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http://clarksburg-myhometown.blogspot.com/
If you are from Clarksburg West Virginia you will like this, enjoy a look back to a time that was . If you are not from Clarksburg West Virginia take a look, it may remind you of your home town
A Look Bach In Time
Moderator: Moderators
One photo I found particularly interesting was this aerial view of the UCar or Union Carbide plant in Anmoore. Many Asturians worked there, didn't they?
Una foto que encontré particularmente interesante es esta vista aérea de la fábrica de Ucar o Union Carbide en Anmoore. Muchos asturianos trabajaban allí, ¿no es así?
Una foto que encontré particularmente interesante es esta vista aérea de la fábrica de Ucar o Union Carbide en Anmoore. Muchos asturianos trabajaban allí, ¿no es así?
That is amazing. Where did America go wrong? Those photos show bustling, thriving cities well outside of today's major metros. Cities that could support a quality of life that is almost gone today. No homeless on the streets. No kids running around looking like thugs. It's crazy.
Now if you go to Clarksburg (or any other town or small city in this country), all you see are boarded up storefronts, Wal-Marts, half-empty malls, chain restaurants with crappy food, and dead main streets. Globalization has destroyed our standard of living. It's sad as hell if you ask me.
I blame the Baby Boomers.
Now if you go to Clarksburg (or any other town or small city in this country), all you see are boarded up storefronts, Wal-Marts, half-empty malls, chain restaurants with crappy food, and dead main streets. Globalization has destroyed our standard of living. It's sad as hell if you ask me.
I blame the Baby Boomers.
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Bob
- Moderator
- Posts: 1774
- Joined: Mon Feb 24, 2003 3:54 am
- Location: Connecticut and Massachusetts
- asturias_and_me:
I don't think it's fair to blame the baby boomers (and I'm just a little too old to be one), but rather I would blame an attitude that permeates contemporary American culture. We as a nation in the last 50 years have not felt an obligation to take care of one another, but we have instead championed unbridled capitalism, greed and selfishness.
When I was a kid (1940s and early 1950)s, the whole neighborhood watched out for everyone's kids, no one locked their doors, keys were often left in cars, etc. Now people often don't even know their neighbors.
When I was a kid (1940s and early 1950)s, the whole neighborhood watched out for everyone's kids, no one locked their doors, keys were often left in cars, etc. Now people often don't even know their neighbors.
I wouldn't blame it on hippies and boomers, either. For one thing, they've been remarkably underperforming. So much promise, so few results. My parents' generation (those who fought in WWII) seem to have had a much more effective role in forming contemporary American culture.
I think one thing that changed is that we assumed that bigger was better. A business that was growing could offer more dividends to stock holders, and so companies were pressured to expand, whether it was good for the community and nation or not. We can see one result of that in our banking blow-out. Banks can get too big.
Restaurants can get too big, too. I'd rather eat at a restaurant that has character, but most Americans eat in national chains. If you go to a Bob Evans restaurant and ask that they serve you a bean chili without black pepper, they can't do it. I don't know whether they standardize the recipes but cook them locally or whether they prepare the meals in factories and ship the food to the local restaurants. No matter, every bowl of chili already has the same ingredients. There's no way for them to make you a bowl without pepper. It's predictable but boring and doesn't meet the idiosyncratic needs of the customer. I won't eat at Bob Evans.
It's widely believed that when most people patronize national chains, many local mom and pop stores can't compete and then go out of business. (I don't know whether that's true; I don't have proof either way.)
--------------------------
Tampoco no voy a culpar a los hippies y los boomers. Por un lado, han sido notablemente ineficaces. Tanta promesa, pocos resultados. La generación de mis padres (los que lucharon en la Segunda Guerra Mundial) parece haber tenido un papel mucho más importante en la formación de la cultura americana contemporánea.
