't remember exactly what circumstances made that seem less than a horrific violent act) The other confessed he used to smuggle hash into Germany via Greece just for the adrenaline rush. Yet never once did I ever have the slightest fear that these guys were dangerous to me. 

Was I a foolish youth? Probably. But I felt safe and I was safe. 

has the world changed and become more dangerous? Or have we changed? And do we have the power to be safe in an unsafe world based merely on how we approach the world without succumbing to fear?



> Mona tried to tell me
> To stay away from the train line
> She said that all the railroad men
> Just drink up your blood like wine
> An’ I said, “Oh, I didn’t know that
> But then again, there’s only one I’ve met
> An’ he just smoked my eyelids
> An’ punched my cigarette”


~ Bob Dylan


----------



## Kal

The world has changed and it has gotten dangerous but I will not live my life in fear. I have been hitching since the late 90s and have met all kinds of people, hear is an example, a murder, a drug dealer, and gang members just to mention a few but I am still alive so no I will not live my life in fear. I have said this before and will say it again, travel on and be free.


----------



## 36058

Kal said:


> The world has changed and it has gotten dangerous but I will not live my life in fear. I have been hitching since the late 90s and have met all kinds of people, hear is an example, a murder, a drug dealer, and gang members just to mention a few but I am still alive so no I will not live my life in fear. I have said this before and will say it again, travel on and be free.


I like your attitude, Kal. 

I will let you on a little secret. I often don't lock my doors, and I feel safe. If I locked my doors because I didn't feel safe then no number of locks would solve that problem. 

In the wild world the most dangerous thing that you can do is emanate fear.


----------



## lone wolf

people are brainwashed to fear for their safety so they are willing to give more control to their government.

is the world really more dangerous now than 40 years ago? if you don't count military and police then i would say "no". the media just reports more violent crime, it always existed.
but if you count military and police then i would say "yes", government is the only thing i fear, not the guy that claimed he killed his wife. anybody that would admit that is either looking to see your reaction or just needed to confess. he'd keep that crazy shit to himself if he had similar plans for you.


----------



## Art101

I think everything has gotten disposible .Clothing,cars,people,and relationships are now little more then what it originally cost and or the effort involved.Yes things are worse today then when I started prowling the free side of reality.This culture has changed from we to me,what can I get from you and what are you worth to me.When I was a gutter punk in Portland we had families,and thats what they were.We took care of each other and shared everything.Now it seems I constantly hear of this person getting beat down for thieir gear or ripping people of because they can.Sorry to rant but fuck this shit,I want out.


----------



## Andrea Van Scoyoc

Times have changed, and we must change with them...

Watch your back and follow your gut.

Don't let fear dictate your life.


----------



## Sip

Meh. I think we've have become a little more jaded, and a little less willing to trust or help someone out, but do I think things are, strictly speaking, more dangerous? No. I think we're programmed in modern society to be more afraid. I don't usually buy into conspiracy theories, but when most of the people I know act like anyone from out of state is a dangerous murderer, then yeah, I believe a little social modding is going on. More dangerous, no, but we are made far more aware of the dangers. Every generation at every time, if you look through history pines for the "Good old days" except in extreme circumstances. Bet there was an ancient roman alive at the fall of the republic of Rome that looked at the empire and said "I miss the good old days". Yet the empire was for Rome, during the pax romana, the most prosperous time to be a roman.


----------



## 36058

lone wolf said:


> people are brainwashed to fear for their safety so they are willing to give more control to their government.
> 
> is the world really more dangerous now than 40 years ago? if you don't count military and police then i would say "no". the media just reports more violent crime, it always existed.
> but if you count military and police then i would say "yes", government is the only thing i fear, not the guy that claimed he killed his wife. anybody that would admit that is either looking to see your reaction or just needed to confess. he'd keep that crazy shit to himself if he had similar plans for you.




I think that ultimately you are right. But I also think that the cops were bastards 30 years ago and the level of violence increased dramatically when the war on drugs initiated full scale violence over the drug trades.


