There was once a time when a pole was very often used to hold a flag. Nowadays it is being used for dancing as well. There was a time when vegetables and fruits were always good for you. Nowadays we are not so sure because of pesticides, genetic modifications and the plastic look these things have.

There was a time when air-conditioning was a luxury, when holidays by plane were rare and far between, when swimming pools were for the rich. We didn’t worry in those days about global warming or environmental catastrophe. Now we have the luxuries and comforts but we worry because consumerism creates bigger carbon footprints, which in turn creates global warming.

There was a time when we believed that our faith and our actions could lead us to heaven or to hell. The lines were very clearly defined by our Mother Church speaking on God’s behalf. Those days of oppression and superstition are over for many of us because we have been enlightened and we realise we are rational, we have intellect and free will which makes us able of wise decisions for ourselves.

Science and philosophy now define truths and ethics.

Nowadays we talk about God as of some kind of benign being who loves us. We do not talk about hell because it can cause tantrums to our children.

There was a time when the person owning a penis was a male and the person having a vagina was female. Nowadays it’s not so easy to tell. It is not so much about what shows on the outside but more about how one feels on the inside.

There was a time when Mother Nature endowed us with opposite sex attractions and facilitated the furthering of the human species. Now it seems like Mother Nature is turning in on itself in an ever increasing number of cases and therefore not furthering the species because the same sex attraction does not procreate.

There was a time, and very often it still is, when a child was the result of a loving relationship between a married man and woman. Nowadays this exclusivity is not monopolised any more. We can easily gather the parts from different producers, plant them in a surrogate and give the final product to a couple to bring up as a family – which is not how it was made to work.

The consequences of such engineering on many levels is still to unfold and where these processes will take us or stop nobody knows. Family trees were relatively simple and hierarchal. We had few ethical problems about lineage – now we have so many.

Nowadays people are living much longer. The only problem is that quite often they are praying to God to take them

There was a time when a child who did not get on well in school was either lazy or stupid. Nowadays we realise there are things like dyslexia, ADDs and other conditions which are diagnosed as the cause. Thanks to this the child is not

but helped.

There were times when severely handicapped children or Downs Syndrome persons where hidden from society. Nowadays most parents and society provide support, love and integration for these persons.

There was a time when a grown-up could hug and embrace a child. Nowadays one thinks twice before he or she does so, because it can easily raise suspicions.

There used to be a time when a tattoo was something of sailors and the underworld. Nowadays tattoos are everywhere as fashion. There was a time when a woman was called a prostitute because of the way she dressed and because of her seductive looks and provocativeness.

Nowadays many women dress and look that way, but we don’t call them prostitutes and lust is probably a good thing. If you have it, you should flaunt it. If you don’t have it then a whole mixture of procedures and chemicals can produce a Barbie of you which will give you confidence and self-esteem.

There was a time when people did not live that long – anywhere above 80 was great. Nowadays people are living much longer. The only problem is that quite often they are praying to God to take them.

There was a time when virtue, moderation and restraint led to joy. They still do but we are finding it difficult to distinguish between feeling good and high, which can be achieved through goods and pleasures in a hedonistic way rather than a state of Eudaimonia, which is achieved in a completely different way and which needs far too many words to be explained.

There was once a time when the law supported the faith but now the faith has to promote and defend itself.

There was a time when people suffered and died to defend a belief or a value. To have suffered and to have held strong was the stuff of saints and heroes. Now there is nothing really worth suffering or dying for. What seems to be important is that one is happy and avoiding the pain, never mind the hero part.

The dying and suffering part will probably be inflicted onto you, involuntarily, by those who kill for their faith.

There was once a time when the love of a mother for her child was the paradigm of love. Now the mother has turned onto her own offspring inside the safest of places - the womb.

Life is in flux and we cannot hold change. However, while we are a consequence of change we are the only being with free will to cause change. The question we need to continuously remind ourselves is: are we doing the right thing?

I believe that there isn’t one easy answer. If we are at least conscious of our impact through our egoistic or altruistic actions we might seek to individually and collectively leave a better world for those who come after us.

David Pace O’Shea is an observer, thinker and well-wisher for a better society.