Is the USA much better today than 50 years ago?

[Stevicus]

This is true, however I think much can be chalked up to greed. The benefit to outsourcing is the escaping of just wages, environmental regulations, taxes etc. And we have our own greed , we were not innocent bystanders. We want the best deals, lower cost, the outsourcing gave it to us. I'm afraid there is going to be a reality check soon. Much of the manufacturing jobs were eliminated through automation, that's not going to change. Why would corporations pay a just wage when robots can do the job?

I agree. I have read that manufacturing will start to come back to the US as more factories become automated. They won't need to hire that many workers; just a few techies at computer terminals. That may not bring back any lost jobs, but at least would bring back productivity and a solid industrial base back to American soil - which would be better for the country. At least it would put a dent in the trade deficit.

And yes, you're right. We, the voters and consumers, went along with all of it.

 

[Revoltingest]

Generally yes I believe the United States has improved in the last 50 years, especially with regard to minority rights.

And men's rights (with the cancelling of the military draft).

 

[esmith]

In some areas yes in other areas no. Look at the poor health of many of our citizens due to being obese.

and the major problem that is going to hit hard

and for the 2016 data
Obesity Rates & Trends: The State of Obesity

 

[pearl]

Generally yes I believe the United States has improved in the last 50 years, especially with regard to minority rights.

I think we now have an administration determined to roll back as many of those rights they can get away with.

 

[Revoltingest]

I think we now have an administration determined to roll back as many of those rights they can get away with.

Which ones are they attacking?

 

[pearl]

Which ones are they attacking?

Watch for signs of weakening voter rights, don't expect the Justice Dept to step in to protect.

 

[esmith]

Watch for signs of weakening voter rights, don't expect the Justice Dept to step in to protect.

you mean they are going to take away your right to vote, or do you mean that they are going to insist that you have verifiable ID in order to vote?

 

[Revoltingest]

Watch for signs of weakening voter rights, don't expect the Justice Dept to step in to protect.

I always have watched for risks to civil liberties.
Trump certainly poses some, but so too have Nixon, Clinton, Bush, Obama, etc.
Things are no different in this respect.

What I notice is that so many attempts to curb civil liberties go entirely without notice in
most media. So people tend to fear only that which mainstream media present to them.

 

[esmith]

I always have watched for risks to civil liberties.
Trump certainly poses some, but so too have Nixon, Clinton, Bush, Obama, etc.
Things are no different in this respect.

What I notice is that so many attempts to curb civil liberties go entirely without notice in
most media. So people tend to fear only that which mainstream media present to them.

It is reaching the point, IMO, that unless you are of a older age you do not see the erosion of civil liberties whereas a young person just doesn't have enough experience to see. In addition I think some younger, and probably older ones also, just expect the government to regulate their lives more and more and just accept it.

 

[Revoltingest]

It is reaching the point, IMO, that unless you are of a older age you do not see the erosion of civil liberties whereas a young person just doesn't have enough experience to see. In addition I think some younger, and probably older ones also, just expect the government to regulate their lives more and more and just accept it.

Over-regulation is the new normal.

 

[Rational Agnostic]

And men's rights (with the cancelling of the military draft).

True.

 

[pearl]

It is reaching the point, IMO, that unless you are of a older age you do not see the erosion of civil liberties whereas a young person just doesn't have enough experience to see. In addition I think some younger, and probably older ones also, just expect the government to regulate their lives more and more and just accept it.

I think this is absolutely true. Younger people have not experienced life before the Civil Rights Act, or the Voting Rights Act, Maybe they don't remember how polluted were the bays and harbors and lakes etc. But they ought to at least remember the many who suffered the loss of their funds because there was no regulation. One has to consider who benefits from regulation otherwise greed sucks the life out of many. For those who sought to drain the swamp, it has been replaced with a cesspool!

 

[Brickjectivity]

I wasn't alive 50 years ago.

We will count it as an improvement, then!

The world is in greater danger than ever owing to nuclear bombs. Its not better for people in some countries. In general though I think things are looking up for the world on the whole. I suspect Africa is better off than it was 50 years ago. South America is better off. China is better off. Indonesia, S. Korea, etc. Yes, Yes, Yes. Cuba: maybe. Greenland? I don't know. I'm not sure about Greenland.

 

[QuestioningMind]

I feel like you must be very young if that is what you believe 1967 was like. You gotta go back a lot further than that to hit the 'leave it to beaver' era you seem to be envisioning.

Actually, she's not so far off. The women's movement was starting to get some traction by 1967, but the 'standard' was still pretty much the Leave it to Beaver' model. Women who wanted to work outside the home were still considered troublemakers by a significant portion of the population. The Mary Tyler Moore show didn't air until 1970 and even then there was a lot of backlash at the notion that this woman in her late 20's was SINGLE.

 

[Stevicus]

Actually, she's not so far off. The women's movement was starting to get some traction by 1967, but the 'standard' was still pretty much the Leave it to Beaver' model. Women who wanted to work outside the home were still considered troublemakers by a significant portion of the population. The Mary Tyler Moore show didn't air until 1970 and even then there was a lot of backlash at the notion that this woman in her late 20's was SINGLE.

