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Old 01-06-2010, 03:42 PM
eek
 
Location: Queens, NY
3,574 posts, read 7,696,241 times
Reputation: 1478

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9kT1yO4MGg
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Old 01-06-2010, 03:49 PM
eek
 
Location: Queens, NY
3,574 posts, read 7,696,241 times
Reputation: 1478
http://www.deplicque.net/image/2blackmen_hung.jpg (broken link)
http://plainview.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/kkk.jpg (broken link)
http://www.roywoodjr.com/two_pennies/Colored%20Only.jpg (broken link)

better quality of life for who??
a lot of ppl were very poor. a lot of ppl lived in fear. a lot of ppl lived in mental slavery, hell a lot still do to be honest.

there was a reason for the civil rights movement, you know...
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Old 01-06-2010, 03:54 PM
eek
 
Location: Queens, NY
3,574 posts, read 7,696,241 times
Reputation: 1478
http://www.stjoanofarc.org/school/grade5/watson/churchbomb.gif (broken link)




these girls aren't living anymore because the of the quality of life back then:
http://www.northeastern.edu/crrj/dbuploads/Birmingham4.gif (broken link)

bonus:
http://www.hist.umn.edu/%7Esargent/1308/civil%20rights%20image002.jpg (broken link)
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Old 01-06-2010, 04:00 PM
 
8,276 posts, read 11,839,090 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chicago60614 View Post
^ yeah, except for the unbelievable crime rates in the early 90's (which were strongly concentrated in select areas), I think the 80's and 90's were pretty good.

Awesome economy, people still socialized with strangers without the extreme fear that anyone you don't know naturally wants to kill you, etc.

I honestly think one of the things that disturbs me most about the modern age is that people seem to spend almost all their time either on computers, smart phones, playing video games, listening to Ipods, or watching TV and DVR. I mean how many times do you hang out in a group and notice that more and more people are obsessing with their phones? Facebook, games, texting, etc.

I was just talking with my friends how we feel so lucky to have grown up in the 80's before a childs life evolved into computer games, cell phones and TV. I mean we use to watch TV, but we'd still just run outside about 80% of the time and our parents weren't terrified we were OUTDOORS ALONE and they didn't know exactly where we were. Now it seems parents think that everyone out there wants to destroy their children, and they have constant contact via cell phone. I appreciated being able to run outside and play as a 10 year old and trust that I can work basic things out and come home without adults instilling a constant fear in me.

It seems almost amazing that in the 50's and early 60's kids in the middle of huge cities like Chicago and New York would just run outside in the morning and be around the neighborhood playing and going to corner stores, alleys, etc. until dark - most said when the streetlights went on that was the universal sign that you'd better get home. They'd just go from house to house, no one ever called or anything, and parents really never knew exaclty where they were.

Drop a couple 10 year olds in Chicago or Brooklyn now and have them run the streets alone from dawn to dusk and you'd probably have people saying the parents should be arrested for endangerment. Back then the people I've seen interviewed and have talked with said kidnappings and random crimes really never entered into the equation. You were just a kid out playing in the back alley or around the neighborhood. Things have changed GREATLY in that sense. Everyone use to know everyone else on the entire block, all the store clerks, etc.
Very good post; these things also apply to those of us who grew up in the 60's as well, perhaps even more so..
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Old 01-06-2010, 04:23 PM
 
Location: New England & The Maritimes
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...some of us still do dishes by hand.
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Old 01-06-2010, 05:42 PM
 
2,598 posts, read 4,897,917 times
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Lots of thought-provoking comments. I did grow up in the 60's, and I have a lot of wonderful memories, but as a thinking person (even at that age), one couldn't help but be aware of the tumultuous world that seemed (at times) to be spinning out of control.

