What historic event most shaped your world?

[JamesSavik]

For me it was World War II.

 

A great many of my relatives fought in that war and the military became a big part of our family culture.

 

After the war, and probably most important, my father and uncle used the GI bill to be the first men in the family to go to college.

 

This permanently raised the status of the family from poor farmers and ranchers to professionals.

 

I grew up in the Cold War under the shadow of nuclear warfare- another legacy of WWII.

 

I make my living in computers and networking- another technology that born (or grew exponentially) out of WWII.

 

Even though I was born 17+ years after the war, I can think of no other historical event that had its impact.

 

_________________________________

 

 

What historic event most shaped your world?

 

I'm curious to see what you think and your reasoning behind it.

[Mark Arbour]

For me it was probably the Cold War. I've been known to be egotistical, so I guess it's only appropriate that I should think of myself.

 

From the day I was born until the Fall of the Soviet Union, that was a constant cloud hanging over my head. I remember as a kid, lying awake at night, wondering what would happen if an atom bomb went off. I'd say it was more like a long dull ache, rather than a short, sharp pain (like WWII). Still, it transformed my way of thinking about the future, and probably made me a much more "live for today" kind of person.

 

And I think it made me a stoner too.

 

[Graeme]

An interesting question, but not one easily answered.

 

I can't think of any particular thing that has shaped my world, so I think it has to be something that shaped the society I grew up in. As such, all I can think of is the creation of the Australian nation itself. Australia is an unusual nation in many ways, as we've never had a civil war, and we have only ever been personally attacked for a very short time in WW2. Our single most memorable military event was a massacre -- we were the ones massacred (Gallipoli), though another military event where we won is also well known (Tobruk). These two contrasting military events in many ways encapsulate the Australian spirit, and the society in which I grew up. Striving, even when we're losing (Gallipoli) and refusing to give up (Tobruk).

[Mark Arbour]

An interesting question, but not one easily answered.

 

I can't think of any particular thing that has shaped my world, so I think it has to be something that shaped the society I grew up in. As such, all I can think of is the creation of the Australian nation itself. Australia is an unusual nation in many ways, as we've never had a civil war, and we have only ever been personally attacked for a very short time in WW2. Our single most memorable military event was a massacre -- we were the ones massacred (Gallipoli), though another military event where we won is also well known (Tobruk). These two contrasting military events in many ways encapsulate the Australian spirit, and the society in which I grew up. Striving, even when we're losing (Gallipoli) and refusing to give up (Tobruk).

 

It's been 19 years since I last visited Australia, but I remember the trip vividly. So many beautiful places, so many friendly people, and so many hot men, and for a relatively small population too. It was a place that really impressed me. Your pride in your country is more than warranted.

[KJames]

It's been 19 years since I last visited Australia, but I remember the trip vividly. So many beautiful places, so many friendly people, and so many hot men, and for a relatively small population too. It was a place that really impressed me. Your pride in your country is more than warranted.

 

And, for a country that started as a Royal Penal Colony, they turned out all right.

[someone else]

I am Australian, and the event that I regard as most significant in my life, apart from the experience of being a parent, is the 1972 Labour government. After 23 years in opposition (it was a 2-party system), the Labour government was set to drag Australia out of the 'fifties and into the world. I was 18 at the time and was due (overdue) to register for national service - a lottery where the prize was 2 years of military service, typically including a tour of Vietnam. Just before the deadline for my registration, the new Labour government abolished national service. This changed the course of my life, as I had decided that I would become a "draft resistor" and, if necessary, go to prison. The issue had already cost me last shreds of my relationship with my father, but the sudden disappearance of the issue did not heal the rift. However, the relief was massive, and it allowed me to think of a future without prison (naturally, gay sex was illegal in those days, but custodial sentences were infrequent).

 

The Labour government was also important to me because it forced me to confront some ugly truths about politics and society. Being young and somewhat naive, I genuinely expected that wrongs would be righted and massive social change would occur (you are familiar with the expression "young, dumb and so full of cum"? that was me, then). Unsurprisingly, politicians ran the government and rapidly proved their irrelevance and impotence; small minds came to the fore and cruelly dashed my young idealism. I was incredibly disillusioned at the time, but I did manage to find new perspectives and survive; a little more aware of the world and its ways.

 

In some respects, the 1972 Labour government forced me to grow up; it certainly marked a time of turbulence and change in my life.

[Nephylim]

Well I am going to look a little further back. I am thinking of the time when angels first 'knew' man. I do not believe that they were some heavenly creation serving God because i do not believe in that God. They were, however an immensely advanced civilisation and they were teaching humanity all kinds of things from herbalism to the art of war but filled with good grace and love. When civil war ended that with the fall humanity was cut adrift and left to fend for themselves. They became savages but with enough knowldge to be dangerous.

 

If they had been allowed to complete the process and integrate humanity the course of history would have been very different.

[Hoskins]

Locally, the 1967 Detroit riot, followed closely by mandatory racial integration in our school district. We lived in Pontiac (Michigan), and when fighting broke out there, my dad was unable to get home to us (which scared him badly) because the roads were blocked, and had my mom pack us all up and go to her sisters house in a different town. Apparently while we were gone the fighting was rather close to our house but I've never been able to corroborate my dad's story on that. It totally changed his opinions on race, and basically he no longer trusted black people.

 

When mandatory integration came to town in 1971, there were some school buses that got bombed. If it weren't for family issues, my dad would have moved us out right then but instead we were bused across town to different schools for a couple of years. I became much more empathetic to racial differences (despite being beat up because I was white), my dad grew firmer in his racism, which stayed as a point of contention between us until he died. He moved us out of Pontiac as soon as he could and from there my life changed utterly (and mostly not to the good).