I'm not so sure if that was true for the majority of the population. Both of my grandmothers worked outside the home back in the 1930s and 40s - and a lot of women were working outside the home during WW2. Perhaps individual families differed on this issue; some men may not have wanted their wives to work. But it was never a problem in my family, nor did it appear to be any major scandal that women were working outside the home.

That wasn't the issue during the 60s era women's movement, as much as it was about women wanting to do jobs traditionally held by men. Few people made a fuss about women working outside the home, in and of itself.

But there was resistance to the idea that male and female workers should be viewed as interchangeable components and that they should not be given any different treatment because of their gender. That's when job titles containing the word "man" had to be changed to "person" or some other gender-neutral language. We don't say "mailman," "fireman," or "policeman" any more.

As for TV shows, whether it's Leave it to Beaver or Mary Tyler Moore, they always tend to give a somewhat skewed reflection of real life. All in the Family was another show which was a bit daring and controversial with some of the issues they covered.

If you look at each decade by its TV shows, 1960s era TV was just plain absurd. The Munsters, The Addams Family, Gilligan's Island, I Dream of Jeannie, Get Smart, Green Acres, The Flying Nun, Bewitched. Even my beloved Star Trek (TOS), which is near and dear to my heart - was just plain "out there" at times (but that's where it was supposed to be). I think people favored more realism by the 70s.

 

[Twilight Hue]

That would be 1967, I was 2 years old and living in Hawaii. You bet life was way better than today.

I agree. I was born in 65. Life was good for awhile stateside. Economy seemed more stable. One person could feed his or her family through the income of one job.

Seems to have disappeared fast shortly after and it's been downhill since. At least for working class.

 

[QuestioningMind]

I'm not so sure if that was true for the majority of the population. Both of my grandmothers worked outside the home back in the 1930s and 40s - and a lot of women were working outside the home during WW2. Perhaps individual families differed on this issue; some men may not have wanted their wives to work. But it was never a problem in my family, nor did it appear to be any major scandal that women were working outside the home.

That wasn't the issue during the 60s era women's movement, as much as it was about women wanting to do jobs traditionally held by men. Few people made a fuss about women working outside the home, in and of itself.

But there was resistance to the idea that male and female workers should be viewed as interchangeable components and that they should not be given any different treatment because of their gender. That's when job titles containing the word "man" had to be changed to "person" or some other gender-neutral language. We don't say "mailman," "fireman," or "policeman" any more.

As for TV shows, whether it's Leave it to Beaver or Mary Tyler Moore, they always tend to give a somewhat skewed reflection of real life. All in the Family was another show which was a bit daring and controversial with some of the issues they covered.

If you look at each decade by its TV shows, 1960s era TV was just plain absurd. The Munsters, The Addams Family, Gilligan's Island, I Dream of Jeannie, Get Smart, Green Acres, The Flying Nun, Bewitched. Even my beloved Star Trek (TOS), which is near and dear to my heart - was just plain "out there" at times (but that's where it was supposed to be). I think people favored more realism by the 70s.

Exactly! 60's television was all about fantasy escapism, because main stream America simply wasn't ready to face the social changes that were taking place in society. Women who fought for simple equality were labeled as enemies of traditional family values. It wasn't until the 70's that TV got brave enough to start dealing with real world issues and even then much of America had to be brought kicking and screaming into the new decade. I can certainly see why ADigitalArtist is glad she wasn't growing up in '67.

 

[Stevicus]

Exactly! 60's television was all about fantasy escapism, because main stream America simply wasn't ready to face the social changes that were taking place in society. Women who fought for simple equality were labeled as enemies of traditional family values. It wasn't until the 70's that TV got brave enough to start dealing with real world issues and even then much of America had to be brought kicking and screaming into the new decade. I can certainly see why ADigitalArtist is glad she wasn't growing up in '67.

Sure, that makes sense. But then again, it goes back to what I wrote earlier in this thread. At least back then, there was still the strong hope and feeling that things were getting better, along with tangible results to demonstrate it. Nowadays, there's a general feeling that things are getting worse and that we're going in the wrong direction.

 

[Valjean]

'67. (AKA: Summer of Love).
Strong unions, less income inequality, high wages, high minimum wage, high taxes.
To lower tax brackets, industry plowed profits back into their businesses rather than skim it off as profit.
One could buy a house, raise a family and put them through college on a single, working class income.
Tuition at state colleges was free or nearly free. At many private colleges one could work Summers and afford the Autumn and Winter semesters.
No AIDS, Zika, West Nile, &c. Antibiotics still worked. Healthcare wasn't a major expense.
Medicare and Medicaid introduced in '65, as part of Johnson's War on Poverty and Great Society.


Social unrest. Riots and assassinations. War protests -- Negroes and Hippies challenging the status quo -- backlash begins.
Growing woman's movement, but still limited social and career opportunities.
Pollution everywhere from unregulated industry.
Everybody smoked -- everywhere.
Cars were stylish, but junk.