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Location: L'Enfant D.C. near the southern end of the megalopolis
39 posts, read 41,927 times
Reputation: 53
I would warrant that QOL has definitely improved in rural areas--there is more plumbing now. I know someone from a rural area who could see into his house from below it in the 1960s. Circa 1980 some of my rural relatives were not particularly special for their incomplete heating system (which was needed) and need to get hot water from the stovetop. Even with the urban-rural disparities that might exist today, things were worse in any case 60 years ago.
I don't think the '50s and '60s (except for maybe 1960) should be lumped together. Those decades were very different from each other. Comparing 1956 to 1966, for example, is like looking at two different eras!
As for the question, I would not choose the '50s with all that repression! You were an outcast if you were not white, a white who mingled with minority groups, not married, divorced, an unwed mother, gay, fat, ugly, a non-church goer, rebellious, or even just very artistic!
Wouldn't take today either with the way society seems to be going down the toilet.
I would say the '60s were way better, but then there were all those violent riots, barricades, the Missile Crisis, and the Vietnam War. The '70s seemed even better with social progress, but it looked like the economy was going down the tubes along with the value of marriage.
I would say the '90s up until the first year of the millennium (that's 2000) was the best. The '80s weren't bad either, but it seemed a little materialistic. I was only a child in the '80s, but I do remember how kids would tease each other on the playground over where they had bought their clothes. By the '90s, I didn't hear so much of this taunting.
Yes, the '90s were becoming wild with its raves etc., but it is way more innocent compared to today's standards! Plenty of people would still go to church (by choice rather than being forced like the '50s), and had their set of values. People weren't waiting till marriage, but weren't doing it at the age of 10 either. Divorce was common, but it still wasn't the majority of married couples.
Cell phones were used for calls only so not everybody was looking down at their phones on a constant basis. People would wear headphones on the bus, but conversation still existed. Video gaming systems existed , but people stay would go out so obesity was less prevalent and was nothing to brag about like nowadays.
Speaking of pride, homosexuality was admittedly a bit of a deviance during the first half of the '90s, but then again, I was living in a conservative suburb. While some people at my school, would make some snide remarks about homosexuals, there were still a handful of students who were accepting towards them. I remember homosexuality was becoming increasingly a curiosity and it was addressed frequently in television programs and movies. It was also totally acceptable for woman to choose a career over marriage and family. The economy was great back then!
Full time jobs existed and normally had to do something really stupid to lose your job rather than getting fired for just cause, which seems to be on the rise these days. Everybody, no matter what their background was, had a bounty of options to choose from!
Integration was at all time high, but now it seems that racism is on the rise again (just look at some of those YouTube comments).
Yes, crime did exist but we weren't swarmed with all these gangs and terrorism. Now it takes over an hour to board a domestic flight thanks to all those screen checks and paranoia.
Technology and probably even medicine is more advanced, but I'll take slow internet dialup over those creepy drones! Plus even if medicine is making us live longer, who really wants to live to 95+?
As for the question, I would not choose the '50s with all that repression! You were an outcast if you were not white, a white who mingled with minority groups, not married, divorced, an unwed mother, gay, fat, ugly, a non-church goer, rebellious, or even just very artistic!
Wouldn't take today either with the way society seems to be going down the toilet.
I would say the '60s were way better, but then there were all those violent riots, barricades, the Missile Crisis, and the Vietnam War. The '70s seemed even better with social progress, but it looked like the economy was going down the tubes along with the value of marriage.
I would say the '90s up until the first year of the millennium (that's 2000) was the best. The '80s weren't bad either, but it seemed a little materialistic. I was only a child in the '80s, but I do remember how kids would tease each other on the playground over where they had bought their clothes. By the '90s, I didn't hear so much of this taunting.
Yes, the '90s were becoming wild with its raves etc., but it is way more innocent compared to today's standards! Plenty of people would still go to church (by choice rather than being forced like the '50s), and had their set of values. People weren't waiting till marriage, but weren't doing it at the age of 10 either. Divorce was common, but it still wasn't the majority of married couples.
Cell phones were used for calls only so not everybody was looking down at their phones on a constant basis. People would wear headphones on the bus, but conversation still existed. Video gaming systems existed , but people stay would go out so obesity was less prevalent and was nothing to brag about like nowadays.
Speaking of pride, homosexuality was admittedly a bit of a deviance during the first half of the '90s, but then again, I was living in a conservative suburb. While some people at my school, would make some snide remarks about homosexuals, there were still a handful of students who were accepting towards them. I remember homosexuality was becoming increasingly a curiosity and it was addressed frequently in television programs and movies. It was also totally acceptable for woman to choose a career over marriage and family. The economy was great back then!
Full time jobs existed and normally had to do something really stupid to lose your job rather than getting fired for just cause, which seems to be on the rise these days. Everybody, no matter what their background was, had a bounty of options to choose from!
Integration was at all time high, but now it seems that racism is on the rise again (just look at some of those YouTube comments).
Yes, crime did exist but we weren't swarmed with all these gangs and terrorism. Now it takes over an hour to board a domestic flight thanks to all those screen checks and paranoia.
Technology and probably even medicine is more advanced, but I'll take slow internet dialup over those creepy drones! Plus even if medicine is making us live longer, who really wants to live to 95+?
I agree with this. I'm nostalgic for the 90s/very early 2000s. That probably derives from the age I was at the time though. For me being born at the end of the 80s.. that was my childhood/early adolescence. That stage of life is the one everyone romanticizes as more innocent and carefree.....because that stage of their life was more innocent and carefree! Of course people who grew up in the 50s and 60s yearn for the nostalgia of how "simple" life was back then. The kiddos now will be saying the same thing in the 2030s!
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