America 1950 vs America 2012 (Pennsylvania, terror, depression, million)

[GregW]

Banjomike - Been there done that. No way in Hell do I want to relive the 50's. I am still damaged by parts of that nightmare and what happened in the mid 60's.

[no1brownsfan]

Originally Posted by pvande55

I agree the 1980's were pretty good. We had the modern conveniences and the music and a healthy economy. But the thread is about the fifties. Lots of folks didn't even have indoor plumbing, much less air conditioning. Most adults smoked. Pollution was worse. The cars people are nostalgic about were much more dangerous. TV was black and white, if you were lucky you had five channels.

Loved the 80s! And early 90s!

[ray1945]

Originally Posted by Kkaos2

I would like abortion to be illegal.
And deadly for women? Because women WERE GETTING abortions in the 50s.

I would like the nation to be mostly united against socialism.
*sigh*

I would like people to take marriage seriously and the majority of children to have both a mother and a father in the home
You would like women to know their place.

I would like families to not require both parents working simply to survive
Again, women back in the kitchen.

I would like there to not be radical Islamists committing terrorist attacks on a regular basis throughout the world
What about the evil commies - would you like them back? There's always going to be an enemy.

I would like us to not be spending hundreds of billions of dollars more than we take in

I would like the schools, media, and Hollywood to not be used as tools for advancing political agendas
Oh, please, like they weren't back then??

I would like there to be a sense of the future being bright and our best days being ahead of us not behind us
Spoken like an old fart. How old are you?

I would like hard work and responsibility to be valued
Seriously - you don't think that hard work and responsibility are valued today??

I would like kids to run and play outside instead of watching TV and playing video games
My parents - back in the 50s - said the same thing about my generation watching TV. Again, an old fart comment.

I would like the thought of smoking bans on private property, helmet and seatbelt laws, buisiness permits for running lemonade stands, restricting 2nd ammendment rights, banning salt in restaurants, and other nanny state laws to be thought of as absurd
And to hell with the known health hazards of second hand smoke, and the lives saved by the use of seat belts.

I would like crime rates to be a fraction of what they are today
Back in the 50s, almost all crimes against women and children went unreported. We could do that again - that would reduce the crime rate.

I would like it to be socially acceptable to have religious faith

No, you would like for everyone who doesn't agree with your Christian beliefs to keep their mouths shut - that's the way it was "back in the 50s."

[terrence81]

Originally Posted by Kkaos2

I would like abortion to be illegal.

I'm pro-life but I'm not sure if overturning Roe v. Wade is the way to go.

Originally Posted by Kkaos2

I would like the nation to be mostly united against socialism.

The nation is mostly united against socialism. We live in a capitalist society. Some argue that runaway capitalism is what has cause the current great recession.

Originally Posted by Kkaos2

Most of us do. I would like people to take marriage seriously and the majority of children to have both a mother and a father in the home.

Most of us do. I'm single and I take marriage seriously. I live near DC where they take marriage so seriously everyone including two men can get married. When I put a ring on future husband's hand it will definitely be taken seriously.

Two parents are best. I agree but I'm the product of a single family home. My mother worked very hard sometimes two jobs while going to grad school 90 miles away and taking care of my then dying grandmother. My paternal grandmother was a single mother with two kids by the time she was 18 in the 50s by the way. So its not like teenagers weren't having sex out of wedlock back then.

Originally Posted by Kkaos2

I would like families to not require both parents working simply to survive.

Again most of us would like that.

Originally Posted by Kkaos2

I would like there to not be radical Islamists committing terrorist attacks on a regular basis throughout the world.

As others have mentioned the threat of nuclear war loomed back then so the world was still a scary place.

Originally Posted by Kkaos2

I would like us to not be spending hundreds of billions of dollars more than we take in

Me too.

Originally Posted by Kkaos2

I would like the schools, media, and Hollywood to not be used as tools for advancing political agendas.

Are you serious? There was plenty of Hollywood propaganda. What about all the celebrities that got blacklisted for being SUSPECTED communists?

Originally Posted by Kkaos2

I would like there to be a sense of the future being bright and our best days being ahead of us not behind us.

