Replies

We've made a lot of technological progress in the last 50 years. But we haven't put a dent in quality of life- at least not in the United States. I would argue that quality of life is worst today, than in 1960. Quality of life has much more to it than just new and improved products. It has to do with the overall aspects of life and can be subjective to a large degree.

US Cities were much more livable in 1960 than they are today. This is true coast to coast. There was a lot less crime and less vulgarity in our daily lives. This is a topic I could write on all day, but time is short today. Suffice it to say, I don't like America as much today as I did in 1960, even though I was a very small child at the time. The United States was a much better country in 1960.

If there were such a thing as a time machine and I could get into it and go back to 1960, I'd do it in a second. In fact I turn the dial back to 1950.

In the early 50s in the city, my dad had to shovel coal into the coal furnace. The ice man came every other day. Mom and I had to walk to the store (no car) to buy meat fresh every day since the icebox couldn't keep it fresh very long. Couldn't keep ice cream. If my dad needed a piece of lumber, we took two different streetcars (no car, as I said) to the lumber yard and brought it back on the streetcars. In the winter time the streetcars were heated by little coal stoves. The scrap collector (paper, rags! Our guy never said "paper eggs") drove a wagon pulled by a horse. Same with the produce guy ("apples, oranges, peaches, plums, and nectarines --- and fresh - straw - berries!" he would yell). There were no interstate highways. The bums were actually gentlemen, though, and my mom would give them handouts. And no, we never locked our doors. We didn't have any keys for the house.

When we sold the house in 1961, crime in the neighborhood was rampant, so we had to get keys made. Our next door neighbors, who were a very nice young black couple, had their house cleaned out by burglars while they slept. Two houses down a guy was sent to prison for murder. I was scared to death to leave the house. In 1961 I didn't see the quality of life you mention.

I will take my quality of life today over that of the '50s any day.

US Cities were much more livable in 1960 than they are today.

Sure. But a lot of people will tell you that things are better now than they were in 1970 or 1980, and that is something.

Suffice it to say, I don't like America as much today as I did in 1960, even though I was a very small child at the time. The United States was a much better country in 1960.

In those days, you could buy up the farmland outside any big city, build homes on them, and the people who bought them were happy, especially in comparison to what they went through in the Depression and WWII.

Now all that land has been built on and we have at least 130 million more people.

More people chasing things that may not have increased as much + higher expectations and less confidence in achieving them = more unhappiness.