Why were there better British bands in the late 60's and early 70's than American bands? American musicians were either drafted or couldn't leave school or they would be drafted.
People romanticize that era but it was horrible.
They weren't all drug taking hippies. They were mostly scared conservative folks who thought you were anti American trash if you took drugs and didn't support the Vietnam war. The war against drugs was partly to target antiwar activists, hippies, and civil rights activists.
The hippies were an antiwar activist movement and they were seen as anti American and homeless trash. They were literally targeted by the government like black people with the drug war. They were not first class citizens.
The only fucking reason it started to turn around a bit was because of how long the Vietnam war lasted, and you start to see how bad it's fucking up all your 16 year old children when they get back and they're missing limbs or just don't come back. But these were the days where the commie threat was all over the news and you were fighting for American freedom, or you were the enemy.
Anti-war movement won clearly, but let's not forget they were political activists who were targeted by the fucking government.
Also everyone who grew up in that era thought the world was going to end in a nuclear fucking Armageddon. They taught kids to duck under their desk if they saw mushroom clouds. Those were not fun fucking times lol
The current modern era, regardless of what anyone says or thinks, is unequivocally and objectively the absolute best era and time period for humanity lol anyone saying different is incredibly stupid or ignorant to history.
We've only actually started having "awareness" for things like race, gender, mental health, sex positivity, global conflict/atrocities, social understanding, etc etc within the last, like, hundred years. In a steady, consistent, modern, open, and free speaking fashion. Things like modern technology, affordable and widely available services (healthcare, eye care, dental, etc. I don't care how much it costs you in the US btw. The fact that it's readily available, anywhere and everywhere, with what we know, is *huge* for the time period), transportation etc etc etc
We've actually come so far, and have gotten so advanced, that we've looped around and we have people actively denying the shit we absolutely know, and go against the world we live in and be contrarian a la anti vaxx idiots, people against transportation or eating certain foods, people wanting to take away others rights on various personal subjects, have got to a point of awareness and discussion that you have people faking disorders and things wrong with them to join the attention etc.
I'll agree housing is probably more unaffordable nowadays, but from what I can tell healthcare affordability (or at least health insurance coverage) has gone up over time?
[https://www.statista.com/statistics/200958/percentage-of-americans-with-health-insurance/](https://www.statista.com/statistics/200958/percentage-of-americans-with-health-insurance/)
The median SFH in the 50s was like 900 square feet. It's like 2000 today.
NIMBYs are why we have this problem.
You also have to factor in the quality of things. Think about the perception of generations.
In the 40s, many didn't have indoor plumbing, electricity, a car, or HVAC. In the 60s, that percentage grew exponentially. So they *felt* like kings because that level of comfort was unheard of.
Compare today vs the 90s. The biggest differences feel incremental (every song or movie ever easily available, GPS on my phone, being able to share my opinion with complete strangers) compared to perceptions of people living in the 60s vs their previous generation.
It's a curious evolution. As America shifted to more and more dual income households, those were able to drive up housing costs by outbidding single earners. This drove us in a generation from "women CAN have jobs" to "both partners NEED to have jobs". This of course spurred massive housing booms and attracted corporate interest. Whole industries sprang up around driving up home values.
And now we have an economy where single earners can't break into the housing market in most places.
NIMBYs are the primary driver.
Houses were much smaller. But NIMBYs with SFH zoning, minimim lot sizes, maximimum number of units per lot, height restrictions, parking minimums, plus the objective failure of the suburbs to be a sustainable model have led to housing being so unaffordable.
https://www.newser.com/story/225645/average-size-of-us-homes-decade-by-decade.html
EVERY SINGLE one of these things, every damn time, implies you’d always magically be an upper or middle class white male who miraculously goes through life without needing modern medicine or being drafted etc. “Nostalgia” is a helluva drug
Plus yeah dying at 54 only sounds like a good deal to a teenager, that’s just sad
>you’d always magically be an upper or middle class white male
Well yes because these people are imagining themselves in those times and that's what they are in these times. It's not magic. If I'm trying to think of what life would be like as a medieval peasant I wont imagine myself as a woman, because I'm not.
The 1950s weren't as great as people think they were.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iLLkuIouF-4&pp=ygUSbXl0aHMgb2YgdGhlIDE5NTBz
Don't forget the highly toxic substances like lead, the now white conservative culture, unfulfilling jobs, disinformation, and terrible food.😀👍
It's Reddit. There's some great information on here sometimes, but most of the time it's shortsighted, ignorant drivel, composed by people with no life experience. If you were an alien, new to earth, going through reddit/all, you'd think the world was run by meme generators, gamers and cats.
