Vote in 2024!
We here at the70scene urge everyone to get out and vote this year. It's your Constitutional right and duty to play your part in shaping and determining how your Goverment works for you and the things that matter most to you. Yes, your vote DOES count and it matters more than ever. No matter your ideology, party affiliation, religion, race, age, sexual preference, gender or other personal characteristics, just do it - VOTE!!!!!
Stealth Wealth fashion is "In" (again)
"Stealth Wealth" is "in" (again). Not a new concept, it's long been held by the uber-rich (and those aspiring to be) through purchase of fashion status symbols that avoid glitzy labels to show wealth's purchasing power subtly and use it as a means of stating economic status softly and with civilized grace, style and aplomb. Gone are the '80s, for now, of luxury designer labels jumping in your face screaming "look at me" on clothing and lifestyle accessories. Throughout history this societal trend has come and gone with booms and busts of economic prosperity and financial setbacks.
So while this concept has been around, what exactly is it now? It is " Stealth wealth is the act of being wealthy without having to show it off" In other words, the individual is extremely wealth, can afford only the very very best and has no need to advertise status as they are so extremely confident of their status that it is unnecessary to display it through conspicious labels. see: https://luxurycolumnist.com/what-is-stealth-wealth/ This is not to say that this type of wealth is not hidden, it is in plain sight, it is readily apparent through the quality of items worn or used (think classic coveted Hermes Birkin, The Row clothing, Rolls Royce, Bentley or styling that is worn and exemplified by Gwyneith Paltrow).
Stealth wealth may also keep you safe. Wearing expensive watches, handbags, having designer pets and so forth can make one a target of theft and can endanger personal safety. This is why bodyguards are used even when the wealthy and publicly identifiable are out and about. Follow-home roberies are common, not to mention done in plain sight at gunpoint in outdoor dining areas at fine dining establishments, and having your Frenchie stolen from you at gunpoint. Keeping one's wealth on the low-down is a big plus.
Style and personal branding is up to the individual. One style and trend that never goes out of style is that of understated wealth - purchasing the highest quality of items with only a hint or small mention of the make, model or brand. If you are "in the know", you know.
See: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/26/style/gucci-bottega-veneta-milan-fashion-week.html?searchResultPosition=2 and https://archive.nytimes.com/schott.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/08/stealth-wealth/?searchResultPosition=1
Do You TickTok?
TickTok has become the hottest social media site and everyone, young or old, is using it for personal or professional purposes. The algorythm it uses is particularly pernicious in that it feeds to you suggestions based on your profile in advance suggesting you view it (vs., say Facebook where you are feed marketing and site suggestions based on the content you're already been viewing). Much debate surrounds this Chinese social media mega-platform, least of which impact upon young adults, our culture and suspicions around Chinese hacking, tracking and incursions into personal privacy. Congress has held hearings, the Biden Administration feels particularly strong in banning the platform and resolution is truly vexing and challenging. Be cognizant of what you post on the site and the risk it poses to your security and privacy.
See: https://thehill.com/changing-america/sustainability/infrastructure/3859278-tsa-too-many-travelers-leaving-pets-in-carry-ons-to-be-x-rayed/ and https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/23/technology/biden-tiktok-options.html
Your lifestyle and Global cultural changes
We, in the United States, are a Globally connected country through Internet and social media. We are not isolated but are part of a World Humanity that faces common threats and challenges. Isolationism is no longer a viable Global approach for any Country. All Countries must participate on a Global basis to preserve our planet, prevent war, famine and disease, while instituting policies and practices to promote the welfare of the World and the inhabitants therein - Human, animal species, natural resources and air.
It is tempting, and common Human behavior, to myopically focus on that which is personally threatening and operate in a manner of benefiting us personally in our daily actions. Economic theory has long touted rational behavior, yet that does not take into effect the harm to our Planet. See: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wm-macroeconomics/chapter/reading-rationality-and-self-interest/ In the year 2021 that behavior is no longer acceptable. Self-centered economic and personal behavior will no longer benefit our Country, the World and the Planet, much less contribute to one's future generations. It might be a short-term personal behavioral approach to behave in one's personal betterment without thought of the foregoing, but it brings long-term harm. It is now proper to consider one's behavior in light of Planet ecological good, from natural resources, health, welfare and Humanitarian goals. Being selfish harms us, now and will in future generations.
