Is the U.S. better or worse than it was 50 years ago?

[DaShi]

Originally posted by MrFun


There's still racial discrimination, even if it is illegal. Discrimination based on sexual orientation is still legal in many aspects.

Yes, things have definitely improved from 50 years ago, but there's always something wrong with our society because too many people feel the compulsive need to have a minority group singled out for hatred and discrimination.

And don't forget that the '50s were camp.

[Ned]

I don't know about you, but I spent a lot of time in the '50s learning how to get under our desks in school when the Russians attacked. We were definitely a nation that lived uneasily under the threat of nuclear war. Stalin was a monster. But Kruschev, who started out well, later turned into a very aggressive monster as well. Imagine the scene, if you could, of this leader of one of the most powerful countries in the world at the UN, banging his shoe on the table, and literally shouting anti-American threats.

"We shall bury you!"

Thank god we survived that. We survived because we invested heavily in our own military, and fought communist aggression across the world. We won. The Soviet Union is no more.

The end of the Evil Empire makes the world a safer place today.

[Sava]

You misunderstand Kruschiev, Ned. He was much more rational than Stalin. He put an end to the purges. He stopped the mass killings and removals of people. He only acted as a hard-liner in public to appease the hardline elements in the upper-echelons of the Soviet government.

[Willem]

Originally posted by MrFun
... but there's always something wrong with our society because too many people feel the compulsive need to have a minority group singled out for hatred and discrimination.

What else is new? That's been going on since the dawn of civilization.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Ned
"We shall bury you!"

You know he was talking about productivity, right? He was claiming that the USSR would bury the US in consumer goods. Productivity in the USSR was growing rapidly and he didn't believe what he saw in the US.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by MrFun
Yes, things have definitely improved from 50 years ago, but there's always something wrong with our society because too many people feel the compulsive need to have a minority group singled out for hatred and discrimination.

Progress is progress, honey. We may not be where we want to be, but we're a bit further down the path to freedom than we were fifty years ago. Don't put down all the great strides that were made.

[Menlas]

Originally posted by Ned

Thank god we survived that. We survived because we invested heavily in our own military, and fought communist aggression across the world. We won. The Soviet Union is no more.

The end of the Evil Empire makes the world a safer place today.

Amen.

[Ned]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara


You know he was talking about productivity, right? He was claiming that the USSR would bury the US in consumer goods. Productivity in the USSR was growing rapidly and he didn't believe what he saw in the US.

Che, as a school kid at the time, I had no misunderstanding of Kruschev's meaning.

You were joking, were you not?

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
You know he was talking about productivity, right?

That doesn't seem to make sense given the complete quote.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Ned
You were joking, were you not?

No.

[Ned]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara


No.

Che, I don't know whether to pity you or to laugh at you.

[Ben Kenobi]

In terms of civil rights? Homosexuals are still denied equal protection under the Constitution and religious fundamentalists still hold sway over a substantial population with its homophobic propaganda.

So the ship is holding steady?


I'd say things are better now than in 1953, although I can't speak from personal experience.

I'd say one big improvement in religious freedoms is Vatican 2.

If I wanted to, I could marry a Catholic.

[Elden]

Since there is no option for either better or worse I vote banana!

[Odin]

Better now than then. Back then I would be in jail for liking Kruschev.

[Joseph]

You people are just looking at the social issue only and that is sad.
Look at the 50s from my point of view. I was 6 year old in March of 50 and 15 year old in March of 59. In central Calif. it was a great time to be alive. You could walk down a street at any time without worrying about anyone hurting, kidnapping, or any thing else. Food was cheap, gas was cheap. A new pair of shoes was 6 to 8.00 a pair. A man made enough money to support a family. Almost no fighting in schools. My high school had 3 to 5 fight a year. At the school that I now work at a few years ago (96-99) we had 5 or more per week.
Leave a house unlock. Leave your car unlock. About 50% of the kids still live in the country.