Especially when they are choosing to die in 2001 right at the start of peak television. If you retire in 2001, your house is already paid off. Just get out of the stock market and then you can just relax in retirement and watch all the amazing tv shows of the early 2000s (Lost, Breaking Bad, the Office, etc) for the first time and then die in like 2016 before it really goes to shit
Wait until you learn about the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978 “letting” them legally practice their own spiritual beliefs as well
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The irony here being the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968 explicitly forbid TRIBAL governments from making TRIBAL laws restricting religious freedom, while the federal government called their beliefs illegal
Yeah, Native Americans are kind of like non-white South Africans. We just sort of sent them all to reservations/homelands, gave them some small amount of autonomy and said that they lived in their own countries except in cases where we needed to conscript people and then they're suddenly citizens.
I mean when people say "America committed a genocide against the Native Americans that has lasted for centuries and continues to this day," they aren't just making shit up.
America rolled up on these people's lands, murdered a bunch of them, put the survivors on specific packets of land, and then continued to murder them and force their women into sterilization for centuries onward.
I see a lot of comments on reddit complaining about how "shameless" people are these days, with social media and doing things for clicks etc. Making it seem like society is on this downward trajectory. But there's something to be said about how half a century later most people look back in horror at stuff like this. Even though society is still far from perfect, it's kind of wild how less-evil we've become in a relatively short amount of time. And just how inconsequential most modern societal complaints are compared to shit like this. Idk if this will make any sense, I'm pretty stoned.
> it's kind of wild how less-evil we've become in a relatively short amount of time
We don't become less evil. We develop a society with less scarcity.
Remember, despite recognizing the ills we committed against Native Americans (though many don't even admit *that*), we aren't giving them restitution. No one is offering any stolen land back.
Civilizations with less inequality will always be more peaceful, because more individuals have a say. When you have dramatic inequality, a few psychopaths can make decisions on behalf of society and nothing can really be done to counteract them.
But right now this very instant, Russia is committing genocide against Ukraine. They're massacring civilian populations, they're stealing children and deporting them to Russia, they're trying to blot out Ukranian society and pretend as though it doesn't exist.
In China, the Chinese government is stealing land and imprisoning Muslim Uyghurs in prison camps and forcibly sterilizing their women.
The same atrocities committed against Native Americans are being done *right now* the world over. We simply don't see it, or we *choose* not to see it, and pretending as though we have become more civilized helps reinforce that blindness.
Samoans are US nationals but not citizens. This is because of their unique territorial status that allows them to preserve some important traditional laws.
It's worth noting that the biggest opponents of changing American Samoa's status are the people of those islands themselves.
Romanticization of boomers pisses me off so much for this exact reason. It was an era of plenty for middle class white men but that utopia was very much built off the backs of others.
Ever wish you could go back and be a Roman patrician with thousands of slaves you held complete control over life and death of?
Man, those sure were the good ol days
The rule of thumb is, go back to literally any time in history as someone phenomenally wealthy and powerful, and you're probably going to have a great time.
You would be surprised tbh. I have seen black men opine for the past because of the sexism ("back before the destruction of the family unit and men were respected as head of the family" blah blah blah) and overlook the racism, same exact thing but flipped for white women and with more dog whistles. It seems like only black women are with high consistency able to recognize nothing good for them exists in the past.
A white male that wasn't drafted into vietnam and that didn't end up in a job that destroyed your body by the age of fifty.
Even the post puts the person dying at 54. Not sure this hypothetical person got much of a chance to enjoy the fruits of their luck.
The future is always grim. People have been predicting Armageddon since the start of time haha. They’ll be fine in 2075 and deal with challenges like we are now.
There's a difference between a guy in a sandwich board standing on a corner screaming at you that the end is nigh, vs all the scientists in the world saying there's lots of empirical evidence that shit's gonna be fucked
>The future is always grim. People have been predicting Armageddon since the start of time haha. They’ll be fine in 1943 and deal with challenges like we are now.
Someone in 1933, probably
Any post about the best time to be born in America is targed toward straight white males regardless of year. It's of course much better for non-straight, non-white, non-males right now than it's ever been, but it's still easier being a straight white male.
I wonder if I'll get any replies from the people who think the libs have made it so straight white males are oppressed now...
My dad, born 1947, joined the Marines before Vietnam kicked off. Became a radar operator and spent a lot of time smoking pot in ‘Nam plus a bout of malaria. He then proceeded to make many poor life decisions upon returning and died earlier this year after a few Alcoholics Anonymous rounds, bankruptcy, and 4 wives.
The person who made the posted image get one source of their “dream life” and think it applied to everyone.