No matter your age or financial situation, it is a good thing to stand back, take stock of your thoughts on the above and consider modifying your behavior to better our Planet and the inhabitants therein - any proactive step, no matter how small, can make a difference. Greta Thunberg can give us insight, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greta_Thunberg
Culturally Speaking
The United States has a varied cross-pollenated cultural viewpoint, honed, shaped and fashioned by its history of diverse settlement by immigrants seeking a better future. Bringing rich foreign cultural sentiments, behaviors and norms, the United States culture is not homogenous but a multi-faceted changing landscape that impacts our overall collective norms, customs, laws, behaviors and perspectives. Yet, in the year 2021, our populace has been turned against itself due to heritage, skin color, religious beliefs and personal prejudices. The Country has turned its back on the Constitution's "one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
How we became so fractured, personally ill-informed, isolated, bigoted, hating and self-serving culturally, and how we strayed from our Founding Fathers' goals is a long, at times, tortured journey. Yet, many remain positive that we can again return, not to the good ole days, but to a new level of cultural acceptance that our Founding Fathers envisioned. It is up to all of us and each of us to focus on the Country's common good, the goals of our Founding Fathers and not tear asunder each other and our Country. Bigoted personal behavior has no place in making our Country a beacon of liberty, justice, acceptance and opportunity. It is worthwhile to reflect on our personal behavior to include a change, if necessary, to uplift our Country from erosion of its cultural goals envisioned by the Founding Fathers. As President Kennedy, thinking of the common good, aptly remarked: "Ask not what your Country can do for you, ask what you can do for your Country." See: https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/education/teachers/curricular-resources/elementary-school-curricular-resources/ask-not-what-your-country-can-do-for-you
Please Note: We take no, and do not promote, any political position. Comments are meant to promote self-reflection and observation on Society & Culture on the part of the reader.
How will the Pandemic continue to affect our Future
The Pandemic has indelibly changed our society and culture forever. Gone are the good 'ole days of pre-Pandemic, return to "normal" will be a new normal that will not resemble pre-Pandemic life. Cultural norms of stability, trust, unity, workplace relationships and more will be changed forever. The normal that was centered on work, income, school, stability, children, leisure, social mobility (and more) is changed forever. The American thread that still, pre-Pandemic, lingered around the Beaver Cleaver moral standards has been shredded. We cannot go back to what was, we must look forward to what is and the opportunities, changes, dangers and challenges that that will presented. Let's discuss...
If anything, the Pandemic has taught us to not trust in anyone and anything, and to socially distance oneself of people in our interactions. The Pandemic has disrupted and severed our nature to socially interact. Interacting on a social level requires trust in people around us. We no more can trust who has the Virus that could bring us death and we can no longer socially engage on a personal and societal level at close proximity for fear of contracting the Virus. We have learned new ways of cleanliness, social distancing and interaction that will stay with us long after the Pandemic has waned. Do we, going forward, want to be that "friendly" with people we don't know? Do we trust the people around us that they will not infect us with a disease? Do we wish to visit foreign lands where people that are culturally and societally foreign may harm us in some way? Do we want to be in close proximity to people? Is the new Normal one of distancing, lack of trust and Zoom interaction? Social events brought to us virtually for viewing in our own living spaces fulfilling? Are jammed packed stadium events a thing of the past? Is rubbing elbows closely interacting at the Slots in Vegas, the local bar or restaurant, a sporting event, at school or in mass transportation now a personal hazard? What will happen may very well affect our mental and emotional well-being unless we are able to adapt to post-Pandemic life. In fact, In fact, mental health and substance abuse has become a concern during the Pandemic and this may very well be a societal crisis going forward. See: https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/the-implications-of-covid-19-for-mental-health-and-substance-use/
Social and cultural familial and societal norms have been shattered due to the Pandemic. We no longer interface, save for virtually, with our neighbors, extended family members, leisure groups and so forth. Virtual is our new interaction tool, lacking in touch, hugs and personal interaction. We no longer can see the full faces of people around us in public, hidden by masks - only the eyes give a semblance of how the distanced person is interpreting our verbal and non-verbal exchanges. Human nature is accustomed to "reading" our interactions in society by facial expressions and that ability is constrained by facial coverings. Going forward, facial coverings are expected to be required for awhile. How are we going to be able to socialize our children going forward if they are to be socially distanced interacting with 3/4 of a face only reading eye actions? Our children cannot attend school, doing so only virtually, losing out on social interactions and mental and emotional developmental needs. They are being brought up in a family environment, isolated save for virtual interaction, lacking outdoor play with fellow children. What will this do to their emotional and mental development? See: https://news.yahoo.com/surge-student-suicides-pushes-las-153720656.html Many children will be left behind due to lack of Internet accessibility - some have only a cell phone to access their schoolwork that can only be used when in a free Internet zone because their parents cannot afford the Internet and computer tools to do so. Parents are either unable or incapable of helping their children learn virtually and this will be an issue going forward. Virtual learning is here to stay, whether on a full-time or a hybrid level due to delivery efficiencies, cost savings and proven health benefits to avoid social contact. The cultural divide between those have have and those that do not will only widen due to educational disability due to the inability to fully access and take advantage of distance learning. School should be for learning and socialization, but it should not be used any longer as a physical parking spot for children due to lack of supervision because of parental need to work. Virtual learning provides a tool for parents to interact with their children in a learning environment which has been sorely lacking for quite a while - dumping all learning responsibilities on overworked teachers. Virtual learning promotes parent-child interaction in a meaningful manner, yet the need for mental and emotional developmental growth will always be there on a social level so that it must be augmented with outdoor interaction. This, during the Pandemic, has been curtailed and going forward the balance between virtual learning, interaction with other children and development can be balanced and even enhanced. Will the children of tomorrow be "concrete jungle" kids, virtually learning from home, socially distancing playing outside solo with no sports or close social interaction (or using the home gym training)? Are we on the cusp of a permanent social change that will never reverse?
