HIGH SCHOOL -- 1957 vs. 2009

As they always say, age is a state of mind.

You can gab about the wonderful '50's all you want, but experience counts.

Iron Curtain
Atom and Hydrogen Bombs
Radioactivity at Bikini Island
Atomic bomb drills
McCarthy
Hanging blacks for being black
Separate restrooms and water fountains, restaurants for blacks
Separate schools for blacks
No home doctor visits, depending on where you lived
Having to dress up to go somewhere - doctor, sightseeing, etc.
Asian flu
No vaccines for polio (early 50's), mumps, measles, chickenpox
Smallpox
Sputnik
Hungarian Revolution
Suez Canal Crisis
Takeover in Cuba by Castro
Migrant farmworkers treated worse than animals
Expectation that women would not compete for jobs (being relegated to schoolteachers, secretaries, nurses - jobs for women)
Heart attacks usually fatal
Cancer usually fatal
Mentally disabled in institutions that treated them worse than animals
and on and on

And that's just off the cuff.

Every decade has it's good and bad. The 50's were not that great.

2wlady wrote: You can gab about the wonderful '50's all you want, but experience counts.

Iron Curtain
Atom and Hydrogen Bombs
Radioactivity at Bikini Island
Atomic bomb drills
McCarthy
Hanging blacks for being black
Separate restrooms and water fountains, restaurants for blacks
Separate schools for blacks
No home doctor visits, depending on where you lived
Having to dress up to go somewhere - doctor, sightseeing, etc.
Asian flu
No vaccines for polio (early 50's), mumps, measles, chickenpox
Smallpox
Sputnik
Hungarian Revolution
Suez Canal Crisis
Takeover in Cuba by Castro
Migrant farmworkers treated worse than animals
Expectation that women would not compete for jobs (being relegated to schoolteachers, secretaries, nurses - jobs for women)
Heart attacks usually fatal
Cancer usually fatal
Mentally disabled in institutions that treated them worse than animals
and on and on

And that's just off the cuff.

Every decade has it's good and bad. The 50's were not that great.

It's not like that is unique. Castro taking over Cuba did not affect life in the US. Suez Canal Cisis had no dire affect in the US nor the Hungarian revolution. Sputnik was actually some real motivation in the US. Deseases are a way of life not something unique to the 50's or something that made the 50's less than the time was. Today we have HIV and any number of other ailments. MaCarthy??? How did he have a huge negative affect? Radioactivity at Bakini Island?? We have it in Japan today. Iron Curtain did not affect us here in the US. Dragging in every event world wide is not relevant to this perspective unless your sole purpose is to try and bolster your case against the 50's. Bombs? More hype than reality, kind of like our present terrorist reaction. More perceived threat than reality. Expectation that women would not compete for jobs? Are the JOBs you listed not JOBS? Expectations do not keep one from doing something unless you chose to not compete. No one said you could not if you insisted on it.

The primary point of more everyday freedom from government interference in our lives in the 50s stands in stark contrast to what we experience today. For that reason alone I'll take the 50's over living conditions today. I'm not so concerned about surviving to old age as I am about living the life I have, no matter how short or long. This is where we part company as I like to focus on the positives in my life as opposed to the negatives. And from what I actually experienced then and now, there were more positives then than I can realize now. The fact that there were problems and threats around the globe had little influence. Now were I not as fortunate to have lived where I did, or were black, or a migrant worker, my perspectives may be different. However, let me temper that statement by saying if you looked at how we grew up, you might say that my brother and I were treated like animals too. That was not our perception though. Sure we got severely disciplined, worked ten to 16 hour days over much of the summer vacation, etc. etc., but we sill enjoyed our life, I'm not quite sure of what you imply with the treatment of migrant workers, but I'm certain their perspective relative to yours are vastly different. It's all relative. Relative to what our family experienced before the 50's, we had it great even with little heat in the house, dirt floor in the kitchen, etc. etc. We had much personal freedom, we could choose what we did or did not wish to do. Today, I need to wear a helmet riding a bike, wear a seat belt, seek permits to dig a ditch, have a floodplain or water run off determination by an expert who knows less than I do about the topic, and don't get me started about permits, etc. etc. No thank you. All of those things impact my life yesteryear and today vary differently.

Not that I'd want to live in the 50's compared to today, but... tongue:

Interesting thought. Would I return to the 50's as an adult? Yes. Would I simply want to relive my life again starting in the 50's? No thank you. Don't want to go through the many years of schooling again.

Those are all excellent suggestion published in the 1955 housekeeping monthly.

I'm quite sure if all the wifes out there would just follow those rules- many more men would be happy. The divorce rate (filed by the man) would go to near zero. However- the divorce rate (filed by the woman) might double. Most divorces are initiated by women these days- another reason the 50's were a better time in America.

I'm quite sure todays women are incapable of following the "good wife's guide". About 75% of all the married men I talk to say that their wife is a slave driving bitch- sent from satan himself to drive the man into insanity.

I wonder how many men would trade their current "cupcake" in for a 50's wife!

I would like to comment on all of the posts from women about what girls did back in the '50s. All of the girsl in the backseat of the cars chose to be there. Their choice of skirts was made each morning by themselves. There was no skirt police. They created, chose, and occupied their places in society.
It seems that women get a few miles on them and realize that the choices that they made back in their youth were pretty stupid, foolish, and self destructive. But they will not blame themselves for being stupid and accept the result so they must find a scapegoat. So they blame society, men, or whoever.

Hey BM - there's a thread just for you down in the ring - <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href=" 285bound.com/Forums/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=10638 " onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">viewtopic.php?f=29&t=10638<!-- l -->

You know, I'm sure there's a 3rd world country somewhere that appreciates values like yours.
Like it's all the woman's responsibility to make the men more happy? It doesn't take two responsible adults to make a relationship work? :Whatever:

Rockdoc Franz wrote: As they always say, age is a state of mind.

And they always lie, don't they? You can't stop mother nature

Anyway I don't know what this thread is about but I went to a HighSchool with a 4800 student body, and I married the prettiest girl in the school. Now thats something to be proud of. Home coming queen, headed the cheerleading team, and was the queen of the smoking area. I knew I was gonna marry her the first time I saw here in the 5th grade