The generation that the doctors betrayed

Jeff Almeyda

Senior Consultant
Larry's posts on another thread got me thinking.

For anyone born in the 1960's here in America, we were betrayed by the doctors and big business.

The Space Age was in full swing. We were so advanced that we were convinced that we had bested nature.

Our mothers were told not to breast feed because "formula was better". The formula that was essentially sugar, starch and water.

Our baby food was just as bad. Sugary gunk with no nutritional value.

Trans fats replaced the essential oils in our diet because they lasted indefinitely on the shelves.

Fiber? We don't need no stinking fiber!

Our parents smoked, as a matter of fact, almost every adult smoked and we were just expected to breathe it in.

Our breakfasts were high glycemic carbs and fatty processed meats.

Our generation got the frozen TV dinners, the Twinkies, the soda and the fruit juice from concentrate. I remember mixing the semi-solid concentrate goo with water to "make orange juice".

Our fruits and vegetables (when we actually had any) were covered in pesticides.

I could go on.

Contrast that to today. My daughter was breast fed, eats organic food and takes essential fatty acid supplements.

Yeah, we got screwed.
 
I don't disagree with you (it was similar in the UK only not as "good") but I think you're overlooking the "brave new world" aspect. I incline towards the view that in the 60s and early 70s, the prevailing desire was to improve upon Nature. Only subsequently, when it was discovered that Nature knew best yet these products continued to proliferate, were we being cynically and deliberately screwed.
 
Yeah, we got screwed.

I'm born in 1962, but I don't agree. My generation enjoyed plenty of technology the previous ones did not. But then hey, I entered the work force during the first of the big recessions....not a good time.
Every generation has a beef about the other generations before or after it. At the end of the day...you gotta move on...and get up for the next day.

Look on the bright side. You got all your drums, right?!
 
This is an inspiration! Well said brother...

At the end of the day...you gotta move on...and get up for the next day.

Look on the bright side. You got all your drums, right?!
 
Today's generation has Bieber, so it all balances out. ;)
A most valid point.

This is an inspiration! Well said brother...
Ian - so good to see you here, I hope all is well with you :)

I don't disagree with you (it was similar in the UK only not as "good") but I think you're overlooking the "brave new world" aspect. I incline towards the view that in the 60s and early 70s, the prevailing desire was to improve upon Nature. Only subsequently, when it was discovered that Nature knew best yet these products continued to proliferate, were we being cynically and deliberately screwed.
I think that's a fair balance on the subject Madge.


Jeff, I agree, it's not good, but I have no reason to complain. Firstly, I still smoke, so any credibility regarding care of my own welfare is out of the window. I ate well as a child too. Although these shitty additives were around at that time (but not on a USA level), my parents simply couldn't afford the premium attached to these new "better" food products. We ate red meat once a week (all local), + a lot of rabbit & pidgeon, together with vegetables grown locally on small holdings. So, by default, I dodged that bullet. Ok, my mother cooked the crap out of them, but that's another story :)
 
I was born in June of 67....The Summer of Love, baby!....and I don't like my veggies not because I wasn't given them but because I was forced to eat them. At every dinner we had to have at least a " no thank you helping" of everything that was on the table, especially veggies. You didn't get up from the table until you did. Becoming an adult was glorious for me because it meant I'd never have to eat another Brussels sprout again! And I won't...

I think every generation has something detrimental but hopefully the scientific advances outweigh the bad. I'm fascinated by anything space related....I grew up watching the shuttles and seeing man living in space on the space station. I feel sorry for our generations today who are missing out on such things because space exploration isn't deemed important enough. And think of the health advances we are missing out on of because of it.

It's always something. But I wouldn't change being born in this time. Look at what our generation has witnessed. Where we've come in the last 40 years has been amazing!
 
Follow the money. Before the 60's most women didn't work and stayed home during the day. Credit cards rolled around and now we needed two salalries to pay the bills. So Mom was working and anything that was quick and easy danything that was proper. TV dinners, fast food, etc. In an effort to be better we produced the opposite result.
 
Larry's posts on another thread got me thinking.

For anyone born in the 1960's here in America, we were betrayed by the doctors and big business.

The Space Age was in full swing. We were so advanced that we were convinced that we had bested nature.