The whole concept of a home environment has been upended and will probably not reverse even after the Pandemic has waned. The "home" in whatever manner it is constructed, has always had a social, emotional and cultural bond in our Society. Safe, inviting and comforting, it has special meaning to all of us. Yet, the very idea of a home and what that means has drastically changed due to the Pandemic. Some of moved out of urban areas to countryside living to escape the virus, some have moved back into their parental home, some have turned to other non-traditional ways - living in sailboats, tiny portable homes, campers, buses - and, sadly, on the streets in tents and in their cars due to financial circumstances. Yet, the will to survive and go on living in one's home, no matter what type and shape, will always live on after the Pandemic has abated. If anything, the Pandemic has shown us the importance of what a home means, what comfort and solace it can give, no matter how big or small, how it is constructed and where it is located. The film Nomadland is an important glimpse into alternative living and the meaning of "home." See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomadland_(film)
Our notion of "security" has been deeply ruptured due to the Pandemic. We are no longer financially and physically secure and this may be the new normal going forward. The Pandemic has caused businesses to close, people to lose their jobs and homes, and it is predicted that many jobs will not return due to business closures and changes due to the Pandemic. Without governmental aid, many individuals are facing homelessness and hunger. In our favored society, we are seeing breadlines. How can this be? Are more people destined to descend into poverty due to the Pandemic? We no longer have a sense of stability and security brought by employment. The idea of "getting ahead and moving up", long the American dream, has been shattered for many. Some many never reverse the economic damage wrought by unemployment. The American work ethic is being sorely challenged, many have given up looking for work. Families are suffering. Those in certain industries are able to go on working from home earning a good living, while the backbone of America's employees, the lower wage breadwinners have lost their jobs or cannot work from home because of their skills. Even highly paid white collar workers are being laid off due to business efficiencies gained from outsourcing and remote working arrangements. There is no security for anyone today and the nature of the employment "contract" between employers and employees is changed and will be changed going forward. Yet, as dismal as this is, there are glimmers of hope...
The employer-employee labor relationship has dramatically changed due to the Pandemic. The Pandemic was unexpected and there was little time for our culture and society to adjust to without extreme job losses. Yet, there are signs that this may not be forever and positive change for employees and employers is on the horizon. It will take time to assimilate the changes but they are coming at a fast pace. First, the long held 8-5 work day spent in an office is no longer a requirement, many are able to work entirely remotely and are not expected to work from an office. With that in mind, an employee can live anywhere and not necessarily close to the employer office. How does working from Paris for an American company sound? How liberating it can be in a WFH employee? The days of being bound to an uncomfortable chair in a drab office environment having to interact with dysfunctional coworkers eating smelly food are gone! Never having to view the office plaques of company goals and objectives developed by HR not aligned with employees' own goals and objectives are gone! Gone are the happy schmaltzy work posters encouraging hard work. Now, the work environment is one where an employee (or contractor) is comfortable in their own home environment with their pet. As great as this seems, it has brought about social isolation, a feeling of always tethered to work and pressure to handle multiple tasks while in the WFH environment (children learning virtually, inability to concentrate, the inability to detach and wind down from work pressures and stress). But, this can be overcome and will be in the not so distant future (children will return to school, distractions will wane and methods to detach from work will continue to develop - over and above shutting down the computer). The 1950s 8 to 5 working environment with all the dysfunctional baggage that accompanies it is gone. Company management MUST move forward to understand that work does NOT necessarily make an employee happy or complete an employee's passion in life, take a more compassionate approach, break the old system of distrust of remote work and understand that leading and mentoring will take a new approach. Face time is over!!!!! Companies, too, have learned a lot to survive the pandemic. All industries have been impacted, those that are surviving are acknowledging the benefits of the WFH employee, the cost savings of not having to lease large physical locations and the efficiencies of enhanced IT infrastructure and the WFH business model. This may mean downsizing and loss of support personnel and outsourcing/contracting functions, we shall see. Companies have pivoted out of sheer necessity and have embraced other business models and will continue to do so. The future is bright for them if they can innovate.
