Show me.
 

I am hard pressed to accept your assertion that I am wrong, when all I have done is state facts, and my experience. I didn't say that these were the only things going on, but they were what happened to me.

And, based upon my experience, the 1950s were a happy time for me. That's what I said.

Demonstrate where I am wrong.

I was born at the end of the 50s so do not know and my Mom had the flu while I was in the womb so I had to overcome some serious handicaps-- speech and coordination. I remember a lot of bullying and taking the short bus, literally once in a while. Had to get me trained to use my right hand as I was bad with both to begin with. So the 60s are a bit of a painful blur with some good moments. Did not come into my own until Mrs. Barbara Mitchell (Earl Wooster High School) in 1975 saw something worthwhile in me and later a number of University of Nevada, Reno Philosophy professors did the same along with German male professor as well as French woman professor. No mentor in librarianship nor in law school but did find a few friends among law students. And lots of friends in the librarianship program.

One of my cases as a law student at the U of MN Law School Legal Assistance to Minnesota Prisoners Clinic was doing something for the first man sentenced for raping his wife in Minnesota. I cannot say what I did for him but he was infamous in Minnesota and the Judge I dealt with chewed me out for doing this in 1988 or so. Even though the law would have notified his ex-wife about anything a law student lawyer and the lawyer of record did concerning this inmate.

I did have a hard time believing that people before the 1980s in many states seemed to be able to rape their wives. Marital rape (United States law - Wikipedia)

I did have a harder time dealing with the two youth who burned down a school library in upstate Minnesota though but while a law student you get the cases your supervising lawyer gives you.

That could have happened in the 1950s as well though I suppose.

Incidentally, the U of MN Law School when I was there had more women than men attending and often these were one of the people giving the Valedictorian speech at Graduation. Quite a change I will bet from the 1950s.

Happy days
 

It makes it virtually impossible to continue a dialogue when you insert your observations inside of my quoted material.

Accordingly, I will simply say that you may be well read on the "evils" of the 1950s, a period during which you were an infant and young child, but I was living through that time as a college student, college graduate, police department employee, and married man. You read about it; I lived it.

I will skip over the Feminist rhetoric that "many women" did not want to be housewives because there never was, nor ever will be a situation where everyone is happy with their life roles. Having a daughter with a college degree, I would be happy to see her in any life role of which she is capable and in which she would be happy.

I didn't state that racial segregation was abolished in the 1950s; I did point out that certain history changing events occurred in that period that laid the foundation for eventual progress. By the way, Governor Wallace "standing in the schoolhouse door" was entirely for show. He was using the Alabama National Guard for muscle, so President Kennedy federalized the Guard and had their Commanding Officer order Wallace to move. After further assertions of State's Rights, Wallace moved away. President Kennedy also directed that the federalized Guard facilitate Black registration in schools throughout Alabama.

Again, I don't know where you lived, but the places where I lived did not tolerate wife beating, which you characterized as being accepted so long as the item used was "less than the width of the man's thumb." And, under current Florida law, if police are called to a report of domestic abuse and one partner shows signs of having been struck, the other person IS going to jail. There is no wiggle room.

It is not "romanticizing the fifties" to have happy memories of the great era of muscle cars, Rock and Roll, and growing prosperity of the Middle Class after the deprivations of World War II. It was, in fact, an era of evolving and improving conditions in America.

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My father told me what degenerates people were in the fifties. Elvis shakin those damn hips in public. Morality was far better when he grew up in the 30's.

Agree. Use multiple quotes instead.

...

In the 50’s we were taught respect and the value of hard work. We weren’t entitled and we didn’t get participation trophy’s.

I heard that the 20s were really roaring with all those flappers. And all the men just grateful to be alive after the horrors of trench warfare coupled with the Spanish flu after that.

Well the topic is the the traditional values of the 1950's, not the 1970's. I am sticking to addressing the traditional values of the 1950's which I miss.

I would argue that most did not prefer to be relegated to the traditional "feminine" role of the pre-war era. Many did because they had no choice. I find in today's world, where there are very few stay-at-home parents that did not choose to take on that role, parents are happier. Women who are better at science than child rearing are making a different difference in this world. Men who are better at child rearing than selling insurance are also making a huge difference in this world.

As a child of the 60s, I didn't see the nurturing happy stay at home parents I see today. They are ridiculously good at their jobs. Better than I could have been, and much better than my mother was, despite her best efforts. Choice tends to put people into roles where they are the most productive and happy.

...

The 1930s.
 

Yep. SO much better. Prohibition in the early 30's led to illegal gin mills and Organized Crime gangs such as Al Capone's in Chicago, with murder, bribery and intimidation the order of the day.

Then there was also the Great Depression of course. Not to mention Bonnie and Clyde, Machine Gun Kelly, Baby Face Nelson, John Dillinger, and Giuseppe Zangara. Who was Zangara, you ask? He was the assassin who attempted to shoot President Franklin Roosevelt at an outdoor appearance and accidentally killed Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak instead.

He killed the Mayor on February 13, 1933. He was tried, sentenced, and by March 20, 1933, he was executed in federal prison. Humm. Maybe the 30's were the good old days.

Now we have organized crime gangs like the cartel that gave way to pot mills with murder, bribery and intimidation the order of the day. Maybe we need to learn the prohibition lesson once again.

Reply
 

I grew up in the 50's. I lost my dad to the war, my mom worked 2 sometimes 3 jobs to support 4 children. We didn't notice we were poor as kids as everyone in the neighborhood seemed the same. We played on the street, we roamed all over town without care, we all watched the same 3 TV stations as all the other kids. Native Indians lived nearby, they were friends with everyone as we depended on each other. Perhaps we were isolated because there was never talk of discrimination only "you are no better, no worse,than anyone else, just different..and different is good. It would be boring otherwise. Mom suffered. Later she started her own business but had to present herself as an employee to get attention as she was not a male. She complained rarely. I never heard of anyone on drugs other than liquor. Yes, it was better and worse depending on what issue you dwell on. It did seem more wholesome, more loving, less violent. I do think the media today promotes violence and claims it reflects society...but not society I see often. I would prefer the media show us society but emphasize the positive, what we are and can be at our best. It's much easier to let things go, live our animal instincts, but humans are of a higher order, not just animals, and that is what I would prefer to see emphasized.
We have gained much in the last 50 years, and we have lost sight of some of our excellence. The pendulum swings back and forth but never again to the exact same spot individually and collectively. IMHO, the question is "Who do I want to be? Who do we want to be?"

Growing up right.
 

My parents were young adults in the Depression. I didn't realize how poor we were because all of our neighbors were similarly situated. I benefited from having a highly intelligent father and a highly practical mother. They could not have imagined what a nice home and amenities I now have.

God blessed me with precisely the right wife, which meant more than all of the financial advantages I later received.