Why is the 20th century glorified? It was the WORST century ever.

Not going to include the 21st century since we're only roughly 1/10th through it.

'Kay, so imperalism and human zoos were prominent throughout Europe's and America's colonies in the former half. Yes, people would pay to observe the "primitive" Africans or Southeast Asians in their natural habitat. People referred to non-whites, particularly Africans, as "the missing link." They put Africans and other non-Europeans above the great apes but lower than the European man. You think fanboys are pathetic for their superiority complex and unwarranted loyalty? At least they aren't harming people like these jerks.

Men could still rape their wives well into the second half of the 20th century. I'm pretty sure Canada didn't criminalize it until 1984 (some time in the 1980s), and America was definitely after the 1950s. Women were objectified. It's hard to see how prevelant this really was because the mass media isn't as big as it is today.

Censorship was bad, too. I am personally in favor of this, since it wouldn't kill people to have humility, but you couldn't cuss or show people in the same bed or have a "bad ending." Adaptations of books were "fixed" to fit the harsh criteria. Oh, and you want to protest? Well, screw you and the first amendment!

Schools prohibited the teaching of evolution or limited it (microevolution only, no macroevolution), particularly in the south. The Catholic Church never denied evolution for the record and have accepted for decades now.

Child abuse was socially accepted; expected actually. Despite studies that showed links between low IQ and violent behavior for getting a "well-deserved whooping," people still did it.

And worst of all, WARS and WARLORDS. Holy crap. Democracy turns to crap, especially in Eastern Europe. Dictators take advantage of vulnerable people and make widescale wars. At least the wars of the 19th century were limited to the armies, but everyone was caught in the crapstorm that was World War I and II. And during the 1920s and 1930s, even more wars and disputes over land in the east.

Henious crimes committed. I remember hearing a documentary that talked about how the Russians forced German women to watch them nail their kids on a cross, and then they raped the women. Tons of genocide, including the Holocaust, Armenian Genocide, and the one in China. And if you're Japanese (or some other type of Northeast Asian) American in America? Off to internment camp for you! Tons of anti-semitism and racism.

Actually, ya know what, 21st century is better. Why does all the youth of today complain about the modern world? At least there's not as many dictators intentionally causing famine to kill populations.

Okay the last 3 decades where good. Happy now?Jebus213

Reverse racismdave123321

It's not the worst but the 21st century is definitely better due to advances in technology as well as a United Nations dedicated to the peace and preservation of this world (well, ideally anyways).

It's not the worst but the 21st century is definitely better due to advances in technology as well as a United Nations dedicated to the peace and preservation of this world (well, ideally anyways).

leviathan91

You left out the dropping of the atomic bomb.

All that said, they world did move from analog to digital and equal rights have come a long way at least in the western world.

But perhaps our best achievement is that the western world moved away from religion as its authority.

the 20th century is more interesting then the relativly young 21st century. if i live in the 22nd century the headline of the 21st would be capitalist rules the world and fat people accounts 2/3 of the world population if this current lifestyle continues.

All things considered it was probably the 2nd-best century ever (next to the 21st century)JML897

[QUOTE="leviathan91"]

It's not the worst but the 21st century is definitely better due to advances in technology as well as a United Nations dedicated to the peace and preservation of this world (well, ideally anyways).

gamerguru100

'Kay, so imperalism and human zoos were prominent throughout Europe's and America's colonies in the former half. Yes, people would pay to observe the "primitive" Africans or Southeast Asians in their natural habitat. People referred to non-whites, particularly Africans, as "the missing link." They put Africans and other non-Europeans above the great apes but lower than the European man. You think fanboys are pathetic for their superiority complex and unwarranted loyalty? At least they aren't harming people like these jerks.

Drasonak

You're the one being a jerk. That was 500 years ago, you can't judge them that way. People genuinely believed Africans were a different species, or at the very least a primitive form of human, like a Neanderthal. I'm sure if an advanced alien race is looking at us right now they're saying "look what a bunch of savages these humans are! just look at how they treat other animals!".

Men could still rape their wives well into the second half of the 20th century. I'm pretty sure Canada didn't criminalize it until 1984 (some time in the 1980s), and America was definitely after the 1950s. Women were objectified. It's hard to see how prevelant this really was because the mass media isn't as big as it is today.

Drasonak

Women are still objectified, the only difference is now men say pretty please. Really, I don't think in any other period in history was the woman body so widely used for financial gain! It is kind of ironic that women have finally (and rightly) been able to gain the same rights and law protection that men have enjoyed for centuries, while at the same time they continue to be used as sex objects in advertising, etc.

[QUOTE="JML897"]All things considered it was probably the 2nd-best century ever (next to the 21st century)BossPerson

Well, so far anyway.

And as far as I'm concerned, modern medicine > the renaissance

Clearly you've only studied the 20th century if you believe such a thing.

Planes and toilets.