Where do we go from here? With the vaccine rolled out it is likely that we may return to a new normal - some things the same, others new and improved. As with the Industrial Revolution, the IT Revolution and now the Pandemic has changed our society and culture forever and, it appears, for the good. We must look forward to helping those in our Country weather the changes to economically and socially advance themselves and our Country in the future.
Societal changes - Where have we gone wrong?
Fist fights on planes, injured flight attendants, shouting and shoving in stores and restaurants, on the streets, at school board meetings, name calling, throwing items - adult tantrums are rampant and ingrained in our society today. How and why have we lost our social manners and respect for fellow human beings? No matter the cause, anyone can be a victim of an aggressive adult tantrum anyplace they may be.
Psychologically speakimg this phenomenon has been simmering and growing for years. Given the culture shocks of disrupted social norms, societal stability, disease, unemployment, mass shootings, WFH, child care challenges and more, psychiatrists agree that there is so much stress and disruption in society and our lives that adults have reached the psychological boiling point and are acting out in less than desired ways. Adults can no longer restrain themselves in public and responding to even the slightest challenge. While this has been acknowledged and mental health experts are available to assist, Americans' ingrained cultural approach to mental health does not regard it as something that should be sought out.
Our society needs to tackle this behavior forecefully so that we can regain our personal and collective sense of normal behavior in society. For more see: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/anger-control-protests-masks-coronavirus/2020/06/29/a1e882d0-b279-11ea-8758-bfd1d045525a_story.html
Social Media and You
All of us have some form of social media engagement that we participate in. While social media does perform a good deed in getting news out to the public at large as newspapers and publications do, it is also a fountain for deliberate miscommunication, biased reporting and outright false information that can lead to devastating and sometimes deadly personal decisions. It can and has proven to be a detrimental influence in children and adult lives, even manipulating behavior to achieve the informational objective.
So ingrained is social media in our and the Global communities that we have become addicted to it. There is no turning back. The dilemma now is how to manage and oversee social media's influence and informational output for the common good. The omnipresent large social media entities have run largely uninhibited and unregulated leading to detrimental cultural attitudes, behavior and beliefs. Congress has held hearings and certainly some sort of oversight will be taken in the future. The problem is how to oversee social media fairly while not curtailing our right to free speech. It is a topic fraught with debate and our inability to see what and how social media will play into our lives and culture in the future.
Nonetheless, form your beliefs and behavior according to an educated exploration of the subject at hand.
For more see: https://hbr.org/2021/01/are-we-entering-a-new-era-of-social-media-regulation
gun violence - part of our american lifestyle
The "right to bear arms" is an American construct guaranteed by the Constitution ingrained in our society. This is a contentious societal and political debate yet gun violence is ipart of our society now and is a permanent threat to safety and security at all levels. Children are gunned down in schools, politicians, school boards and the judiciary are threatened, demonstrations give way to violence, workplace violance is common and public gatherings are a popular situation for gun violence to occur. There does not seem to be a politically and culturally correct solution that all can agree on, only that it must stop. Causes of gun violince are myriad and there is no one answer why it happends.
Take precautions, stay vigilant, don't place yourself or your loved ones in a threatening situation, if you are a gun owner then be sure you secure your firearms correctly and above all - if you "see something, say something, do something" to prevent gun violence.
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_violence_in_the_United_States
is it the truth?
Today the American populace is in a state of confusion, is what we hear, read or see the truth or a fictional account that is made of lies, altered images and media stories based on falsehoods. Do you believe all that you hear, read or see? Could it be AI/ChatGPT doing the information, possibly with falsehoods? What basis in fact are you relying your thoughts, opinions and decision-making on? Do you research what you hear, see or read to be well informed or do you take at face value single sources with questionable credentials? Our democracy depends upon well educated, well informed and individual duty to make personal decisions based on true facts from reliable unbiased sources. Stay educated, informed, aware and engaged in our political and societal changes.