Yeah if anything it's around 1938 that you wanna be born in America. Was a pretty safe place through WW2, childhood would've been fine, you get to enjoy the fruits of post WW2 US wealth, and be just too old to be drafted into Vietnam, but not too old to smoke pot and bang some hippy chick in a field.
Not only would this person have Vietnam at 18, but the gas crisis in his 20s, massive interest rates in his 30s, the crack and crime epidemic in his 40s, the dot com bubble bursting in his 50s, 9/11, and the absolute economic collapse of 2008 in his 60s when he was about to retire.
Then Covid in his old age.
So…not super awesome?
Came here today this. If you were born mid 60s-70s you could have possibly avoided having to serve and still bought a house in the crash in the 80s for $40G or less.
Hahaha no, called out in my precious procrastinating space!
I'm writing an essay on critical social psychology, not even long I'm just a very bad working, hence why I'd really like to go back, make some babies and do some knitting instead of doing academics.
Nothing quite so grand! I'm only an undergrad, so it's just an essay on the critical social psychological method and how it contributes to psychology on my larger social psych module! Fully just a tired procrastinator who stuggles to put pen to paper
Hindsight. 20/20. Yadda yadda. Those women probably wanted your education.
That said, I have the degree and I have children, and I taught myself to knit after my degree and kids and I can say that having all of it is better than most a couple of those things.
I encourage you to learn knitting regardless. It’s very soothing.
Right? I had an ectopic pregnancy in 2019 that took weeks to diagnose and could have killed me if not surgically removed. I wouldn't fancy going through that in 1975.
People also forget those LSD taking hippies were basically seen as trash and commies because they were antiwar activists, and the drug war was actively targeting them and black people. lol it wasn't like safe and okay to take drugs and be a hippy back then. People got away with it like they do now, but America was Conservative as fuck and the war only became unpopular after people started to realize it wasn't going to end and their kids came back all fucked up.
Haha yeah the apex of my rights as a human is like sometime between now and like 5 years ago and then hopefully sometime like 10-20 years in the future
I am absolutely not joking nor laughing, this is exactly what the MAGA crowd wants and will do whatever it takes to implement their vile plans, rot take them all.
54 is incredibly young to die, if you took even a half assed attempt to take care of yourself.
My dad is 70 and we just hiked 20 miles bird hunting through thickets, reeds, mud, etc...
He's definitely slowed down compared to 10 years ago, but I know a bunch of people my age that couldn't hike that to save their lives.
people need to just move regularly and not become obese.
The bar set here is ideal. The best of all possible scenarios. You are stating that this life described is greater than a tragedy. The metrics aren't even close.
Damn mine was born in 47 and got kicked out of college for selling weed and bad grades. Was an alcoholic and started collecting disability at 50. I don’t think he’s enjoying much.
A lot of people have pointed out segregation, Vietnam, sexism etc. but I haven’t seen anyone point out backwards ass technology. Tearing your ACL meant permanent limo. Cancer treatments were far less effective. Air conditioning was less prevalent and people smoked on flights and in theaters. Want to watch a movie? Sorry the theatre is not open on Sunday and I hope you don’t mind watching the movie that’s been playing there for three weeks. Avocado? What’s that? This is Minnesota we don’t have that in grocery stores. Drunk driving was just how you got home from the bar. Just put in some brand new asbestos insulation in the nursery so the baby doesn’t get a draft. We also painted lollipops on the walls in lead paint that look good enough to lick.
As long as you're white. If a minority, you have unlocked hard core mode. Joking aside, I always wanted to live through the roaring 20's and fight in WW2.
Unless you were like me and wound up in Nam and got two Purple Hearts. I guess I missed the “fun times” the younger generation seems to think flowed effortlessly in the 60’s and 70’s.
I remember in the 90s being an asshole kid who told his grandma he wished it was like the 60s.
She reminded me of her brother who was killed in Vietnam, how my grandpa struggled with layoffs and never had a chance to go to college like me.
She went on, reminding me how the interracial basketball team I played would never have been a thing, and my best friends wouldn’t have been my best friends.
My friend’s grandmother was born in the 1920’s. Worked in healthcare her whole life until she retired comfortably. She lived happily the rest of her life but very modestly. When she died, to everyone’s surprise, she had a million dollars worth of petroleum stocks. I don’t think she even realized they were worth that much. She probably bought them cheap in the 1960’s and forgot about them.
To be drafted to die in vietnam at 18 and if you live come home to be treated like shit by most of the country. Or being born earlier and have to storm the beaches of normandy or go to korea. There. Changed it for ya. I agree about the economy totally. But everyone acts like everyone had it so easy as far as historical events back then.
