Were people friendlier in the past than they are today?

In my childhood, recalls from my grandparents about their “good old days” have all been etched deep in my mind, even down to the smallest details. Those stories presented purer and closer relationships at that time. However, huge changes of society have transformed people’s feelings and behaviors today. Therefore, I have to admit that people in the past were friendlier than people are now.

Needless to say, social reality has made human relationships more complex today. In today’s money-oriented world, friendships may be built on the basis of business profits or personal gains. People are gradually getting accustomed to such a modern way of making friends. In most cases, once they complete business tasks, the relationship established before will readily break down. Also, lack of trust forces people to wear a smiling mask and communicate unfaithfully. Therefore, distinguishing between true and fake friendships becomes difficult.

Besides, heavy burdens from work and study make time too limited for people to express friendliness. After all, everyone has to cherish time to fight for their survival and prosperity. To them, following the tight schedule seems more urgent than maintaining relationships with others. In many cases, people only focus on computers instead of chatting with others, which makes their relationships much worse.

By contrast, simplicity and openness may be the best words to define people’s relationships in the past. For instance, before the establishment of market-based economy in China, most of the school leavers were assigned long-term jobs by the government. Such stable work renders harmonious working atmosphere because of similar working goals and fewer competitions among people. Under this circumstance, people find it easier to make good connections with their colleagues.

Unfortunately, people’s friendliness remains decreasing today. So I think it is a must for us to discover the hidden friendliness and express it bravely, just like our older generations.

In my childhood, recalls from my grandparents about their old stories, even smallest details, have all left a deep impression on me. Those stories presented purer and closer relationships at that time. However, relations among people are drifting away nowadays, though they are geologically more connected. Therefore, I have to admit that people in the past were friendlier than people are now.

First, human relationships become more complex in terms of business. In today’s money-oriented world, friendships may be built on the basis of business profits. People are gradually getting accustomed to such a modern way of making friends. In most cases, once completing commercial bargains, the established trust could readily collapse. Invisible to trust forces people to wear a smiling mask and communicate unfaithfully. Therefore, distinguishing between true and fake friendships becomes difficult.

Besides, heavy burdens from work make time too limited for people to express friendliness. After all, everyone has to cherish time to fight for their survival. In order to meet deadlines, people prioritize in finishing their work rather than maintaining relationships with others. Under this circumstance, people grant friendly chats as just a waste of time. Instead, they focus on their tight schedules, which makes their relations more isolated.

By contrast, simplicity and openness may be the best words to define people’s relationships in the past. For instance, before the maturity of market-based economy in China, most of the graduates attained long-term jobs assigned by the government.  Such stable work increases cohesion in groups since workers have fewer competitions. Under this circumstance, people find it easier to make good connections with their colleagues.

In a word, people’s friendliness remains decreasing today. So I think it is a must for us to discover the hidden friendliness and express it bravely, just like our older generations.

In my childhood, recalls from my grandparents about their old stories, even smallest details, had all left a deep impression on me. Those stories presented pure and close relationships in the twentieth century. However, despite more social connections through Internet nowadays, relations among people seem to be drifting away. Therefore, I have to admit that people in the past were friendlier than people are now.

First, human relationships become more complex, especially in business. In today’s money-oriented world, friendships may be built on the basis of commercial profits. People are gradually getting accustomed to such a modern way of making friends. For instance, in order to accomplish a successful bargain, both sides will show friendliness to each other. But friendship behind such smiles on the surface is unstable. Once the bargain fails to meet expectations of any side, their relationships may break up subsequently.

Besides, heavy burdens from work make time too limited for people to express friendliness. After all, everyone has to cherish time to fight for their survival. In order to meet deadlines, people prioritize finishing their work rather than maintaining relationships with others. Therefore, people consider friendly chats as just a waste of time. Instead, they focus on their tight schedules, which makes their relations more isolated.

By contrast, simplicity may be the best word to define people’s relationships in the past. For instance, before maturity of market economy in China, most of the university graduates attained long-term jobs assigned by the government. Such stable work increased cohesion in groups since workers had fewer competitions. Under this circumstance, people found it easier to make good connections with their colleagues.

In a word, people’s friendliness keeps decreasing today. So I think it is a must for us to discover the hidden friendliness and express it bravely, just like our older generations did.