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Actually, I think you would find that the blacks I knew then would be happy to climb in the time capsule with me. I grew up in Cass County, MI and our population was about 1/3 black: Underground Railroad - Discover Cass County, Michigan They were farmers, factory workers, etc. just like everyone else. We all used the same bathroom, drank from the water fountain, rode the same bus, went to the same schools and we were all friends. I am not sure what you know about history but location, location, location was important. I could ask my best friend from high school next time I talk with her but I think I know her well enough to say that we'll both be backed and ready.
Gays? I have no idea what their story was back then. People generally kept their sexual lives quiet back then and everyone kind of wanted to appear like they didn't have one when they were outside their own home.
It didn't seem to bother my relatives. They did the same things they always did... worked, went to the movies, went bowling, went to restaurants, socialized, etc.
Modern terrorism, which actually has happened, is more of a threat than during the Cold War years.
Thing is, it still colored the way you saw life. There were moments it's risk couldn't be denied. When Cuba and missles made it a hot button issue, people stayed home and near family. Dad and I stayed home that day so the family would be together if it was an end. And the fear of the bomb dropping from the sky wasn't spoken of, and people lived life, but it never really left. It was the dark shadow that you ignored as you lived each day, because even when the world outside is not so good, its what people *do*.
Knowing what we know now? Absolutely. And I'd stay there. too. Imagine! Knowing who won the Kentucky Derby and putting a huge bet on. Buying property in what you know will be prime real estate areas. Buying the collectables that will be worth a ton in the future. Going into the 60s and seeing groups like the Grateful Dead and Led Zeppelin for the first time. Think about what we know about things like robbing banks and ID theft and how much we could get away with. I'm a feminist, and I would do it!
Can I be a lot younger?
Ah, but if you changed the time stream by doing something not done before, you might change the outcome. You go buy a bunch of propety in a place you know to be a factory, dirt cheap since its open land. Maybe the factory builders decide to find some other spot to build since you'd really like a decent return on your purchase. Then they prevent that land from being used for what it was supposed to. And so on. The changes spiral, big and little, and feed on each other, and when you reach today it could look like a different one, maybe even a very very different one if your action prevented some decision which didn't seem to matter at the time, but really was.
And don't forget the alternate realities your creating too....
Interesting responses. One clarification though: The $10,000,000 isn't something you take back in time with you, it's what you get AFTER the 5 years you spend. So in my scenario you'd be transported back to January 1st 1950 with just the clothes on your back. But on January 1st 1955 you get transported back to the exact time you left and then are given a big case full of money.
Also, I do mean the U.S. But if you are from another country, say England then it would be 50s England, if from Tamania, 50s Tamania etc. etc.
Ah, but if you changed the time stream by doing something not done before, you might change the outcome. You go buy a bunch of propety in a place you know to be a factory, dirt cheap since its open land. Maybe the factory builders decide to find some other spot to build since you'd really like a decent return on your purchase. Then they prevent that land from being used for what it was supposed to. And so on. The changes spiral, big and little, and feed on each other, and when you reach today it could look like a different one, maybe even a very very different one if your action prevented some decision which didn't seem to matter at the time, but really was.
And don't forget the alternate realities your creating too....
Why time machines usually belong to time lords.
How do you know I wasn't meant to change the time stream?
What was so bad about the '50s? I rather enjoyed that decade in my formative years. A pack of smokes was 10 cents, as i recall, maybe as high 20 cents.
I just watched the series of shows on the Bomb on PBS tonight. It has been a long time, but I remember the feeling of having a dark shadow most of your childhood. I know there are dangers and fears today, but I don't think I'd want to be back in the age of the fallout shelter and that mentality that tomorrow it might be all over...
I wonder if kids today will remember how they saw a building crumple in fire with thousands of people inside, and there were bad men around the corner for them a long time.
Thing is, it still colored the way you saw life. There were moments it's risk couldn't be denied. When Cuba and missles made it a hot button issue, people stayed home and near family. Dad and I stayed home that day so the family would be together if it was an end. And the fear of the bomb dropping from the sky wasn't spoken of, and people lived life, but it never really left. It was the dark shadow that you ignored as you lived each day, because even when the world outside is not so good, its what people *do*.
It is not the way I saw life... I was not even alive then!
My relatives who lived through the '50s were living in reality. They knew the good and bad of each decade and they said the '50s was their favorite. The Cuban missile event was not even in the '50s!
They were not hiding under tables waiting for the bomb to drop. They did their daily activities. They did not "stay home and near their families." My parents made quite a few trips from California to New Jersey and New York to visit relatives.
Also, I do mean the U.S. But if you are from another country, say England then it would be 50s England, if from Tamania, 50s Tamania etc. etc.
A shame. I was hoping it would be about some country with much worse problems, like in Asia, Africa, or Eastern Europe.
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