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Wouldn't you be happier and appreciate a peaceful place after going thru a Depression and then a world war on two fronts effecting everyone. Up until Mid 60's the world was peaceful and too bad Kennedy decided to enter a combat role in Vietnam by using first marine corps an Martin Luther got murdered leaving a vacuum in a peaceful movement .It started a violence in social movements which hopefully they teacher children consequence of. We see it in many places now days and Ukraine is only the latest.I'll go vote next week to voice my opinion.
No. Some people had it made and others were miserable. People played the hand they were dealt because there weren't a lot of options. Many people dream of days gone by because they were ignorant children who were happy with a cardboard box to play in and knew nothing of the world or adult issues.
Compared to today, the average family was dirt poor in the 50's and 60's. Racist unions with overpaid workers were in their golden age; everybody else was broke.
While some unions, historically, were exclusive in race, such as the early AFL unions, many others were open to blacks, and were integrated, particularly those in the CIO. Race in History of Labor Unions
Actually, many labor unions were in the forefront of the civil rights movement, such as the UAW.
On balance, the labor movement was an important part of advancing civil rights for blacks and other minorities.
I've asked several Aunts and female friends who were alive and at least 18 years old back then and they said they loved the 1950s. Contrary to popular myth, quite a few of them worked. In my old neighborhood, my mom and some of the neighborhood wives would go out at night once a week, to dinner and to the movies after that. Most of them owned their own house in a nice neighborhood. Most of them drove. My Aunt walked to our house which was a few blocks down the street and vice versa (did not have to worry about gang members assaulting her). Had the radio (or TV) on while doing housework or when cooking. Talked to friends and relatives on the telephone most every day.
What a "terrible" time to be alive for them!
Women owned their own homes in the 50s? They couldn't even get credit cards in their own names. How could they buy a house?
Inheritances from men: Fathers, dead husbands, divorced/runaway husbands. Of course, they might have owned only the mortgages, not the houses.
Well, I'm not going to yearn for the "good ole days", when women couldn't legally sign a contract, buy a house, have a credit card or buy a car. Seems like the good ole days were just good for straight white males.
I don't care how many people whine that feminism broke America.
I posted similarly before, but the 50's were not really any happier. Keeping up appearances of normalcy and happiness was paramount. Alcoholism, adultery, wifebeating, and such things were shameful secrets that were hidden at all costs. This left people having to deal with such issues feeling isolated and freakish. A single girl who got pregnant had a choice of a shotgun wedding, illegal abortion via coathanger, or her parents making up stories of extended visits to relatives (followed by adopting out the baby, or occasionally the sudden appearance of a new baby "born to" the baby's grandmother). There were plenty of things that were easier then, and many things that were harder. But that 50's mentality of "don't let the neighbors know", makes it too easy to romanticize those times.
Well, I'm not going to yearn for the "good ole days", when women couldn't legally sign a contract, buy a house, have a credit card or buy a car. Seems like the good ole days were just good for straight white males.
I don't care how many people whine that feminism broke America.
And yet many women really enjoyed the '50s.
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