Musings: Are we better off now than in the '60s?
The widespread use of plastic today is considered a health threat. Credit: Port Washington School District
I grew up in the 1950s and ’60s. It seemed as if almost everyone smoked everywhere, including the junior high (middle) school boys and girls bathrooms. Cars spewed lead in their exhausts, and governments tested nuclear bombs in the atmosphere.
Milk and soda came in glass bottles that you had to return. The butcher in the grocery store wrapped your meat in freezer paper. Eggs, milk, orange juice, yogurt and a bunch of other food came in cardboard containers.
Had you asked people what Styrofoam was, they would have given you a blank stare.
Today, our bodies are full of plastic. Many people in their thirties and forties can get colon cancer or diabetes and/or are obese. Is this from highly processed foods and mega-sized sugary drinks?
So, please remind me how we are healthier now. Oh, that’s right: Medicine and science have improved so much that they can save us from ourselves.
— Bill Olson, Westhampton
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