Our mothers were told not to breast feed because "formula was better". The formula that was essentially sugar, starch and water.

Our baby food was just as bad. Sugary gunk with no nutritional value.

Trans fats replaced the essential oils in our diet because they lasted indefinitely on the shelves.

Fiber? We don't need no stinking fiber!

Our parents smoked, as a matter of fact, almost every adult smoked and we were just expected to breathe it in.

Our breakfasts were high glycemic carbs and fatty processed meats.

Our generation got the frozen TV dinners, the Twinkies, the soda and the fruit juice from concentrate. I remember mixing the semi-solid concentrate goo with water to "make orange juice".

Our fruits and vegetables (when we actually had any) were covered in pesticides.

I could go on.

Contrast that to today. My daughter was breast fed, eats organic food and takes essential fatty acid supplements.

Yeah, we got screwed.

I dont know about this, Jeff.

If you compare that with the rest of the world growing up around that time, this list seems like a Club Class ride.


...
 
I drink beer, I eat fast food, I smoke a little pot, I dont exercise enough, I sit on the couch for hours at a time, I drink energy drinks, I eat microwave dinners, but most of all I am HAPPY!

Instead of worrying about being healthy, worry about being happy. Whoppers are delicious! If eating one takes a few years off my life so be it, I dont want to live forever. My knees hurt at 40, I dont even want to think about 80. I'm not part of the brainwashed masses. I know high fructose corn syrup is bad for me, but it tastes awesome. So excuse me while I finish my cup of coffee and eat my fatty breakfast sandwich.
 
I was born in '64, and I agree with all the points except the last one, that "we got screwed." There were some good things about being born in the 60's. I saw the Stones and Zep in the mid 70's, and I got some great years with the Grateful Dead. But yes, the rise of agribusiness in that time has been highly detrimental to our society. Twinkies, Hohos, Yoohoos. We ate that shit. And loved it.
 
Maybe "betrayed" was a strong term. I understand that in some ways it was worse before and also elsewhere but when taken as a whole, the American medical system and its hubris definitely did the people a disservice.

Does anyone think that the food companies actually believed that sugar and starch mixed with water was better than mothers milk? No, they knew it was a lie from the outset. Just the same way that the tobacco companies knew that smoking causes cancer yet they fought to keep that info under wraps.

The docs happily accepted monies from those companies to play along.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4q4OHQJ0_gQ&noredirect=1
 
Does anyone think that the food companies actually believed that sugar and starch mixed with water was better than mothers milk? No, they knew it was a lie from the outset. Just the same way that the tobacco companies knew that smoking causes cancer yet they fought to keep that info under wraps.

The docs happily accepted monies from those companies to play along.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4q4OHQJ0_gQ&noredirect=1

Shame on the people for believing the facade. If we are stupid enough to take whatever is being fed to us, we are as much to blame as the people feeding this crap to us. TBH, I have no problem with people wanting to get rich. I just have a problem with them lying and putting us in a compromising position to gain that wealth. That's morally bankrupt. They could get just as rich feeding us stuff that is good for us. That's the part I have the problem with.
Think about it, if they did right by us, we would have nothing to be angry about. Everybody wins. Instead, they pollute it with outright lies and deception. They would be considered great if they went the other way. Who is considered great today?
 
Does anyone think that the food companies actually believed that sugar and starch mixed with water was better than mothers milk?

I think that in the early days they were trying to provide an alternative that women would jump at because it liberated them - which it did.

I don't know of anybody who has come to significant harm from being bottle-fed. I'm still here, at least. The main issue that I have with bottle-feeding back in the day is that most women I know who were mothers at that time were told that they couldn't breast-feed because they didn't have enough milk, and they accepted this without question.

My kids didn't have a bottle until they were 12 months old, but I think formula milk is a wonderful invention. Not every woman can or even wants to feed her children herself.
 
Today is no different than the 1960s.

Why, in thousands of years in human history, would we be so arrogant to think that we've arrived at any real "truths" today? What makes now so special? Do we really think that in 50 years we're going to look back and not debunk some of the information we're accepting as fact right now? That we're going to discover that 2013 was when we became enlightened? What are the odds of that, really?

