Posted on 09/03/2025 1:27:42 PM PDT by CodeToad
the world has changed, I personally do not like the direction we are all headed in but I think these feelings happen everyone in almost every generation.
Today may be a little different
Back then there were only half the population than there is now and western civilization didn’t desire to invite third world violent conquerors to destroy it.
No generation likes change, and with every generation there is some positive progress, but I never thought stupidity and ignorance would be so persuasive given the Internet and information at our fingertips.
Late 50s, and early 60s were America’s best days.
Look at pics of LA circa 1962 when it was a beautiful modern city. Boy, they sure crashed that party. Those running government did a great job of destroying it. Other U.S. major cities as well were beautiful. Now most big cities are nasty dumps.
We have the ability to access more information quicker than ever and are dumber for it.
awesome!
The world’s population has more than tripled in my lifetime, and there are a lot of FReepers older than I am.
Agree..when life was good.
I checked. We have four times as much gross domestic product per person in 2024 as we had in 1950.
Our wealth per person in the USA has quadrupled, mostly because we have advanced enormously technologically.
My grandparents ran their farm with horse and human power.
They did not have electricity until about 1950. No engines to cut firewood in northern Wisconsin for their farm, before 1950.
We live in a golden age, and people complain about it.
“...when life was good”
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Life has never been this good for so many people. Unfortunately individuals choose do do stupid things and don’t take advantage of the modern world offerings.
I do have to make an observation after 85 years. I watched the people shopping at COSTCO recently and they were a grungy bunch. Yet their cars and SUVs in the parking lot were in first class condition. All were new and clean. There were no dents, rust or dangling mufflers to be seen.
In the 50’s that wasn’t the norm.
Now people impress others with what they drive; not what they wear.
“We live in a golden age, and people complain about it.”
He of material wealth, and a prime example of information at our fingertips but of little intelligence or wisdom.
Real figures of both GDP, inflation, and population means the GDP per person in 1955 was $2,581, but today it is $2,469 in 1955 dollars.
We have less wealth per person. We also require two incomes to accomplish what one did in 1955.
Better technology exists today, sure, glad to have it, but do not try to say we are wealthier for it. That is NOT true.
“They did not have electricity until about 1950.”
Never read a history, eh? Information at your fingertips, yet, you continue to make false statements of history.
“They did not have electricity until about 1950.”
Lots of people in the USA did not have electricity until after 1950.
Perhaps I could have been more clear.
Then the environmentalists demanded that we stop using plastic bags because they were bad for the environment and that we should use paper ones instead.
It doesn't pay to get too old because it becomes new again.
Real figures of both GDP, inflation, and population means the GDP per person in 1955 was $2,581, but today it is $2,469 in 1955 dollars.
I used the stlouisfed.org site for gdp per capita. They have several, I don’t see exactly the same one, but they list constant dollar gdp as going up more than four-fold from 1960 to 2024 at this site:
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/NYGDPPCAPKDUSA
Today’s youth, by and large, have learned nothing from real-world, life experiences.
Instead, they have a phone that tells them what to do and what to think.
In 1974, I rented a one bedroom house for 125 a month. We had a baby, moved to a two bedroom house the next year and paid 150. When Ford moved into Nixons spot, we had a near depression and the printing presses came out. $35T in debt. 40T in 2 years, bet on it. $50T in 2030 EZ.
My daughter moved into a house in Jackson in 2002. There was a functioning refrigerator with a freezer that was a U shaped thing in the top of the unit and it froze what she put into it and it had only one door. That refrigerator had been made in the fifties or maybe before. No modern appliance lasts anything like that long.
Because acquiring informatioin takes no efffort, just rapid thumbs.You forget it all in seconds because it is just a flash on a screen.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.