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Old 07-30-2010, 12:03 PM
 
2,930 posts, read 7,046,352 times
Reputation: 1389

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Quote:
Originally Posted by AeroGuyDC View Post
Something tells me that the 1950's were a time period in which we can all conclude was a "better" period in this country, but yet you won't admit it so you pull out statistics that suit your agenda.
I don't think many people agree with that statement. Whatever thing is telling you that, is lying.

To me the best time is now, I actually wish I was born in the future to see all the technological advances man will make.
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Old 07-30-2010, 12:14 PM
 
Location: San Diego California
6,795 posts, read 7,273,371 times
Reputation: 5194
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcredux View Post
Nonsense. Your personal memories and milestones are viewed with rose-colored glasses.

What those graphs tell us is that life generally sucked prior to 1950. It has sucked less every year since.

For example, today someone has their retirement fund diminished. With the government safety net and increased disposable income, they can get by. They may have to get a part-time job and shop at Walmart, but they will be fine.

In 1950, they would be loading up refrigerator with gourmet catfood.
Anyone who thinks they can derive any degree of reality from graph is a fool, as is anyone who discounts the worth of actual experience.
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Old 07-30-2010, 12:18 PM
 
23,838 posts, read 23,082,097 times
Reputation: 9408
Quote:
Originally Posted by ♥♥PRINC3Ss♥♥ View Post
I don't think many people agree with that statement. Whatever thing is telling you that, is lying.

To me the best time is now, I actually wish I was born in the future to see all the technological advances man will make.
Ok. Fair enough. Since you disagree with me, tell us why many people disagree that the 50's were a great time in America's history.
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Old 07-30-2010, 01:03 PM
 
286 posts, read 698,531 times
Reputation: 484
Quote:
Originally Posted by AeroGuyDC View Post
Ok. Fair enough. Since you disagree with me, tell us why many people disagree that the 50's were a great time in America's history.
- People view the past with rose-colored glasses. Every one does it, including myself.
- People who miss the 1950's are coincidentally always white and relatively privileged. They never were on the receiving on discrimination or segregation.
- They are by definition healthy, since they are alive today. They never ended up in an iron lung, or were never taken out of this world by a disease that is curable today. They were never affected by these things, so they forget about the people who were.
- They didn't come back from World War 2 maimed, traumatized, or in a body bag. Nor did they fight in the Korean War. Again, they weren't affected by these things, so they forget about the people who were.
- They forget about the Cold War and the whole nuclear Armageddon thing. Today's "War on Terror" is trivial in comparison.
- They forget about the inconveniences: no air conditioning, expensive food, lack of medical care, no cable television, no internet, no cell phones, dangerous cars. What are curable ailments today were "part of life" in the 1950's.
- They forget about inflation, hence you hear people say, "Back in my day, you could get a hotel room for $7, blah, blah, blah." Nevermind that that is $60 in today's money or you can get a better quality hotel room today for that money.

Most importantly, they were children in the 1950's. As other people have noted, there is always a tendency to romanticize childhood.
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Old 07-30-2010, 01:09 PM
 
Location: Philadelphia, PA
615 posts, read 543,480 times
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The cost of living has shot through the roof while wages have been stagnant for decades now. That is why the past were the "good ol days." Now it is very hard to get started out in life, and hard to build a good life without going into some major life altering debt. Basic amenities just keep getting more and more expensive in this country, and things like homes, health care, and education are insanely expensive. America is now only a good place to live for the very wealthy and poor, while the working class subsidize both.
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Old 07-30-2010, 01:16 PM
 
2,673 posts, read 3,241,919 times
Reputation: 1996
Quote:
Originally Posted by AeroGuyDC View Post
You and everyone else who have responded to my post like to stop at that magical 50+ year mark. Why is that? Nothing in my post suggests a timeframe, yet all i'm seeing are stats that reflect the 1950's. Something tells me that the 1950's were a time period in which we can all conclude was a "better" period in this country, but yet you won't admit it so you pull out statistics that suit your agenda.

Again, why stop at the 1950's? Why not reach back as far as you can with statistics and see if those stats jive with your rhetoric? Tell the full story if you're going to tell it at all.
I don't remember the 1950's, but I think it's the nostalgia. Sure, there are cool things about the 1950's, but there are plenty of other things that were't so cool if you weren't white.

Tell the full story if you're going to tell it.
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Old 07-30-2010, 01:28 PM
 
23,838 posts, read 23,082,097 times
Reputation: 9408
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcredux View Post
- People view the past with rose-colored glasses. Every one does it, including myself.
- People who miss the 1950's are coincidentally always white and relatively privileged. They never were on the receiving on discrimination or segregation.
- They are by definition healthy, since they are alive today. They never ended up in an iron lung, or were never taken out of this world by a disease that is curable today. They were never affected by these things, so they forget about the people who were.
- They didn't come back from World War 2 maimed, traumatized, or in a body bag. Nor did they fight in the Korean War. Again, they weren't affected by these things, so they forget about the people who were.
- They forget about the Cold War and the whole nuclear Armageddon thing. Today's "War on Terror" is trivial in comparison.
- They forget about the inconveniences: no air conditioning, expensive food, lack of medical care, no cable television, no internet, no cell phones, dangerous cars. What are curable ailments today were "part of life" in the 1950's.
- They forget about inflation, hence you hear people say, "Back in my day, you could get a hotel room for $7, blah, blah, blah." Nevermind that that is $60 in today's money or you can get a better quality hotel room today for that money.

Most importantly, they were children in the 1950's. As other people have noted, there is always a tendency to romanticize childhood.
You could take every single one of your points and apply them to 2010 in 50 years from now. You seem to forget about "relativity" when thinking these things through.

For example, you decry the lack of techology. Guess what? The 1950's were a technological boom. So to say those people had it bad is grossly misconstrueing the facts. They were glad to get a refridgerator. You're happy to get an Ipod. "Bad" is relative to your standards, not theirs.

World War II is another example. It's all relative. Those who made it back were thankful. They didn't have it bad. They had it good!

Inflation is another example. People of the 50's were not immune to inflation. What could be bought for $7 in 1950 could be bought for a dime in 1875!

My point is that it's all relative. Just because you view the 50's as a "bad" period does not mean that it was a bad period.
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Old 07-30-2010, 08:17 PM
 
Location: California
37,097 posts, read 42,098,467 times
Reputation: 34962
Quote:
You could take every single one of your points and apply them to 2010 in 50 years from now. You seem to forget about "relativity" when thinking these things through.
Nobody is forgetting anything. This point has been made. The good old days are when YOU didn't have any worries. Hence, these are the good old days for the future generation regardless of how terrible some think it is. Hence, regardless of how wonderful you now think the 1950's were they were and remain terrible for many others.

There are NO good old days. That's it.
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Old 07-31-2010, 02:27 AM
 
Location: Earth
17,440 posts, read 28,537,343 times
Reputation: 7477
Quote:
Originally Posted by AeroGuyDC View Post

Something tells me that the 1950's were a time period in which we can all conclude was a "better" period in this country
If you were a straight white male, yes. If you were a woman, not so much.
If you were black or gay, definitely not. If you were black AND gay, then the 1950s would've been hell
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Old 07-31-2010, 06:18 AM
 
Location: East Chicago, IN
3,100 posts, read 3,295,068 times
Reputation: 1697
Quote:
Originally Posted by majoun View Post
If you were a straight white male, yes. If you were a woman, not so much.
If you were black or gay, definitely not. If you were black AND gay, then you would be dead.
Fixed.
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