We're no different today. Someone tells us organic food is better for us, and we believe it. I guess it just "feels right," or something, so it must be true. That there's no evidence to support the claims is beside the point, I guess. Critical thought is hard to come by anymore, it seems. Opinions are all treated as equal. Nobody has to prove anything, it's all subjective. Science is too scary.

Don't trust the doctors. Except for people like Dr. Bob Sears, he's okay. You can trust him. He's smart, and he looks fantastic in neutral-colored shirts. He must be right. He's not in it for the money. Except the books he's selling. And the talk-show appearances. And the celebrity status. No conflict of interest at all. Certainly not preying on the fears of people, or taking advantage of their paranoia. Nope. Just our best interests at heart. Why can't they all be like him?

Crazy-pills.jpg
 
If I needed to exist at any point in history to benefit from medical technology - today is my choice. We have stuff that's ridiculous.

A very, very, very special and unique procedure, with special machines done by a special doctor saved my wife's life by removing an almost unheard of tumor on the base of her brain.

Do I feel betrayed - nope.
 
I agree with much of the OP's rant. With exception of the pesticides. Yes they were used heavily, but they still are today. One good thing the US gov't did was create the Organic Label which prohibits pesticides and more importantly GMO genetically modified junk.

Today, conventional medical doctors are still betraying us by pushing vaccines like candy and are so entwined with the pharm industry that it's pathetic.

"Ask your doctor how he/she can get you on a prescription drug for life....".

Organic, healthy diet with juicing and nutritional supplements and adequate daily cardio exercise can cure almost any ailment. Sleep, no drugs or other junk.

Yeah you're gonna die some way, but why not stick around longer to see your grandkids, or just to enjoy life?
 
In a society that values $50 or 500 million dollar athletes and executives who contribute nothing to society, versus a salaried $250k doctor who creates miracles, betrayal must be part of the game.

And to those who value technological, medical and otherwise advancements so highly, I suggest watching this documentary if you haven't already.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rnJEdDNDsI&list=HL1381249589
 
I'm in the "we are lucky" camp.

Yes, there's tons of BS but it seems to me that as humans born in middle class modern society we are amongst the .0000000000001% (give or take) luckiest organisms ever born on the planet - going back billions of years.

So many poor creatures dying prematurely by having their guts sucked out ... not to mention all the early people plagued with parasites, harmful superstitions, blood sacrifices, slavery, corruption that makes our modern western dodginess look like child's play ... then in other societies today some of the above with all manner of atrocities committed on innocents etc etc.

Then, for young people today there is an uncertain future with more and more people striving to get ever larger portions of a rapidly decreasing resource pie.

We have so much to be grateful for ... but we still grumble. Me too. Even though I know all this, I can't seem to internalise it enough to be as serene about life as I logically should be.

I guess we're only human ... outrageously lucky humans but still with all the same old flaws.

Eat mostly plants. Exercise hard. Take time out to reflect. Be kind. Engage in your passions as much as your obligations allow. Try not to dwell on the BS ... all easier said than done but I think that might be the way to go.
 
I'm in the "we are lucky" camp.

Yes, there's tons of BS but it seems to me that as humans born in middle class modern society we are amongst the .0000000000001% (give or take) luckiest organisms ever born on the planet - going back billions of years.

So many poor creatures dying prematurely by having their guts sucked out ... not to mention all the early people plagued with parasites, harmful superstitions, blood sacrifices, slavery, corruption that makes our modern western dodginess look like child's play ... then in other societies today some of the above with all manner of atrocities committed on innocents etc etc.

Then, for young people today there is an uncertain future with more and more people striving to get ever larger portions of a rapidly decreasing resource pie.

We have so much to be grateful for ... but we still grumble. Me too. Even though I know all this, I can't seem to internalise it enough to be as serene about life as I logically should be.

I guess we're only human ... outrageously lucky humans but still with all the same old flaws.

Eat mostly plants. Exercise hard. Take time out to reflect. Be kind. Engage in your passions as much as your obligations allow. Try not to dwell on the BS ... all easier said than done but I think that might be the way to go.

Much wisdom here Grea...

My summation is I'll bet some of the grumblers here (perhaps not all) have never been put to the test about what it means to benefit from modern day medical technology.

Have your own 2 year old child or perhaps a spouse/significant other whose life hangs in the balance based on what is and isn't possible. If - and I say if the outcome ends up favorable, then let's revisit this topic.
 
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