----------



## 36058

Art101 said:


> I think everything has gotten disposible .Clothing,cars,people,and relationships are now little more then what it originally cost and or the effort involved.Yes things are worse today then when I started prowling the free side of reality.This culture has changed from we to me,what can I get from you and what are you worth to me.When I was a gutter punk in Portland we had families,and thats what they were.We took care of each other and shared everything.Now it seems I constantly hear of this person getting beat down for thieir gear or ripping people of because they can.Sorry to rant but fuck this shit,I want out.




what does "want out' mean to you in your world of dreams?


----------



## 36058

Andrea Van Scoyoc said:


> Times have changed, and we must change with them...
> 
> Watch your back and follow your gut.
> 
> Don't let fear dictate your life.



Follow your gut.

Exactly. But your gut determines your fate, absolutely. 

Despite your humble beginnings you could literally become the leader of India or a global revolution based simply on following what your gut tells you. 

And it hasn't already happened once it has happened dozens or hundreds of time. 

The "occupy movement" came close but they could have and probably will rise to MUCH higher stature if they focus their message more professionally. 

All indicators point to an eventual populist revolution globally, or a technological coup that makes revolution impossible in the covert sense. In which case wholesale revolution will then occur covertly, out of sight and out of range of the detectors.


----------



## ThePapayaBandit

Has the world really changed for the worse? I personally feel like the world has not become more dangerous we simply are more afraid.


----------



## bystander

ThePapayaBandit said:


> I personally feel like the world has not become more dangerous we simply are more afraid.



Or maybe more informed? 15 years ago it took 5 minutes to open up your local new stations website- if they even had one. Hell now my phone keeps me informed more then a colored tv back in the 50s. 

We have information around us constantly. By so called "government controlled news" sites or that crazy shit you just found on liveleak. Shit is fucked up. Always has been. Watch FBI files on netflix and you will think the 80s & 90s were some fuckd up shit. I bet half the people that were old enough to remember the 80s or 90s wouldn't remember half the serial killers or crazy fuckd up people on that show. Simply because they didn't know.

But now, in modern day that shits in your fuckin face. On your phone, tv, computer, hell the interstate in WI tells me how many people died on WI roads this year. Technology is everywhere, and guess what the government didn't shove it down our throats. we asked for it. 

just my 2pennies


----------



## CelticWanderer

I think it'll be along time before we can all handle the amount of information we get now an' days in a healthy way. I hear alot that humans have stopped evolving but i dont think thats true. Our minds need to evolve alongside the huge ammount of tech that popped out of no where. If you scroll through facebook and tumblr and all that other shit, its a cluster fuck man. I dont think we were equipped to handle this shit.


----------



## East

I agree, my mind is already melting, thanks internet.


----------



## Art101

I agree it seems like any tiny store that can create some sort of fear gets so much coverage.


----------



## Primitive

We're all allowing technological media to consistantly take a shit inside our brains.


----------



## that one guy

Yea look at this http://www.infowars.com/new-mtv-show-publicly-shames-white-people-for-what-theyve-done-in-america/
I've not looked at it but I've been participating in a debate about this kind of heard mentality of late in another dark corner of the interwebs.
THEY want us divided among ourselves, anything at all that will keep us distracted.
I'm terribly depressed lately, feeling like this world is just not a place I want to be a part of, its all gotten so fucked up and weird.


----------



## Primitive

If there is ever a "race war" in america, its gonna be started by alex jones & clones. Dont believe his bullshit. Acknowledging that this is a white supremacist system, and its history of genocide, oppression, colinialism, and imperialism does not equate to any sort of "racial hatred". Also poverty stricken minority communities rising up with violent direct action because they're fed up with the system is not "a declaration of war on white people". Fuck alex jones and his obvious racist bullshit. He works for the feds, hes manufactured all the way to start counter revolutions defending capitalism and white supremacy. Not to mention paralyze people with fear. Convincing people anarchists work for the government, and direct action will "bring marshal law" so dont fight back. and anyon who does is a "thug" especially if they're black. in other words "blacks and anarchists are your enemy". Fuck alex jones.


----------



## that one guy

Oh yea I give no credence to his crazed babblings, but one cannot conscionably deny the raising racial tensions in amerifail currently, the world is becoming a fucked up place fast. I don't doubt for a second that this tv show is real, its a blatant attempt to start all out civil war.