Our best days are still ahead of us. That's your negative thinking that says the best days are behind.

Originally Posted by Kkaos2

I would like hard work and responsibility to be valued.

Hard work and responsibility are still valued. Now one thing I was always told when I was growing up was to get an education. Don't be like some of my relatives who couldn't read or write and work their fingers to the bone in a factory.

Originally Posted by Kkaos2

I would like kids to run and play outside instead of watching TV and playing video games.

Kids do play outside.

Originally Posted by Kkaos2

I would like the thought of smoking bans on private property, helmet and seatbelt laws, buisiness permits for running lemonade stands, restricting 2nd ammendment rights, banning salt in restaurants, and other nanny state laws to be thought of as absurd.

Some of these laws are for one's own good. You should wear your seat belt. Smoking in public is a self centered nuisance. Move to Virginia you buy all the guns you want. Now you're just being silly salt has not been banned in restaurants.

Originally Posted by Kkaos2

I would like crime rates to be a fraction of what they are today.

The crime rate is getting lower every year.

Originally Posted by Kkaos2

I would like it to be socially acceptable to have religious faith

It is socially acceptable to have faith. What isn't and shouldn't be acceptable is to force faith on others. There should not be teacher led prayer in the classroom. The ten commandments shouldn't be in courthouses. That's forcing faith on others and that is just plain wrong in my opinion.

[gomexico]

Originally Posted by Visvaldis

Ah yes, Elvis Presley, white picket fences, segregation, the Cold War, the unchallenged authority of the christian religion, Godzilla, backyard nuclear bomb shelters, censorship of books, the Dodgers and Giants still in New York City, Captain Kangaroo...

Yea, kind of makes me want to re-live those days! LOL!

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by GregW

Banjomike - Been there done that. No way in Hell do I want to relive the 50's. I am still damaged by parts of that nightmare and what happened in the mid 60's.

Yup. I didn't undergo the trauma you did, but I don't want to re-live those times either. Nostalgia is a big deceiver. The past is never as pleasant in it's reality, but folks tend to forget the middling bad times. Only the worst and best times are well remembered by most folks.

I realized that early on, and made it a point to recollect all the middle I can. Doing so takes off the warm fuzzy glow of nostalgia, but I prefer as much honesty as I can retain, good and bad alike.

[jerseygal4u]

We can't go back to the past,so I really don't know why people are nostalgic about the 50s
It seems people on Cd are obsessed about the 50,particularly the known racists and righties.
Why not the 80s(now I could see being nostalgic about that).
Even the 60s would be better to be nostalgic about.

But the 50's? I wouldn't even have a job,because most of the children wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the advanced life support machines

[green_mariner]

I never went through the trauma that some people might have been through in the 50s. However, if I had, I probably would be more cynical than I am now.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by rock_chalk

You want a labor force participation rate of 59% (instead of 64%) ?
You want a median household income of $30k in 2012 dollars (instead of $50k) ?
You want that income for an average household size of 3 (instead of 2.5) ?
You want 30% of your spending to be on food (instead of 10%) ?
You want a homeownership rate of 48% (instead of 66%) ?
You want an average SF home size of 1000 sq ft (instead of 2300 sq ft) ?
You want one vehicle per household (instead of two) ?
You want to lose the cell phone, HDTV, and AC?
You could trade in for one of these bad boys: http://www.godarusa.com/sitebuilderc...g.w560h420.jpg

I can live with that. Can you?

Good points. One thing I REALLY would like to live without is a car. To me, they're money pits, plain and simple. In the 1950s, public transit was better. I wish we had better transit and fewer cars.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by green_mariner

I I remember talking to a woman some time ago. She lived through the 80s as a kid. I asked her what life would have been like if I was a kid in the 80s. She says it was a great time. Standards were higher. Teachers expected alot from you. Kids played outside. Kids had more respect for their parents and teachers.

I'm 41 and grew up in the 80s. Take this stuff the woman said with a grain of salt. It's either untrue or exaggerated. People have selective memories.

Kids had more respect for their teachers in the 80s? The slide toward disrepect for teachers started in the 60s, was well established by the 80s, and has never come back.