On our increasingly passive lifestyles
Individuals born in the middle third of the 20th century were up to 10 times more likely to suffer major depression than those born in the first third of the century.
In 1939, the New York Times reported that the “problem with television is that the people must sit and keep their eyes glued to a screen: The average American family hasn’t time for it. Therefore the showmen are convinced that.televsion will never be a serious competitor of (radio) broadcasting.” (in Myers, 2007). However, today the average American spends 3-4 hours a day watching TV, which means that in a 65 year life span, a person will spend nine years in front of the tube.
The percent of farmers in the workforce was 38% at the turn of the 20th century but 3% at its end. Additionally, there have been vast increases in service-related jobs from 31% of the workforce in 1900 to 78% of all workers in 1999.
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