It is truly amazing how much society changes over the course of such a small time frame in human existence. Comparing common life 100 years ago to the lives lived by people today is like comparing night and day. Items that were not offensive back then are extremely offensive by today’s standards, women and people of specific ethnic backgrounds had very few rights in comparison to native white males, and the way in which we live our daily lives in general have been transformed drastically. Additionally, our overwhelming dependence on technology is one of the largest changes by far; as well as the fact that a much larger denomination of the populace lived on a ranch or farm and grew their own food in the earlier 20th century compared to the minute percentage of population today live on a farm and feed the remaining population.
As mentioned, one of the biggest changes that has taken place is the dominance of technology in our modernized society. Even backtracking ten years, it was uncommon for a child in elementary and even Jr. high school to own a cell phone; now more kids than not own a cell phone that they use on a regular basis. In conjunction with cell phone ownership, the amount of time spent watching television and surfing the internet takes up a large portion of free-time in comparison to the time being active and doing other activities in years past. This is one large issue that has vastly contributed to the obesity epidemic in modern American society.
In all, our society is extremely innovative and technologically based. By no means have we degraded in terms of how we have evolved as a whole when compared to 100 years ago. However, we are much more dependent on amenities such as technology and prepared food that is contributing to an overall unhealthy lifestyle and habitual actions that are then passed on to future generations.