Nothing is more responsible for the good old days than a bad memory.

— Franklin Pierce Adams

In the next week, many of you will have interesting discussions with family members and friends. One or two might even throw at you the famous “things were so much better in the good old days”. In fact, this idea that things were so much better in the past seems to be a major thread for the past two years on the political side of things.

My first reaction to this kind of speech is always: yeah sure, the good old days meant dying at age 30-40 (yes that was the average lifespan not so long ago) from pneumonia or any kind of infections (no antibiotics), deadly viruses (no vaccines), surgeons were actually the local butchers, and the premier approach in the medical art was leeches…and this is only to start.

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