----------



## Primitive

Did you actually watch the trailer for that show? I did. It actually looks really awesome. Of course i couldnt stomache reading through alex jones clone paul watsons article about it. But no that documentary seems awesome, like what is disargeeable about it? Seems like a documentary made to socially uncondition and raise awareness about raise issues that are completly invisible to most white people.


----------



## NoPedestrians

People think things are a lot worse than they may be. Probably because of the ever present stream of soul sucking bull shit we get through media and devices.
Since being dumped by the foster system at 18 (and well before) I've survived years as a street kid and traveler. Hitched thousands of miles, rode far more, and slept in the a lot cities and got stuck in small dangerous towns (Salinas anybody?).
No trouble besides the trouble I've started. And that's even from police.
As long as you aren't a shit head and put out what you would like to get back from life you'll be fine, right?
Guess it depends on where you are too. For me the west is the best as far as safety goes.


----------



## that one guy

Goddamn right nopeds!!! I've had the same expierences, I actualy prefer the small towns.

@Primitive Lemme ask you this; if a child hits another child, should you in turn hit that aggressor child?


----------



## Mankini

Salinas!!!  Thats my hometown. I left in 91 and didnt return till 96. In those 5 years it went from being a sleepy little ag community to being one of the worst hellholes in the North. What did you experience there, man? (NoPeds)..Were you in Chinatown? 

At any rate, That one guy: Dont get depressed with the media: it is a filter: and thats all it is. All you can do is ignore it. And conduct direct action/Project Mayhem type sh-t when possible. We need information, but I've found that there are sources that lift you up and make you feel hopeful, unlike the corporate media...I like Mother Jones, Atlantic, Foreign Affairs, and a few others along those lines. Investigative, authentic journalism isnt dead: its just submerged in the strip-mall horseshit of the pop media. Naomi Wolf is a great, and ''real'' journalist.


----------



## Primitive

@that one guy i dont see how your question relates to anything i said. But i would simply tell the kid to hit em back.


----------



## that one guy

Yea I can't follow the logic I was leading through, too much time has passed, I'm a completely different person now.
I seek new source and solace in old source. Music. introspective thought. I don't watch tv as its a drain on my deep cycle batteries.


----------



## NoPedestrians

voodoochile76 said:


> Salinas!!!  Thats my hometown. I left in 91 and didnt return till 96. In those 5 years it went from being a sleepy little ag community to being one of the worst hellholes in the North. What did you experience there, man? (NoPeds)..Were you in Chinatown?
> 
> At any rate, That one guy: Dont get depressed with the media: it is a filter: and thats all it is. All you can do is ignore it. And conduct direct action/Project Mayhem type sh-t when possible. We need information, but I've found that there are sources that lift you up and make you feel hopeful, unlike the corporate media...I like Mother Jones, Atlantic, Foreign Affairs, and a few others along those lines. Investigative, authentic journalism isnt dead: its just submerged in the strip-mall horseshit of the pop media. Naomi Wolf is a great, and ''real'' journalist.



I remember coming into Salinas and dropped on the north ramp and having to hitch to the second ramp to try to get back out. Ramp 2 was by a FoodMax where a nice lady tossed me a couple chimis. But that night there was a robbery and double homicide a block away from me and I had water thown on me where I was sleeping behind a dumpster. 
Had trouble getting out. Waited days before walking out on the freeway just to gtfo. Plus side I found a wrist rocket there ^o^


----------



## Mankini

Street homicides; AK fire lighting up the skies....Aaahhh nothing like Little Beirut to warm the cockles of any true Norteno's heart. LOL


----------



## Tony Pro

It's a statistical fact that there's less violent crime in the US and Europe than in the 'golden age' of hippies and hitchhiking. Still, maybe modern scumbags are allocated more to the road where we've an increased likelihood of encountering them. I'd be willing to accept that tramps today have a harder time than we once did.
Or maybe we don't really encounter many unsafe scenarios, but we hear so many stories about them it changes our worldview for the worse. Where do we hear those stories from? From people so convinced the world is a horrible place they go around trying to convince others. It's a self-feeding cycle of pessimism. So what's the cure? Well I've always said hitchhiking can save the world. Trust others and encourage others to do so.


----------

