Yeah, people who have an 18th century mentality and world-view are not going to be comfortable. Look at you.
the 18th century mentality is the foundation of which you're using to ***** at it now.
maybe you underestimate common sense and long term vision of your short term need to cry a lot.
I'm personally admiring the assumption that a "21st century mentality" is automatically superior.
we were a lot tighter a country in 1778 than now. is this progress? tearing the foundation out from under you cause it's old?
shakespeare is relevant today because he wrote in universal terms. some people don't get that just because someone said something "way back when" its no longer relevant. the constitution was written in as much universal terms as they could in order to address human behavior, not talking about the "technology" around them. when people say "this isn't 1776" they're really saying "i don't get it, this constitution" and they become the problem.
They're saying, "All these boundaries and constraints annoy me, because they prevent me from doing whatever I want. So I will declare them 'obsolete' and 'archaic'."
I'm not saying there aren't some universal truths that we haven't gained a deeper understanding of over time, but I don't think the determination over the last century or so to ignore, and therefore relearn, certain inconvenient truths has improved society. There are some times when reinventing the wheel just leaves you with a broken vehicle.
For example, we don't WANT to believe that it's necessary to protect and allow free speech when we find it repugnant, because it sucks to have to hear people saying things that mark them as ignorant, hateful, and evil. So we have to relearn what our Founding Fathers already knew and told us in our Constitution: that EVERYONE'S speech is disagreeable to SOMEBODY, and if everyone doesn't have that freedom, no one does.
We find etiquette to be stiff and formal and awkward, requiring too much patience and effort, so we pretend that we're "freer" and "more open" and "casual". And what happened? We basically can't tolerate each other outside our own Balkanized little cliques and people are astonishingly self-absorbed, crass, and rude . . . and violent.
It's inconvenient to have control of your life dependent on the whims and decisions of another person, so we "forget" why two-parent families, with one of each sex, are important to children. We "forget" that we even have an obligation to put the good of our children ahead of our own wishes. And then we stand around, wondering why so many of our young men are little better than violent animals, and so many of our young women are promiscuous, and both groups are so often incapable of maintaining normal lives and relationships.
Earlier generations just knew this stuff, it was obvious, and they didn't feel the need to question it. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. WE, on the other hand, decided it was broke simply because it wasn't how we wished it were, and then we decided we were smart enough to "fix" the universe to our liking. And now we sit around, going, "Gosh, THIS is why these things are important", as though the proper response isn't "Duhhh."