this post was submitted on 30 Oct 2023
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Some news that would be completely mundane today but scary or shocking in the past.

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[–] [email protected] 137 points 1 year ago (2 children)

A convicted rapist (also charged with 91 other felonies) running for president, with as much chance as winning as the other guy.

[–] [email protected] 52 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Thanks for saying this. I bet most americans dont know that a convicted rapist was their president. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/07/19/trump-carroll-judge-rape/

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm not an expert on the nuance of the US legal system, but "convicted" probably applies to the criminal system, right? What would it be in this scenario? A confirmed rapist? Just "a rapist"?

Still, the guy raped some lady and he's actively running for president. That one would be shocking any time before the mid 2010s, honestly.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (3 children)

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[–] andrewta 19 points 1 year ago (4 children)

They know . A huge chunk just doesn’t care.

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[–] [email protected] 97 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (7 children)

So in this scenario you're back in 1923?

I'm pretty sure it'd be anything including the words "World War II".

Bonus points if it also includes a date.

[–] [email protected] 42 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

You might be able to streamline the process by saying "fears of World War III" and letting them fill in the gaps themselves.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I might find that reassuring in 1923, if the world makes it a full 100 years with only one global scale war. It's a great run by historic standards.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago

Not really. Global Scale Wars were a unique thing back then. The Great War, the war to end all wars, was thought (hoped!) to be the only one of its kind. They had a lot of conflicts between major powers, but at least for the west, 17 million deaths excluding the spanish flu epidemic was a massive outlier.

Even the Mexican Revolution, listed on Wikipedia with an upper estimate of 3.5 million, wasn't a quarter of that, and it wasn't global. The last thing in the west that came (somewhat) close was the Napoleonic Wars with an upper estimate of 7 million, a hundred years earlier. China has had several massive death counts in various wars and rebellions, but that won't have been very present to the average western civilian.

WW1 brought with it a slew of new developments in military technology and capability for destruction. For the world to have not just one, but potentially two conflicts considered at least on par with The Great War would be very concerning.

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[–] Carighan 18 points 1 year ago

Yeah, like in that Doctor Who special where they tell the WW1 soldier "Now let's get you back to your first world war" and he goes "FIRST world war?!".

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[–] [email protected] 77 points 1 year ago (7 children)

"Man fired for criticising homosexuality", or maybe "man imprisoned for refusing to hire black person".

People are thinking about technology, but in 1923 people were very familiar with breathtaking technological change. The complete reversal of some social norms, on the other hand, would be almost existentially disturbing to these dudes who believe in the great benevolent Christian empires, and in some cases thought ending slavery was a mistake.

I have to wonder what the residents of the 1920's third world would think. I'm sure there would be many interesting perspectives.

[–] nnjethro 20 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Those type of headlines upset way too many people today. It's the point of the make America great again slogan.

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[–] [email protected] 59 points 1 year ago

Only the richest people have horses. Most just use cars.

[–] [email protected] 56 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That Germany is Europes biggest economy. 100 years ago Europe was fresh out of WW1 and Germany was bankrupted as punishment.

[–] dylanTheDeveloper 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Mid 1930s that headline would also be quite disturbing

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[–] [email protected] 49 points 1 year ago (3 children)

How pervasive surveillance and tracking of people (and their data) is in todays society. We've become accustomed to it but I'd bet people a century ago would be shocked at the idea of stuff like regular people being filmed from multiple angles when just going to the shops, having a device in their pocket constantly recording their location, receiving targeted advertising based on what information they've looked at previously, etc.

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[–] [email protected] 43 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Most international experts consider the outbreak of a third world war unlikely in spite of global surges of violence

Not mundane, but the implications would be horrifying to 1923 society still recovering from "The Great War".

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

And funny enough, still misleading about how soon the next one is. Nukes really changed the game (for better or worse) and they don't have them yet.

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[–] [email protected] 41 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Quite a few people would be probably surprised that colonial empires are no more

as for headlines: British PM Rishi Sunak negotiates Scottish independence with First Minister of Scotland Humza Yousaf

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

also anything involving european union

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[–] [email protected] 32 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

– “You can freely marry a Black person in most of the civilized world.”

– “Why would you?”

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[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Climate change, same sex marriage (though, perhaps not as shocking as some might expect, ditto anything trans related), potential mars colonization, coming off the heels of the Spanish flu, COVID news would probably freak em out. Ooh, the USSR being gone, and China being a world super power. The USSR would have been new to them, and it collapsing less than a century later would probably feel quite odd, especially if you could make them understand just how incredibly advanced the USSR got in such a short amount of time. Tons of stuff.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago (2 children)

In the 1920s a state fresh off a recent regime change disappearing would have been extremely par for the course. You telling that to someone from the 1960s would probably have more of an effect.

