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Exactly, if you compare statistics, you will see that the percent was much, much lower in the '50s.
Maybe, maybe not. Back in the 50s, people lied about things like unwed daughters having babies and then giving them up for adoption. I doubt that the stats are completely accurate.
What decade do you think was/is better than the '50s? As I said, the '50s was not the only decade in which there was bigotry and discrimination.
In case you don't know it, bigotry and discrimination still exists; it's not completely gone.
We are talking about the 50's. Any time up to the 1950's isn't a time period I want to live in. Quit trying to downplay the fact that discrimination and bigotry was rampant in the 1950's. IMHO, I would enjoy the 1990's better than the 1950's. It was good for ME. I sound selfish, but at the end of the day, I have to ask "what helps me?", "what is in my best interest?". At least today, I can go anywhere I want in the USA and no one can tell me "No Blacks Allowed". If they do tell me that, I can sue such persons for discrimination. This would have been a different reality in 1950. The university I attend now, I would have not been allowed there in 1950.
The places I go, the things I do, they would not have been open to me in 1950. Six Flags opens in metro Atlanta this week. In the 1950's, if it had existed, I would not have been allowed in, or at the least, it would have been permitted to not let me in. Why should I want to live in the 1950's? How is it functional for ME? No one has answered that question for me.
Last edited by green_mariner; 03-07-2010 at 11:18 PM..
In the 1950s, the default expectation of others was courtesy and modesty.
Today, the default expectation is suspicion and fear.
This is not progress.
I am going to sound very cynical, but for some people, being treated with suspicion and fear, not to mention hatred, was the default for many in the 1950's. The 1990's is about the only decade I saw(the only decade I lived in anyway, I was born in 1986) where there was at least some decency. 2000 and after got kind of sad, especially after 2001.
*the GDP grew by 250%
*average incomes tripled
*the housing market was booming
*developers were building 1.5 million homes per year
*Home ownership rates exploded
*60% of Americans were in the middle class category
*Poverty rates were dropping fast
*Consumer spending doubled in the 1950s
*Divorce rates were low, while marriage rates were high and people married at a younger age than at any other time in history
*Only 4% of all babies were born out-of-wedlock, compared to 40% today
*90% of all children grew up with married parents
*there was no crack epidemic yet
*there were hardly any school shootings
*90% of all school levies were approved by voters
*discipline problems in school minor
*the US had the best educational system in the world at the time
*cost of living was low
*families were able to live comfortably on only one income
*Americans viewed the home and the family to be most important thing in society
*No secular humanist movement opposed the 1954 addition of "under God" to the Pledge of Alligence
*The birth rate was extremely high, women were having almost 4 children on average
Despite the fact that women had less job opportunities and racial tension was strong, our country did very well in the 1950s.
It seems as if the weakening threads of family and the home, rising divorce rates, and massive increase in out of wedlock births, and the increase in government involvement in our society has led to the downfall of our nation.
People then were happier even though we lived in simpler times because people viewed the family as the most important thing in our society, rather than careers or money, or having the latest fashionable clothing.
What has happened to our country???
The rest of the world was in smoldering ruins following WW2. We charged what we wanted for our exports because he had little competition. That all changed when China embraced capitalism and built her industries. Now we're screwed.
Maybe, maybe not. Back in the 50s, people lied about things like unwed daughters having babies and then giving them up for adoption. I doubt that the stats are completely accurate.
No maybes.
Unwed mothers are much more common today. The main reason: In the '50s, society had high morals and values.
An example: A proposition legalizing "medical" marijuana would not only fail to pass, it would never have been on the ballot in the first place!
No maybes.
Unwed mothers are much more common today. The main reason: In the '50s, society had high morals and values.
An example: A proposition legalizing "medical" marijuana would not only fail to pass, it would never have been on the ballot in the first place!
In the 50s, everything was whitewashed - literally and figuratively. All the bad stuff happened, it just wasn't reported. Technology was in its infancy and we received only the news that someone else thought was fit to print. White America was kept ignorant of a lot of things, which explains a lot of the bliss that you remember so fondly,
In the 50s, everything was whitewashed - literally and figuratively. All the bad stuff happened, it just wasn't reported. Technology was in its infancy and we received only the news that someone else thought was fit to print. White America was kept ignorant of a lot of things, which explains a lot of the bliss that you remember so fondly,
You just explained it in a way that I haven't been saying, but suspected the whole time.
The rest of the world was in smoldering ruins following WW2. We charged what we wanted for our exports because he had little competition. That all changed when China embraced capitalism and built her industries. Now we're screwed.
It was bound to happen. What goes up, does eventually come down. We are no exception. (France, England, Germany had their times as superpowers, we had ours as well. Time for someone else to carry the torch. That's the way things work. Anyone not seeing this, is in denial).
Quote:
Originally Posted by ray1945
In the 50s, everything was whitewashed - literally and figuratively. All the bad stuff happened, it just wasn't reported. Technology was in its infancy and we received only the news that someone else thought was fit to print. White America was kept ignorant of a lot of things, which explains a lot of the bliss that you remember so fondly,
There you go buddy!!
(My mother said the same things. These things always existed, just not reported or brought to the public's attention back then. People were shielded from certain realities. Now the truth is in your face. These ugly truths are nothing new, we just live in a bolder society, and people who embraced the 50s, 40s etc have not adjusted to these realities).
*the GDP grew by 250%
*average incomes tripled
*the housing market was booming
*developers were building 1.5 million homes per year
*Home ownership rates exploded
*60% of Americans were in the middle class category
*Poverty rates were dropping fast
*Consumer spending doubled in the 1950s
*Divorce rates were low, while marriage rates were high and people married at a younger age than at any other time in history
*Only 4% of all babies were born out-of-wedlock, compared to 40% today
*90% of all children grew up with married parents
*there was no crack epidemic yet
*there were hardly any school shootings
*90% of all school levies were approved by voters
*discipline problems in school minor
*the US had the best educational system in the world at the time
*cost of living was low
*families were able to live comfortably on only one income
*Americans viewed the home and the family to be most important thing in society
*No secular humanist movement opposed the 1954 addition of "under God" to the Pledge of Alligence
*The birth rate was extremely high, women were having almost 4 children on average
Despite the fact that women had less job opportunities and racial tension was strong, our country did very well in the 1950s.
It seems as if the weakening threads of family and the home, rising divorce rates, and massive increase in out of wedlock births, and the increase in government involvement in our society has led to the downfall of our nation.
People then were happier even though we lived in simpler times because people viewed the family as the most important thing in our society, rather than careers or money, or having the latest fashionable clothing.
What has happened to our country???
You hit it on the head here. The answer is the part I highlighted in red.
The nation wasn't eleven trillion dollars in debt back then.
this isn't relevant because it's not just a now vs. then thing....The issues built up over time through decisions of people in power and societies ways, but it would be nice not to have all this debt but still would that make the current people of power make different decisions of what to do with the extra money?....i don't think so because look at the decisions they are making while we are sinking into a financial quicksand.
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