Creo que una cosa que ha cambiado es que se supone que lo más grande sea mejor. Un negocio que está creciendo puede ofrecer cada vez más dividendos a los titulares de acciones, por lo que las empresas fueron presionados para ampliar, si sea bueno para la comunidad y la nación o no. Podemos ver un resultado de éste en el reventón bancaria. Los bancos pueden llegar demasiado grandes.
Restaurantes pueden hacerse demasiado grande, también. Prefiero comer en un restaurante que tiene carácter, pero la mayoría de los estadounidenses comen en cadenas nacionales. Si vas a un restaurante de Bob Evans y pides que te sirven un sopero de "chili" (fabes con chile en polvo y otras cosas) sin pimiento negra, no pueden hacerlo. No sé están estandarizado las recetas y cocinan a nivel local o si se preparan las comidas en las fábricas y mandan la comida a los restaurantes locales. No importa, cada plato de "chili" ya tiene los mismos ingredientes. No hay manera de hacer que un plato no tiene pimienta. Es aburrido y predecible, pero no responde a las necesidades de la idiosincrasia del cliente. No voy a comer a Bob Evans.
Se cree generalmente que cuando la mayoría de las personas patronizan cadenas nacionales, muchas tiendas de "mom y pop" (una madre y un padre, lo que significa una tienda pequeña y local) no puede competir y, a continuación, quita de ser negocio. (No sé si es verdad; no tengo ningúna prueba.)
I think one thing that changed is that we assumed that bigger was better. A business that was growing could offer more dividends to stock holders, and so companies were pressured to expand, whether it was good for the community and nation or not. We can see one result of that in our banking blow-out. Banks can get too big.
Restaurants can get too big, too. I'd rather eat at a restaurant that has character, but most Americans eat in national chains. If you go to a Bob Evans restaurant and ask that they serve you a bean chili without black pepper, they can't do it. I don't know whether they standardize the recipes but cook them locally or whether they prepare the meals in factories and ship the food to the local restaurants. No matter, every bowl of chili already has the same ingredients. There's no way for them to make you a bowl without pepper. It's predictable but boring and doesn't meet the idiosyncratic needs of the customer. I won't eat at Bob Evans.
It's widely believed that when most people patronize national chains, many local mom and pop stores can't compete and then go out of business. (I don't know whether that's true; I don't have proof either way.)
--------------------------
Tampoco no voy a culpar a los hippies y los boomers. Por un lado, han sido notablemente ineficaces. Tanta promesa, pocos resultados. La generación de mis padres (los que lucharon en la Segunda Guerra Mundial) parece haber tenido un papel mucho más importante en la formación de la cultura americana contemporánea.
Creo que una cosa que ha cambiado es que se supone que lo más grande sea mejor. Un negocio que está creciendo puede ofrecer cada vez más dividendos a los titulares de acciones, por lo que las empresas fueron presionados para ampliar, si sea bueno para la comunidad y la nación o no. Podemos ver un resultado de éste en el reventón bancaria. Los bancos pueden llegar demasiado grandes.
Restaurantes pueden hacerse demasiado grande, también. Prefiero comer en un restaurante que tiene carácter, pero la mayoría de los estadounidenses comen en cadenas nacionales. Si vas a un restaurante de Bob Evans y pides que te sirven un sopero de "chili" (fabes con chile en polvo y otras cosas) sin pimiento negra, no pueden hacerlo. No sé están estandarizado las recetas y cocinan a nivel local o si se preparan las comidas en las fábricas y mandan la comida a los restaurantes locales. No importa, cada plato de "chili" ya tiene los mismos ingredientes. No hay manera de hacer que un plato no tiene pimienta. Es aburrido y predecible, pero no responde a las necesidades de la idiosincrasia del cliente. No voy a comer a Bob Evans.
Se cree generalmente que cuando la mayoría de las personas patronizan cadenas nacionales, muchas tiendas de "mom y pop" (una madre y un padre, lo que significa una tienda pequeña y local) no puede competir y, a continuación, quita de ser negocio. (No sé si es verdad; no tengo ningúna prueba.)