I mean, if you showed them a map it'd look nothing like their current political divide. I'm not sure they'd be more shocked by the state of what then was Soviet Russia than by Czechoslovakia being broken up or the other half a dozen changes in Europe alone.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I’m Czech, and exactly 105 years ago (October 30, 1918) the approximately dozen nationally aware Slovaks met in an inn and wrote a letter to Prague that they agree to be part of Czechoslovakia as the “Czechoslovak nation” because they knew they couldn't form a state on their own, and split off the hated Hungary. The 4 people who signed our “Declaration of Independence” 2 days prior needed someone to represent Slovakia so they went in the streets searching for a Slovak. Vavro Šrobár, a nationally Slovak lawyer who incidentally just arrived to Prague, came forth and signes the document, and became Minister of Slovakia a few weeks later.

The Republic helped Slovakia reach its industrial potential and gave its people democratic values (except for WWII, we don't talk about Slovakia in WWII). Eventually, Slovak politicians wanted power so they broke off after true democracy was restored in 1989. The Velvet Divorce was so uneventful compared to the end of Communism that people did not really care at all.

So I agree that to informed people in 1923, Slovakia being separate a century later would be no surprise. However, the formation of USSR (which I know much less about) was pretty controversial and involved a civil war so they might be actually be surprised it did last 80 years.

On the other hand, the other changes you glossed over are quite significant, especially with Germany and Poland.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago

I don't think Mars colonies would surprise them. If anything they'd expect us to have family resorts or Jupiter

[–] friend_of_satan 26 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

Many countries all around the world possess weapons that could obliterate an entire other country, or their own country if detonated by mistake, and possibly destroy the whole planet.

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 1 year ago (6 children)

You can buy groceries from a mechanical grocer, but it’ll accuse you of shoplifting like three times while checking you out.

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Just an advertisement with a smiling black guy would do.

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You can have a heart transplant.

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Most tram networks and passenger trains have been abolished. Yeah, and you can't walk on the street anymore.

[–] [email protected] 39 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Anything price related. Imagine telling anyone from 1920s that you paid 50 dollars for a piece of clothing.

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago (3 children)

That I have a device that fits in my pocket and can connect to almost anyone else on the face of the planet, as well as tell me any fact I'd like to hear, or any story I'd like to experience. And it does all this about as fast as my thumbs can type out the request.

[–] Carighan 22 points 1 year ago (7 children)

And yet 99,9% of the time you just use it to get into arguments with people you don't even know.

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Most people spend more than three hours a day staring at a small mirror in their pocket that makes colorful dancing lights.

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago

Brexit would have confused a lot of people.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

"A N***** WANTS TO BE PRESIDENT. AMERICA HAS LOST ITS WAYS TO INSANITY"

"F*****S PARADE AROUND THE CITY AND THEY WERENT SHOT AT FIRST SIGHT"

"PATRIOT ARRESTED FOR BURNING CROSSES"

"PEOPLE CLAIMING STATE AND CHURCH SHOULD BE SEPARATED ARE NOT FIT FOR OFFICE, THEY ARE COMMUNIST TRAITORS"

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I'd imagine it's the things that still kinda make it as headlines today, but don't get much coverage anymore because everyone is used to it by now.

"By the way, this weekend's mass shootings led to 10 deaths and 29 injuries total, a little more than last week. Parents, remember to bundle up your kids this fall semester with the latest BulletBlocker Youth Jacket, 10% off if you order today! Now back to the news you actually wanted to hear about: the former U.S. President allegedly commits even more crimes..."

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago

Yeah, but you have to consider that "Italian democracy overthrown by former journalist" and "bank sprayed with tommy gun" was recent news at that point. All that shit would shock people in the 60's, but in the 20's the main revelation would be the affordability of bulletproof clothing.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago

8 billion people and growing.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Nearly anything from the Onion or Florida

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago (4 children)

1923?

Lenin's body lays in the mausoleum on the Red Square for the last 99 years. Impersonators of him and Stalin walk around in their daily routine, asking money for photoes with them. In a shop not far from them, you can purchaze chinese merchandize with a soviet, russian flags, as well as with a monarchist-sympatising one, even though Romanovs are as dead as they were back then. Some items cost over a thousand of rubles, a sum that was enough to buy a factory - and that's after two recent denomonations. Pretty good that these crowds of international tourists don't count their money being there, these prices can easily drive someone insane.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago (7 children)

That nearly everyone is carrying a tracking device with them, designed to disguise itself as a convenient entertainment device.

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[–] baatliwala 13 points 1 year ago (3 children)

That people from my country actually had the gall to behave like our country belonged to us and not white people.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (3 children)

There are still no flying cars.

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