I asked Grok to fact check my own claims about these 12 things being far better today than in the 1950s.

Wordpress ^ | July 7, 2025 | Daniel Alman (aka Dan from Squirrel Hill)

[9YearLurker]

Lots of crap that we’re not really better off having more of.

[bigbob]

Anyone with a pulse could have provided the right answer.

[stateofit]

I was watching The Crown, and noted how pathetic things were generally and medically for George 6, as he was dying in 1952. Billions have it better today than he did, once you look past the power hierarchy malarkey.

[Ikeon]

Yep, lots of crap we really dont need. Now do % of blacks that are killed by other blacks, black crime rate, black babies born to single mothers, illegal drug use, alcoholic percentage and percentage of teens with fluorescent hair bashing art with hammers..

[TalBlack]

Saw a meme somewhere yesterday, in the 1950s a man could have a house, a car a stay at home mom and four kids on a Detroit assembly line salary.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks grundle.

[SecondAmendment]

I would like to see if the following has become far worse today vs the 1950s

1. Average cost of state and federal taxes as a percentage of median salary.
2. Likely hood of becoming a victim of theft or violent crime.
3. Median age.
4. Average daily commute time.
5. Cost of median home as a percentage of median salary.
6. Percentage of single parent households.
7. Average K-12 teacher/student ratio .
8. Percentage of High school students who graduate.
9 Percentage of college students who graduate.
10. Cost of a four year degree as a percentage of median salary.

[Sirius Lee]

Add percentage of middle class households that have only one wage earner then vs now

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Oh good grief.

I swear the more people use LLMs the lazier and less interesting they become.

[TheThirdRuffian]

True. A skilled UAW worker is about an $80k job. You need about $200k to support a family of four and a house in Michigan comfortably.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Average salary at GM is $38 an hour.

You can have all those things at that salary, if you want them.

Most seem not to.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

No, you don't.

What are you people spending your money on?

[9YearLurker]

Sure, the 10 additional life-span years are good.

A lot of the rest of it? Not so much.

[BEJ]

People smoked back then, and today they hardly do. That is another positive point. In fact, if you watch older movies, they are all smoking and drinking. Maybe hospitality was different back then, and you offer a smoke and drink to anybody who walks into your office.

[Fiji Hill]

Not everything is better today. Kids growing up in the 1950s knew who our first president was, what the flag symbolizes, and could walk to school, play outside and dive into swimming pools off of diving boards, which have all but vanished from America in 2025.

Homes may have more square footage today, but backyards are vanishing. And more and more people are living in “stack and pack” apartments and condos.

And on the cultural front, popular music today is unlistenable and perversity and wokeness pervade literature, movies and TV shows.

We have, indeed, seen progress, but progress doesn’t always mean that things get better.

[9YearLurker]

That’s why lifespans in wealthy white/Asin/Hispanic suburbs tend to be a good bit longer.

[captnemo1]

ask the right question, get the right answer

[Crusher138]

The number one song in the USA today...this is the chorus:

I think you know what this is
I think you wanna, uh
No, you ain′t got no Mrs.
Oh, but you got a sports car
We can uh-uh in it
While you drive it real far
Yeah, you know what this is
Yeah, you know what this is

I rest my case.

[Fiji Hill]

California, where I live, was the hottest economy in the world during the 1950s. For most of the decade, we had Republican governors, (although Earl “Rabbit” Warren and Goody Knight were RINOs) and three Republican US Senators (One, Tom Kuchel, was a RINO, but Richard Nixon and Bill Knowland were good) and Republican mayors in San Francisco and LA.

Today, we have the highest taxes, highest gas prices, the worst roads, and the largest homeless population in the US.