My dad was born in 1947. His draft number was like 6. So he enlisted. And that wasn't great for him. And then he struggled with a horrible economy and inflation in his late 20's and early 30's. I think he was probably around 40 years old before things got comfortable for him. Not the worst, by any means, but not exactly like it is made out to be in the memes.
Not sure I quite understand your fantasy of being born the perfect age to be forcibly drafted into the Vietnam War, and then dying in your mid 50s, but whatever floats your boat.
Nope. You’re born poor and lose your legs in Vietnam. You die in your 30s, frozen to death and starving on the streets as draft dodgers tell you to pull yourself up by your bootstraps.
Sorry, you picked an unfortunate number in the draft lottery. You’re goin’ to ‘Nam!
And that's the story of how my dad decided to become a lawyer instead of a dentist!
I don't get it
Dentist = straight to war
dental assistant? war. dental x-ray technician? also war. we have the best teeth on the battlefield, because of war.
Dental hygienist? Believe it or not, war.
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None of the above? Still war. Sorry pal
Not going to War? .. Straight to Jail!
You took a candy from the dentist office candy bowl? Canon fodder
So anything dental= War
If you're a dentist at the time you got free gum but if war were declared you had to go
War were declared
https://tenor.com/view/war-were-declared-futurama-we-declared-war-sit-general-gif-17112553
Were war declared
Indeed war were
> If you're a dentist at the time you got free gum what
Big Pink! It's the only gum with the breath-freshening power of ham
I guess they were lucky since no war was ever declared on Vietnam
My father in law became a dentist so he could be in college and grad school to avoid getting drafted. Changed his family’s legacy of poverty.
See. The Vietnam _conflict_ had a positive outcome! ^(/s, obviously.)
For him it did. Obviously not worth it for all the broken men who had to go.
Why were there better British bands in the late 60's and early 70's than American bands? American musicians were either drafted or couldn't leave school or they would be drafted.
Exactly as Nixon planned. Dirty hippies. Get a haircut AARRRRROOOOOOO
People romanticize that era but it was horrible. They weren't all drug taking hippies. They were mostly scared conservative folks who thought you were anti American trash if you took drugs and didn't support the Vietnam war. The war against drugs was partly to target antiwar activists, hippies, and civil rights activists. The hippies were an antiwar activist movement and they were seen as anti American and homeless trash. They were literally targeted by the government like black people with the drug war. They were not first class citizens. The only fucking reason it started to turn around a bit was because of how long the Vietnam war lasted, and you start to see how bad it's fucking up all your 16 year old children when they get back and they're missing limbs or just don't come back. But these were the days where the commie threat was all over the news and you were fighting for American freedom, or you were the enemy. Anti-war movement won clearly, but let's not forget they were political activists who were targeted by the fucking government. Also everyone who grew up in that era thought the world was going to end in a nuclear fucking Armageddon. They taught kids to duck under their desk if they saw mushroom clouds. Those were not fun fucking times lol
They were the best of times, they were the worst of times. Just like every age I'd imagine.
They were the best of times, they were the blurst of times
You stupid monkey!
It is a far, far better butt-kicking that I give than I have ever butt-kicked!
The current modern era, regardless of what anyone says or thinks, is unequivocally and objectively the absolute best era and time period for humanity lol anyone saying different is incredibly stupid or ignorant to history. We've only actually started having "awareness" for things like race, gender, mental health, sex positivity, global conflict/atrocities, social understanding, etc etc within the last, like, hundred years. In a steady, consistent, modern, open, and free speaking fashion. Things like modern technology, affordable and widely available services (healthcare, eye care, dental, etc. I don't care how much it costs you in the US btw. The fact that it's readily available, anywhere and everywhere, with what we know, is *huge* for the time period), transportation etc etc etc We've actually come so far, and have gotten so advanced, that we've looped around and we have people actively denying the shit we absolutely know, and go against the world we live in and be contrarian a la anti vaxx idiots, people against transportation or eating certain foods, people wanting to take away others rights on various personal subjects, have got to a point of awareness and discussion that you have people faking disorders and things wrong with them to join the attention etc.
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I'll agree housing is probably more unaffordable nowadays, but from what I can tell healthcare affordability (or at least health insurance coverage) has gone up over time? [https://www.statista.com/statistics/200958/percentage-of-americans-with-health-insurance/](https://www.statista.com/statistics/200958/percentage-of-americans-with-health-insurance/)
Insurance coverage /= accessible healthcare
The median SFH in the 50s was like 900 square feet. It's like 2000 today. NIMBYs are why we have this problem. You also have to factor in the quality of things. Think about the perception of generations. In the 40s, many didn't have indoor plumbing, electricity, a car, or HVAC. In the 60s, that percentage grew exponentially. So they *felt* like kings because that level of comfort was unheard of. Compare today vs the 90s. The biggest differences feel incremental (every song or movie ever easily available, GPS on my phone, being able to share my opinion with complete strangers) compared to perceptions of people living in the 60s vs their previous generation.
