How Technology Influenced Our Life Today
Here is an article I wrote two years ago on technology. I planned to open a blog back then but never got around to it...so here it is..
In this world today, it is hard to live on one income. You cannot buy a house in todays market and live on one income unless you work in the middle class as an accountant, or in the business field. There are many similarities and differences between old and new houses that have been built. Technology plays an important role when combining these two objects. Technology has impacted the housing field every way possible, and has made shortcuts that enable builders to install new up-to-date features. Most of the new features include; engineering, landscaping, stone work, interior work, light effects, and much more.
Depending on the location of the house it may be cheap, or it may be expensive. The reason why houses are very expensive is because new technology comes out with features that raise the value of the house. The old houses did not have much of a selection to choose from, because of limited choices of houses. Most neighborhoods in the 1950's looked the same, there were slight differences between each house. The old houses did not have "fancy" artwork and finishing interior touches. They had only one or two options for interior and exterior work. Today, we have unlimited customization of houses.
First of all, the old houses were limited to one thousand to two thousand square footage. The average American could buy a house depending on their income. Back in the 1950s, minimum wage was around one dollar. Homes were relatively cheap. Back then, it was normal to share a bedroom with three boys in a city like San Fransisco. The typical house was a cottage; with a small family room which had a kitchen, one or two bedrooms and a bathroom. Old structures had square shapes and ugly rectangular exteriors.
Today, the average American can afford a house that is at least two-thousand square feet. The average person lives in a home with limited technology. In this sense technology means fancy artwork, and expensive interior work. In the society that we live in today, we become use to how we live and we think its normal. Numerous amounts of people think this way. This is because they haven't experienced poverty, and a place where you have to suffer and work to make a living. The rich have forgotten that they live above average and they think its normal to live the life they are living. The "rich" have many advances in their homes. Some homes that they live in, range from five thousand to fifteen thousand square foot.
Myriads of people believe that a home should be more than a typical after-work relief and weekend getaway. With todays advances in technology, people can customize interior and exterior looks, and square footage size. It all depends on the money they are willing to spend. Technology has provided a way to produce houses faster and more efficiently with less cost to the public. Sooner or later these houses will become older and out of style. The bad side about advances in technology is people become tied down to the "fancy" features of a house, and cannot live without them. When looking at houses most people say "oh! I want this house because it has stone work, heated floors, and beautiful cherry cabinets." The needs and wants of the public increase quickly. With more and more features, the public will slowly become "chained" to the bad side of the world.
The reason why its bad, is because everything will slowly vanish and disappear someday. Someday our "wants" will be focused on other objects. Different people have different perspectives on the future. We need to realize that someday everything will have its time limit. Objects on earth will go out of style and vanish like old belongings. John F Kennedy once said " Change is the law of life, and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future." I agree with his statement. A large number of people focus on the present and a large portion don't stop to think about our future. In our present there are fabulous objects that are heart becomes tied down to. Therefore, we need to stop wasting our time and money on todays fancy technological features. There will be better technology that can someday outsmart a human. Also John F Kennedy said "Man is still the most extraordinary computer of all." Technology has been created by humans and they are the only ones who can come up with new objects to fulfill our desire. That is another reason why we should look at our spending budget and be sure that technology is at the bottom of the list.
Heated tile floors, granite kitchen counter tops, lighted crown moldings, spiral staircases are one of the new advances in new homes that we see today. In this world that we live in today, we see many changes and improvements to the standard of living. The news media has also influenced our decisions. Ultimately the goal remains the same from 50 years ago. That goal is to be the most economical and simultaneously making wise decisions for your future. The proper way to make smart decisions, is to look at the needs and wants of each individual. People often replace their necessary objects with the wants in their life. Our economy today is based on the wants rather than the needs in life. Advertising also plays a big role in our life.
The real estate agents love to advertise houses, but in reality none of the fancy artwork in houses is actually necessary to live in them. The fancy artwork was not available to the public in the 1950's. In those days people didn't argue on the price of the house or the interior work. Everything appeared rational to the public. Advertising only took up a small percentage of influential impact on society. The prices were very cheap. In Oregon city in the 1950s an acre cost about one hundred dollars. The average minimum wage in Oregon was ninety cents. In about three weeks, you could actually have enough money to buy an acre of land.
The Americans that lived in that time period were honest, forgiving, and competent people. The parents could let their children go for 8 hours and not worry if they will be attacked by someone. In the good old days, it was very safe and there weren't many laws to enforce issues in the world. Everyone was living life at their self interest. Taxes and laws were significantly low and you had the option of voluntary compliance to laws, but not taxes. In this world today, the laws and taxes are greatly forcing the people to live out of their normal standard of living. Technology is enabling the government to enforce useless tax laws for their own advantage. The only aspect the government is worried about is their profit. We, as the American people need to remember our primary goals in life, and we cannot let anyone influence us in the wrong direction.
American people almost always think about bounded rationality. In the time of their life, it is up to the individual do decide whats right and wrong solely based on experience from the past. Many people decide that education is important to increase their wealth later in the future. The US will start consuming and buying unnecessary products and objects that are useless. Some of these objects might be a fancy home. America should see the big picture behind every decision they make. One cannot live on ones income unless he or she is wealthy. The wealth may take longer to accumulate. The wise people should realize on the most important aspects of life, not the unnecessary technology of todays world.
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