 

Nationally the 1973 oil embargo, which led to higher gas prices and the beginning of foreign auto imports. I believe the gas crisis started the decline of the domestic auto industry. The rise of import cars and the impact on the unions put pressure higher wages/benefits for workers but created unsustainable retirement and pension programs, which have in turn led to the fall of the industry in Michigan. This has had obvious and very negative impacts on Michigan and affected my work and home life in lots of different ways.

[MikeL]

My parents grew up during the Great Depression. My father dropped out of high school to work and help his family; he later finished school. Our parents were always careful with money and taught us valuable lessons about what things are important in life.

 

I was born a few months before Pearl Harbor drew the US into the war. My father joined the Navy and had the unusual distinction of remaining stateside throughout the war; he never even got on a ship for an orientation cruise. My mom and I were able to live with him most of the time he was in the service and most of that was in California. He was assigned to the Medical Corps and when the Navy took over the Ahwahnee Lodge in Yosemite as a rehabilitation hospital, we lived there in a one room tourist cabin for about 18 months. That experience has influenced me and my own family to travel widely throughout the US (including several return trips to California) and Europe.

[TetRefine]

No doubt, as a younger person, it's 9/11. I was only 9 when it happened, but it has obvious earth-shattering effects that are still very much prevelent today. We went from a time of peace and prosperity in the '90s to a state of war in 2 theateres in the '00s.

[Arpeggio]

9/11 was definitely the most important, significant one to me. I was living in New York when it happened, and I was okay at first until my mom came home and said she saw body parts on the streets. It made me sick to my stomach.

 

I never considered that people could do this to innocent people. After that I was scared of more bombings, but we moved pretty quickly after that, my step dad transferred jobs.

Edited January 31, 2010 by Arpeggio

[paya]

I think it was when my country was put in the Soviet sphere of influence. Though I can't belittle the role of the Czechoslovak communists too. And the Invasion of the Warsaw Pact troops in 1968 was important in shaping my world of today as well. So yeah, I blame the communists. No matter what they did, it was no good and it will probably still influence me for a long time.

[Estevan]

9/11 as my mom was living a block away from the pentagon. All the phone lines were down and I couldn't get a hold of her for days, I was still in Colorado going to middle school. How I ironic though, almost 9 years later I find myself live in Pentagon City. Must have drawn me to it. Oh and The Columbine Shootings could also have shaped my life, as I also went to a school near it and we were on lock down. They had us under lock down like someone wanted to shot us 5th graders, but it did wake me up to violence at a young age. Whats sort of traumatizing is that I remember watching all of this on the news, they basically sat us all down and let us watch all of these events happen. I don't think when Pearl harbor was attacked, they showed kids in the classroom what was going on.

 

But I remember watching the Twin Towers falling and people being blasted out of the buildings from the pressure as they fell. I remember that student from Columbine, jumping out of that window trying to get away from the shooting and nearly killing himself doing it. Those are somethings I'll probably associate with shaping my world.

[Arpeggio]

But I remember watching the Twin Towers falling and people being blasted out of the buildings from the pressure as they fell.

 

I still get sick thinking about it.

Edited February 8, 2010 by Arpeggio

[JamesSavik]

But I remember watching the Twin Towers falling and people being blasted out of the buildings from the pressure as they fell.

 

When I saw the towers fall, it pissed me off because I knew what was going to happen. I knew that for six months that Americans would scream for blood and then change the channel, the Tin Hat Brigade (otherwise known as "truthers" or dumb-shits depending on who you ask) would never leave it alone and that it would become the biggest political circle jerk of all times.

 

It turned out that my first impressions were right.

[TetRefine]

I remember watching a clip of a man trying to climb down the outside of the tower to a safer floor. He was almost there and then he slipped and fell over 70 floors to his death. It still gives me a queasy feeling in my stomach just thinking about it.

[rknapp]

The Big Bang.

 

 

 

 

 

Seriously. It's the foundation of my beliefs. I don't take it to a religious level, like many bible-thumping ass-clowns do with their beliefs, but its at the core of how I explain the world.

 

 

How do I explain humanity? It starts before 9/11. Back in middle school, we had one extra drill besides the fire drill. It was a lock-down procedure where all students lined up against the wall that contained the entrance to the classroom. Then, the teacher would close the windows and blinds, shut off the lights, lock the door, and guard the students. Anyone in the halls had to quickly break off their course and head to the nearest open classroom, before they were locked. School administrators would scans the halls, bathrooms, gyms, lunchrooms, etc. for strays. Why? School shootings. These drills were my first indication of how moronic the world is, as certain brain-damaged individuals felt the need to shoot up schools. This was probably in the wake of Columbine.

 

How is my particular world defined? One simple word. Energy.

[writeincode]

The publication of "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life" by Charles Darwin

[darkfoxprime]

Appropriately for Valentine's Day, the historic event with the most personal import that I can think of right now is California Supreme Court's [not-long-lasting] legalization of marriage between any two people.

[zland666]

Martain luther king. or i wouldn't be in a school who now it doesn't matter what race you are and now there aren't even name brands. You see the geeky smart kid hanging out with a popluar mexican! Or that's how my school is. But there are a lot of shit talkers so I keep to myself://

But yeah Martain is my hero=]

[writeincode]

Having mentioned Charles Darwin previously I guess that that more shaped my ideology but my world? I guess WW2- my great grandparents on one side died in camps, my grandfather got away and while running met my grandmother. After the war ended he wanted to get as far away as possible just in case another WW started so off to Australia it was and here my family was formed with lots of mixed immigrant blood.

 

My life revolves around that Aussie laid back, hot and deadly environment and so I guess WW2 shaped my world more than a book's publication- wouldn't have been born without the war, which seems kinda morbid.