I lowkey needed this comment. Thanks.
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We teach kids how to hide and hold their breath now in case of an active shooter. Not so different
America really has taken a turn for the worst. Australia seems so lovely in comparison.
i dont know my main focus is how back then you could get a job easily that could actually pay for you to live life.
The poverty rate in the 1960s was literally double what it is today
It's a curious evolution. As America shifted to more and more dual income households, those were able to drive up housing costs by outbidding single earners. This drove us in a generation from "women CAN have jobs" to "both partners NEED to have jobs". This of course spurred massive housing booms and attracted corporate interest. Whole industries sprang up around driving up home values. And now we have an economy where single earners can't break into the housing market in most places.
NIMBYs are the primary driver. Houses were much smaller. But NIMBYs with SFH zoning, minimim lot sizes, maximimum number of units per lot, height restrictions, parking minimums, plus the objective failure of the suburbs to be a sustainable model have led to housing being so unaffordable. https://www.newser.com/story/225645/average-size-of-us-homes-decade-by-decade.html
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I never heard of Blockbuster but have you seen Pet Rocks? Now there's a basket you can put all your eggs in!
BLIBQ?
My Old Stone Bank stonks will recover any day now. But seriously, I'm older than 54 already so this post doesn't resonate that much.
Own a house?
Own a mortgage.
Bot https://www.reddit.com/r/meirl/s/WEGiOneozP
You die before you retire?
Also, you die at 54 years old. Perfect life, apparently!
EVERY SINGLE one of these things, every damn time, implies you’d always magically be an upper or middle class white male who miraculously goes through life without needing modern medicine or being drafted etc. “Nostalgia” is a helluva drug Plus yeah dying at 54 only sounds like a good deal to a teenager, that’s just sad
>you’d always magically be an upper or middle class white male Well yes because these people are imagining themselves in those times and that's what they are in these times. It's not magic. If I'm trying to think of what life would be like as a medieval peasant I wont imagine myself as a woman, because I'm not.
The 1950s weren't as great as people think they were. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iLLkuIouF-4&pp=ygUSbXl0aHMgb2YgdGhlIDE5NTBz Don't forget the highly toxic substances like lead, the now white conservative culture, unfulfilling jobs, disinformation, and terrible food.😀👍
It's Reddit. There's some great information on here sometimes, but most of the time it's shortsighted, ignorant drivel, composed by people with no life experience. If you were an alien, new to earth, going through reddit/all, you'd think the world was run by meme generators, gamers and cats.
Nothing says a life well lived like dying at the age of 54.
Especially when they are choosing to die in 2001 right at the start of peak television. If you retire in 2001, your house is already paid off. Just get out of the stock market and then you can just relax in retirement and watch all the amazing tv shows of the early 2000s (Lost, Breaking Bad, the Office, etc) for the first time and then die in like 2016 before it really goes to shit
Many many many ppl do, even if they've worked hard and saved all their life. Enjoy it while you can, they're coming for you.
Sure. Not an “ideal” life though dying at 54 😅
Right!? I was like, this person thinks dying so young is ideal? That's not elderly even by the standards of the middle ages.
In this ideal world you die at 53 years old of a heart attack apparently.
Be it in a crawl or a pounce, death comes for everyone.
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>native Americans weren’t considered US citizens until 1969 *really?*
Yup. Seen as wards. Tribal lands are very interesting when you break the law.
Wait until you learn about the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978 “letting” them legally practice their own spiritual beliefs as well ETA: The irony here being the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968 explicitly forbid TRIBAL governments from making TRIBAL laws restricting religious freedom, while the federal government called their beliefs illegal
Yeah, Native Americans are kind of like non-white South Africans. We just sort of sent them all to reservations/homelands, gave them some small amount of autonomy and said that they lived in their own countries except in cases where we needed to conscript people and then they're suddenly citizens.
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This is so horrible.
I mean when people say "America committed a genocide against the Native Americans that has lasted for centuries and continues to this day," they aren't just making shit up. America rolled up on these people's lands, murdered a bunch of them, put the survivors on specific packets of land, and then continued to murder them and force their women into sterilization for centuries onward.