Growing up in Omaha, the Cuban Missile Crisis was one of many events (in my very young adolescence), that heightened my awareness of the world, and all that was wrong with it. Omaha is the headquarters for Strategic Air Command, and is thought to have been either the first or second place that would be bombed (if it came to that). We used to have bomb drills at school (like that would have helped), and I woke up many a morning to a sonic boom. Or, I'd be playing in the yard, and, out of fear, would run inside whenever large formations of aircraft would fly overhead. I was terrified that Nikita Khrushchev would start WWIII. Definitely not a good memory.

Obviously, there was a lot of unrest in the 60's. There was segregation, talks of busing, George Wallace, the Viet Nam War, racial rioting in cities all across the country, the list goes on and on. In 1960, when Kennedy and Nixon ran for president, there were many people who were afraid that Kennedy would be elected - after all, he would be the first Roman Catholic president.

The 60's had it's share of heroes and villains, and was definitely one of the more volatile decades in our country's history.
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Old 01-06-2010, 07:04 PM
 
Location: Miami
888 posts, read 879,805 times
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A lot of great contributions here (a rarity for General US threads IMHO).
The question used to be interesting to me a few years ago.
But now, I realize that the present and the past are linked.
They are not different, they are the same thing - a continuation thereof.
The life we have in 2010 is a *direct* result of the aggregation and cumulation of decisions that were made by everyone since the 50s and 60s (and beforehand).
If we had decided differently on a large number of decisions in the past, the present would not be as it is today.
Have you ever heard the saying "Life is a Journey"? Well, this is but one example of the true meaning of that phrase.
The human condition hasn't changed, it's just evolved, due to our own decisions.
Think back at decisions you have made in your life over the years.
I remember one very important decision. I just finished my graduate degree.
I had 3 job offers - all nicely paid - I didn't know which one to take.
It was a fork in the road.
I prayed and flipped a coin, and my life was changed forever.
What would have happened to this country had we chosen differently?
One never knows.
What would have happened had Oswald arrived later to his perch and missed killing JFK? The outcome would have been different, history changed and present changed.
And if JWB would have missed killing Lincoln?
Would we be the same country today?
I highly doubt it.

That's why, despite the great debate in this thread, the answer is much greater than the analysis between two eras (although it can be fun to compare from a practical sense).
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Old 01-06-2010, 09:01 PM
 
Location: Phoenix metro
20,004 posts, read 77,115,410 times
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Not even a contest... the 50s all the way.

It was safer, we had recently squashed the Nazis into oblivion, the cars and music were better, family time was abundant, etc. Give me the 50s any day over this modern day crap.
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Old 01-06-2010, 09:06 PM
 
Location: Phoenix metro
20,004 posts, read 77,115,410 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alexus View Post
With the exception of the 8 horrific George Bush years, now is better. Bush took us back to a time when domestic concerns were ignored in favor of warmongering, neanderthal diplomacy, and divisiveness, certainly before the last century.

Now is a better quality, especially with President Obama at the helm.
Are you freakin jokin? "Warmongering"? I guess youre forgetting about Obama increasing troops in Afghanistan?

Unlike Obama, Bush was a MAN of his word, not a cowardly, communistic weakling hiding behind a teleprompter, running our country into debt so far that our grandchildren's grandchildren will be paying off America's deficit.

Obama is, hands down, the worst president this nation has seen, and possibly will ever see. Take your blinders off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Old 01-06-2010, 09:36 PM
 
8,276 posts, read 11,839,090 times
Reputation: 10075
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve-o View Post
Are you freakin jokin? "Warmongering"? I guess youre forgetting about Obama increasing troops in Afghanistan?

Unlike Obama, Bush was a MAN of his word, not a cowardly, communistic weakling hiding behind a teleprompter, running our country into debt so far that our grandchildren's grandchildren will be paying off America's deficit.

Obama is, hands down, the worst president this nation has seen, and possibly will ever see. Take your blinders off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you're still, at this date, defending George Bush, then you are too far gone to be saved.

Take it to another forum.
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