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Information is power and back in the '50s the general American population didn't get a whole lot of information about anything, because there was no easy way to disseminate it. One hour of evening news, a few radio programs and newspapers - that was it. When I look back at the 50s, I think of it as a shining example of "ignorance is bliss."
As for the one stat that O'Reilly brought up at the beginning of the segment - 5% of babies were born "out of wedlock" (interesting, the word wedLOCK). A more telling statistic would be how many babies were conceived out of wedlock. In the 50s, pregnant girls were forced to marry or give up their babies for adoption. I personally know five 65+ year old women who gave up babies for adoption and at least that many who married because they were pregnant. Also, in the 50s, women were barred from almost all professional careers and had no way of supporting a child on their own. In 2013 many women are perfectly capable of supporting children without the financial input of a partner and so many choose to become single mothers.
So, IMO, we were a different nation back then, but definitely not a better one.
It's funny how the liberals think today is so great with more black males in prison now than back then and more people on food stamps now than back then, more people today are completely dependent on the government. More people today living on mind-altering drugs because they cannot cope.
All those programs they set up have more people trapped and helpless. More crowded, overpopulated cities today than back then. Far more urban sprawl, traffic congestion today. Far fewer intact families.
For certain people, mainly Caucasians, who made up the majority, it was great in many respects. One income got was enough to live on, even if you worked as many jobs that pay garbage today. A lot of that has to do with fewer things to spend your money on. A smart phone was not considered an absolute must have by the masses because it didn't exist. I would also tend to argue that they were more rational about their spending decisions, as many had modest homes and 1 car. That's why mom didn't have to work. Still, many of those once good paying jobs simply don't pay enough to live on today, even without added children or luxuries into the mix.
Unfortunately, 2 jobs are often times a requirement if you want to chase the pursuit of "stuff" today. Many of this "stuff" is confused with necessities. Surprisingly, it was the product of the greatest generation that got the ball rolling on this. I laugh when my mother, a boomer, wonders how I live without cable. I tell her I would rather save the money for a rainy day... A concept lost on many boomers. They passed this mentality down to many of their children. Some are adapting to changing times, while others are following the boomerang affect, winding up back at their parent's home when their job is eliminated and there's no money to carry them through a period of unemployment.
I believe many of the traits developed under the boomer generation's time have led to some of the imbalances and wild boom - bust cycles plaguing our country these days. When the consumer is tapped out, times suck. When they have credit available, they can afford to live paycheck to paycheck en mass, money is flowing from all directions, times appear great. This doesn't make for a healthy, stable economy.
And back to the 2 income earning family... How many of these parents have the time available to properly rear their children? Some do, some don't. A lot of that depends on the family. The children collectively are the future of our country though. Hard to say we are better off with the 2 income earning family unit if many of these children aren't getting the proper attention at home to become highly functional adults later in life. Many are just plain screwed up when it comes time to think about leaving the home.
I don't think so. The 1950's was a time of widespread conformity and more solid concept of "normalcy". The cost of this is that people were less free to do what they wanted to do, less free to be themselves, and less free to explore and break out of "tradition" (which I feel is a very overrated and mostly arbitrary construct). We are more inquisitive now than ever before, and it has lead to amazing advances in scientific discovery and technology (some credit must be given to the 1950s for really kicking this off). We are a more open and free society today. In the 1950s, the Jim Crow South and segregation was still in effect. Interracial dating was taboo. People who have no interest in religion had to go to church or be shunned by others in society. People didn't subscribe to a "live and let live" attitude back then. We have economic opportunities available to us today that were unthinkable in the 1950s. We have the opportunity to better ourselves with higher education...this was only available to the few in the 1950s. People with nothing today have opportunities to excel in school and obtain exciting knowledge-based careers, whereas in the 1950s they would have been relegated to mundane factory jobs. We have much more creativity in the workforce than we did in the 1950s.
People have a tendency of looking back on time periods with rose-colored nostalgia glasses. In reality, the 1950s sucked for a lot of people.
I also think that Bill's thesis is flawed. If people in the 1950s had more respect for public institutions, how is this better? People were more respectful? So what? Public institutions need to face as much scrutinity as anything else. I certainly don't subscribe to the idea of "just shut up, be obedient, and respect your public institutions"...that is a very warped philosophy. Everything...EVERYTHING...is fair game for examination and criticism.
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