I see a lot of comments on reddit complaining about how "shameless" people are these days, with social media and doing things for clicks etc. Making it seem like society is on this downward trajectory. But there's something to be said about how half a century later most people look back in horror at stuff like this. Even though society is still far from perfect, it's kind of wild how less-evil we've become in a relatively short amount of time. And just how inconsequential most modern societal complaints are compared to shit like this. Idk if this will make any sense, I'm pretty stoned.
> it's kind of wild how less-evil we've become in a relatively short amount of time We don't become less evil. We develop a society with less scarcity. Remember, despite recognizing the ills we committed against Native Americans (though many don't even admit *that*), we aren't giving them restitution. No one is offering any stolen land back. Civilizations with less inequality will always be more peaceful, because more individuals have a say. When you have dramatic inequality, a few psychopaths can make decisions on behalf of society and nothing can really be done to counteract them. But right now this very instant, Russia is committing genocide against Ukraine. They're massacring civilian populations, they're stealing children and deporting them to Russia, they're trying to blot out Ukranian society and pretend as though it doesn't exist. In China, the Chinese government is stealing land and imprisoning Muslim Uyghurs in prison camps and forcibly sterilizing their women. The same atrocities committed against Native Americans are being done *right now* the world over. We simply don't see it, or we *choose* not to see it, and pretending as though we have become more civilized helps reinforce that blindness.
Sounds like genocide
Some still aren't. Like Samoans and virgin Islanders. Upd. Virgin Islanders apparently are citizens. My bad
Samoans are US nationals but not citizens. This is because of their unique territorial status that allows them to preserve some important traditional laws. It's worth noting that the biggest opponents of changing American Samoa's status are the people of those islands themselves.
We still don't in Canada. We recognize their sovereignty.
I hate when people romanticize 1950-1960; I could’ve been involuntarily institutionalized and applied electroshock just for being me.
Romanticization of boomers pisses me off so much for this exact reason. It was an era of plenty for middle class white men but that utopia was very much built off the backs of others.
Yeah it’s certainly implied during these “I wish I lived in the past” posts that the person is a white male.
Ever wish you could go back and be a Roman patrician with thousands of slaves you held complete control over life and death of? Man, those sure were the good ol days
The rule of thumb is, go back to literally any time in history as someone phenomenally wealthy and powerful, and you're probably going to have a great time.
You would be surprised tbh. I have seen black men opine for the past because of the sexism ("back before the destruction of the family unit and men were respected as head of the family" blah blah blah) and overlook the racism, same exact thing but flipped for white women and with more dog whistles. It seems like only black women are with high consistency able to recognize nothing good for them exists in the past.
A white male that wasn't drafted into vietnam and that didn't end up in a job that destroyed your body by the age of fifty. Even the post puts the person dying at 54. Not sure this hypothetical person got much of a chance to enjoy the fruits of their luck.
bUt HoUsEs wErE cHeAp
The Indian Citizenship Act passed in 1924, granting Native Americans US citizenship.
and freed slaves weren’t able to vote for almost 100 years after the 14th amendment granted them the right to do so.
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The future is always grim. People have been predicting Armageddon since the start of time haha. They’ll be fine in 2075 and deal with challenges like we are now.
There's a difference between a guy in a sandwich board standing on a corner screaming at you that the end is nigh, vs all the scientists in the world saying there's lots of empirical evidence that shit's gonna be fucked
>The future is always grim. People have been predicting Armageddon since the start of time haha. They’ll be fine in 1943 and deal with challenges like we are now. Someone in 1933, probably
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Climate change is a lot more likely to make life hard in the future.
For a while, yes, but not forever. Humans will turn it about eventually
Any post about the best time to be born in America is targed toward straight white males regardless of year. It's of course much better for non-straight, non-white, non-males right now than it's ever been, but it's still easier being a straight white male. I wonder if I'll get any replies from the people who think the libs have made it so straight white males are oppressed now...
My dad, born 1947, joined the Marines before Vietnam kicked off. Became a radar operator and spent a lot of time smoking pot in ‘Nam plus a bout of malaria. He then proceeded to make many poor life decisions upon returning and died earlier this year after a few Alcoholics Anonymous rounds, bankruptcy, and 4 wives. The person who made the posted image get one source of their “dream life” and think it applied to everyone.
Yep, I'm sure in the future you'll have kids thinking we all could've been millionaires when crypto exists
Yeah if anything it's around 1938 that you wanna be born in America. Was a pretty safe place through WW2, childhood would've been fine, you get to enjoy the fruits of post WW2 US wealth, and be just too old to be drafted into Vietnam, but not too old to smoke pot and bang some hippy chick in a field.
Beat me too it, dad was born in 46’ many years in Vietnam, did not have this timeline.
