Of course, back in my day, all of this was almost exactly the same as it is now. That of course is no good, what is the point of everything remaining the same? Preserve everything just as it was and there will be no place for the new stuff.
Would we ever have had the advantages of hydroelectric fallow deer if we had been intent on preserving the past at all costs? Not only that, whither the underfloor sherry trifle ducting that has become almost de rigour in all houses built since the 1950s? Or even the advances in micro-electrical technology that led to the portable rucksack, where one single person can now carry enough stuff on their back to annoy and hinder ALL the other passengers in the same train carriage?
No, if we cling too tightly to the past, then the future will wither and die. Oh, it may be quaint to take a trip down the river on a steam-powered estate agent, or - occasionally - use a coal-fired chiropodist. But I'm sure most of us - despite the nostalgic romance - would not really want to return to a previous time, no matter how many lacy petticoats a fully-qualified chartered accountant was allowed to wear on his one day off a week.
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