Human history is always going to be filled with good and bad. The 20th century is no exception. We finally addressed some very important things like racism and sexism, but we also denigrated freedom and liberty to back to almost pre-Enlightenment eras which is crazy. That, and the public morality has gotten much worse in some ways while getting better in others, and no one has really gotten much smarter on average, you still have a handful or generally spiritual or philosophical people who are wise and then huge masses that are not. It is a mixed bag, not much different than the last two thousand years.

We're pretty bad now. But I think we have been pretty bad ever since we started using agriculture.

I didn't read your OP, but the 20th century was a big mark for mankind, we made huge progress. Sure there were a bunch of wars and racism, but we over came that. This is what happens when you allow people to be free, human beings make progress. This happened during the Renissance too, we saw human progress.

[QUOTE="gamerguru100"][QUOTE="leviathan91"]

It's not the worst but the 21st century is definitely better due to advances in technology as well as a United Nations dedicated to the peace and preservation of this world (well, ideally anyways).

l4dak47

Eh, every century has it's good points and it's bad ones.

I think its just the nostalgia, but you're right. But the human race made some great progress, in medicine for one.

I'm sure the discovery of penicillin is more than a big positive for humanity, even if we ran it to the ground and became immune to it.

i think the current wave of religious fundamentalism sweeping the globe and the eventual fallout from that will be looked back on with just as much terror as anything that went on in the 20th century.

everyone is batcrap crazy over whatever superfriend their region tells them to be into right now.

i think the current wave of religious fundamentalism sweeping the globe and the eventual fallout from that will be looked back on with just as much terror as anything that went on in the 20th century.

Riverwolf007

Not a single one of the things that was mentioned in the first post was not practiced in earlier centuries. The 20th century put an end to everything that had been acceptable for thousands of years prior. The 20th century had more important technological and medical advances than every other century combined. From the dawn of man to the end of the 1800s technology had not increased as much as people want to believe. Horse and buggy was the main form of transportation for the general population, candles were the main source of light and playing in the mud was the popular form of entertainment (for kids).

Many things that we use now were invented/discovered prior to 1900 but were not fully exploited until the 20th century. Motor vehicles, energy production, better medicine, computers, planes, space exploration, food safety, refrigeration and electric lighting - none of these became common and some were not even discovered until the 20th century and they very easil had a greater impact on the lives of people over anything from prior centuries (specifically motor vehicles and refrigeration)

It definitely had some of the worst wars in history, but since WW2 there hasn't been much major conflict compared to what there was.

[QUOTE="gamerguru100"][QUOTE="leviathan91"]

It's not the worst but the 21st century is definitely better due to advances in technology as well as a United Nations dedicated to the peace and preservation of this world (well, ideally anyways).

l4dak47

Eh, every century has it's good points and it's bad ones.

whipassmt

[QUOTE="whipassmt"]

Eh, every century has it's good points and it's bad ones.

cfstar

If you think the preceeding centuries were better, you are very naive.

As if war and disease and censorship and sexism and racism and genocidal fascist bastard dictators didn't exist before the 20th century. Come on.

[QUOTE="l4dak47"][QUOTE="gamerguru100"] LOL, there will never be peace in this world. gamerguru100

LOL TC, is ridiculously dumb, am I the only one who noticed that half his post was about things that used to be legal but then were ilegalized during the 20th century?

For example, the fact that men were able to rape their wives until the 1950s, that means that for thousands of years men have been able to rape their wives, but thanks to the 20th century, the 1950s in particular, they can't do it anymore.. legally.

How the f*** is that a negative point for the 20th century? thats a positive point. The same goes for black rights, womens rights etc. Not even going to bother to mention the digital revolution and everything that brought.

the greatest event in human history happened in the 18th century in Britain, the industrial revolution, but IMO the best century for its time was the 19th century, when then British Empire was a lone hyperpower and ruled the world during Pax Britannica 1815-1914.

But of course, I would rather be born in the 21st century than in the 19th century, with no games, no music, no movies, less medicine, inferior medicine, higher death rate and so on..

The 20th century saw the creation of electronic devices, the beginnings of the space age, the introduction of the internet, a major reduction in bias across the globe (compared to other centuries), etc.

When compard to other centuries that human kind has documented, I think we've accomplished more for the better in the last 100 years than humanity has accomplished over the entire existence of our species.

You speak from first hand experience? Because if you think other centuries were puppies and rainbows you're naive.LJS9502_basic

This.

Its only a matter of time before something really messed up happens in the 21st century. And as the joker once said: ''Youll see, when the chips are down these civilized people will eat each other.''

I'm going to argue the 600s were the worst.

It was a century that we has a species took the greatest leap forward in science and technology, knowledge, art, human rights, politics, education, architecture, entertainment, among many others things. I think it was a great century, 21st century is not going to be as eventful, but greater in the sense that we keep on improving.

You speak from first hand experience? Because if you think other centuries were puppies and rainbows you're naive.LJS9502_basic

A whole litter of them, infact.