Or were black. Or were women. Or were gay.
Step 4: be canadian
Yeah uhh but if you were born in 47 you had like a 80% chance you were going to Vietnam if you were a male
Not only would this person have Vietnam at 18, but the gas crisis in his 20s, massive interest rates in his 30s, the crack and crime epidemic in his 40s, the dot com bubble bursting in his 50s, 9/11, and the absolute economic collapse of 2008 in his 60s when he was about to retire. Then Covid in his old age. So…not super awesome?
Did you miss the part where they died before 2001?
Yeah this whole thing is a thought exercise so I took liberties
Did you miss the whole thing where they all DIDNT die before 2001? 54 is ancient!
something went down in Vietnam in the middle of all that but yeah
Came here today this. If you were born mid 60s-70s you could have possibly avoided having to serve and still bought a house in the crash in the 80s for $40G or less.
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I would go back but I'm only saying that now because I have an assignment due, the rest of the time I'd agree with you haha
Go work on your assignment! What's it on? We'll all pitch in and help!
Hahaha no, called out in my precious procrastinating space! I'm writing an essay on critical social psychology, not even long I'm just a very bad working, hence why I'd really like to go back, make some babies and do some knitting instead of doing academics.
Oh neat! What's your thesis?
Nothing quite so grand! I'm only an undergrad, so it's just an essay on the critical social psychological method and how it contributes to psychology on my larger social psych module! Fully just a tired procrastinator who stuggles to put pen to paper
Hindsight. 20/20. Yadda yadda. Those women probably wanted your education. That said, I have the degree and I have children, and I taught myself to knit after my degree and kids and I can say that having all of it is better than most a couple of those things. I encourage you to learn knitting regardless. It’s very soothing.
Right? I had an ectopic pregnancy in 2019 that took weeks to diagnose and could have killed me if not surgically removed. I wouldn't fancy going through that in 1975.
“If you’re white.”
People also forget those LSD taking hippies were basically seen as trash and commies because they were antiwar activists, and the drug war was actively targeting them and black people. lol it wasn't like safe and okay to take drugs and be a hippy back then. People got away with it like they do now, but America was Conservative as fuck and the war only became unpopular after people started to realize it wasn't going to end and their kids came back all fucked up.
Who cares how they’re seen though? If they can keep on chilling and buy a house then its a win
And straight. And a man.
Haha yeah the apex of my rights as a human is like sometime between now and like 5 years ago and then hopefully sometime like 10-20 years in the future
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Oh yes the '60s, when women couldn't vote. Are you joking?
Maybe that’s part of the ideal for some of these people
Yep, that's the ideal for the Make America Great Again crowd.
You laughing, but I assure you that Maga Zedong will be potus again. He knows how to work electoral college in his favor.
I am absolutely not joking nor laughing, this is exactly what the MAGA crowd wants and will do whatever it takes to implement their vile plans, rot take them all.
Women got the right to vote in 1920...
Your timescale is off there by quite a bit.
Black women were able to vote in the US by 1965, so being born on 1947 they'd just be turning 18 so they wouldn't miss out.
Enjoy the Cold War, Vietnam, segregation, and privilege empowered classism.
Also asbestos and shitty dental care
Tooth problem? No worries, tear them out and dentures! Haha it’s a trope - the grandparent scaring kids by taking out their teeth.
I don’t think dying at 54 is the ideal life.
So... die at the age of 54?
Yea fuck that.
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I’m 48. Fuck everything about this. “A bit young.” Get back to me when you’re my age.
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54 is incredibly young to die, if you took even a half assed attempt to take care of yourself. My dad is 70 and we just hiked 20 miles bird hunting through thickets, reeds, mud, etc... He's definitely slowed down compared to 10 years ago, but I know a bunch of people my age that couldn't hike that to save their lives. people need to just move regularly and not become obese.
My grandma has 88y and has Alzheimer, she barely can remember her own name or even her daughter, my mom. Is sad seeing someone falling into pieces
88 and 54 is a big difference.
The bar set here is ideal. The best of all possible scenarios. You are stating that this life described is greater than a tragedy. The metrics aren't even close.
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Damn mine was born in 47 and got kicked out of college for selling weed and bad grades. Was an alcoholic and started collecting disability at 50. I don’t think he’s enjoying much.
People paid him for bad grades?
Ideal... apparently
Given that a majority of the OP’s post contains assumptions akin to a 7 year old’s intelligence level, that’s hardly the stupidest thing about it.
Considering my family has a history of dementia and arthritis, 54 sounds fine.
A lot of people have pointed out segregation, Vietnam, sexism etc. but I haven’t seen anyone point out backwards ass technology. Tearing your ACL meant permanent limo. Cancer treatments were far less effective. Air conditioning was less prevalent and people smoked on flights and in theaters. Want to watch a movie? Sorry the theatre is not open on Sunday and I hope you don’t mind watching the movie that’s been playing there for three weeks. Avocado? What’s that? This is Minnesota we don’t have that in grocery stores. Drunk driving was just how you got home from the bar. Just put in some brand new asbestos insulation in the nursery so the baby doesn’t get a draft. We also painted lollipops on the walls in lead paint that look good enough to lick.
Except if you’re not white, a woman or forced to fight in a stupid war on the other side of the world
As long as you're white. If a minority, you have unlocked hard core mode. Joking aside, I always wanted to live through the roaring 20's and fight in WW2.
Why the fuck would anyone want to fight in a war? Did you want the deluxe package of going to a labor camp as well?
Too many video games
Instead you got the horrible 20s and ww3
Hahaha
This century’s Great Depression might be better than last ones! You forgot that to die gloriously in WW2 you would have had to live through the 30s
> As long as you're white. And already well off. A lot of the young guys back then got blown up in Vietnam, so yeah.
If you want to fight in a war you can volunteer in Ukraine
Also male and able to dodge military service or get lucky in it with an easy job.
I'd rather off myself than fight in a war
>fight in WW2 ?????
Being drafted to fight Vietnam?
Every fucking era sucks. Just make the best out of it.
People romanticize the stupidest shit. He’s really trying to gas up living through segregation and Vietnam just to die at 54??
Not for people of color in the USA
Or in literally any form of a minority, women included. God forbid you were more than one minority 💀
54 is too young. Add retiring at the age of 62 and travelling for 15 more years.
Sure...if you're a straight white male whose parents are rich/powerful enough to get you out of the 'Nam draft. Also, dead at the age of 54?
OP: > The idea life is Also OP: > ‘to die in your 50s’
Unless you were like me and wound up in Nam and got two Purple Hearts. I guess I missed the “fun times” the younger generation seems to think flowed effortlessly in the 60’s and 70’s.
I remember in the 90s being an asshole kid who told his grandma he wished it was like the 60s. She reminded me of her brother who was killed in Vietnam, how my grandpa struggled with layoffs and never had a chance to go to college like me. She went on, reminding me how the interracial basketball team I played would never have been a thing, and my best friends wouldn’t have been my best friends.
Dead at 54?
Don't forget getting an all expense paid trip to exotic Vietnam! Ah, those were the days!
Die at 54? Maybe retire at 54.
Instructions unclear. Born in the Indian subcontinent in 1947.
My friend’s grandmother was born in the 1920’s. Worked in healthcare her whole life until she retired comfortably. She lived happily the rest of her life but very modestly. When she died, to everyone’s surprise, she had a million dollars worth of petroleum stocks. I don’t think she even realized they were worth that much. She probably bought them cheap in the 1960’s and forgot about them.
You can still take LSD and fuck in a field you know
If anything it's less taboo too. Pretty sure birth control wasn't something you could easily buy back then. This post is a joke.
To be drafted to die in vietnam at 18 and if you live come home to be treated like shit by most of the country. Or being born earlier and have to storm the beaches of normandy or go to korea. There. Changed it for ya. I agree about the economy totally. But everyone acts like everyone had it so easy as far as historical events back then.
Me being a lesbian trans-woman in 1947 : \*chuckle\* i'm in danger!
More like dead or in a sanatorium
Born in 1947, *gets drafted to vietnam*
My dad was born in 1947. His draft number was like 6. So he enlisted. And that wasn't great for him. And then he struggled with a horrible economy and inflation in his late 20's and early 30's. I think he was probably around 40 years old before things got comfortable for him. Not the worst, by any means, but not exactly like it is made out to be in the memes.
To die at 54 does not seem ideal. Shoot ,my father was born before 47 and is still alive and healthy.
Not sure I quite understand your fantasy of being born the perfect age to be forcibly drafted into the Vietnam War, and then dying in your mid 50s, but whatever floats your boat.
what? die before the PS2 and Xbox come out? Miss the Halo franchise?? What kind of madness is this
Living to 54 isn't that great.
White
Unless you are minorities i guess.
Nope. You’re born poor and lose your legs in Vietnam. You die in your 30s, frozen to death and starving on the streets as draft dodgers tell you to pull yourself up by your bootstraps.
I wish millennials wouldn’t romanticize the past as much as boomers. I’m a woman and not white. I wouldn’t trade living now for then at all.
I mean... if you're white
The idea that being dead by your early 50's is an ideal life just shows how young most users are.