Life
This year I will celebrate (?) if that is the word, my 62nd year on this earth.
I say celebrate because I'm not too certain what I would celebrate about.
The one thing all of us old pfarts share in common is we have a lot of memories.
We remember a lot of things or at least think we remember a lot of things about how life was in the past.
As I examine my memories, and not just the glossy ones, I truely believe the current generation does not live in the United States of America that I lived and grew old in.
If someone said the 50's and 60's were simpler times they were correct but for reasons that really had nothing to do with normal day to day life. In some ways it was tougher because people were held accountable for their actions. Few people strayed off the straight and narrow and that is evidenced by the growth of the number of felony prisoners now incarcerated in prisons across this nation.
There was a lot of peer pressure and people tended to gather in groups of like minded individuals and form cliques or even clubs, that tended to exclude those they did not like for one reason or another.
Skin color was a big factor in a lot of peoples choices of associations or who they employed and there was a definite cast system in this nation although most people maintained American was a "classless society." It has only been recently that the presidential candidates have created a class system for the US although they refer to only one class labled as such - the MIDDLE CLASS!"
There are not classes in this nation only income levels. There is low, median and high income and to say otherwise is ridiculous.. There are a lot of classless individuals who are wallowing in money-just look at some of the rap stars, and others who we use to call the "Nouveau Riche," or newly rich.
Other things that have changed dramatically is the value of the dollar.
As a child of the 50's and 60's I remember a time when a single paycheck was not only enough income to buy a house and a car, pay for all the basics (gas, electric, phone) but for those who wanted it they could purchase a summer cottage on a lake or at the shore as well. There was no such thing as multimillion dollar homes on lakes of at the beach and most of the time they did'nt even have indoor plumbing. I can still remember some scary nights in the outhouse and the distinct smell of the privy. It was guaranteed you did not get hemorrhoids at the very least.
Politics was a bit cleaner, and of course we did not have the media blitzes on TV that we have now. I remember the first real TV campaign was Eisenhower/Nixon and Stevenson/Sparkman.
Oh well if I kept going I would never stop. AS always there were bad things about the 50's and 60's- real change started in the 60's with Kennedy - and it wasn't really the change for the better.
In general life back in the 50's was really a much simpler and better time but grew progressively worse as the nation grew for 150,000,000 to 300,000,000 million souls. I guess I am on the verge of taking a long dirt nap just about the time I get am getting totally disgusted with the quality of life in these United States. It sucks and I would spend hours complaining so I better stop before I bore anyone reading this, if in fact you are still reading it.
You are welcome to the US and the world as it is. I can die with the knowledge that it once was truly a much better place.
I say celebrate because I'm not too certain what I would celebrate about.
The one thing all of us old pfarts share in common is we have a lot of memories.
We remember a lot of things or at least think we remember a lot of things about how life was in the past.
As I examine my memories, and not just the glossy ones, I truely believe the current generation does not live in the United States of America that I lived and grew old in.
If someone said the 50's and 60's were simpler times they were correct but for reasons that really had nothing to do with normal day to day life. In some ways it was tougher because people were held accountable for their actions. Few people strayed off the straight and narrow and that is evidenced by the growth of the number of felony prisoners now incarcerated in prisons across this nation.
There was a lot of peer pressure and people tended to gather in groups of like minded individuals and form cliques or even clubs, that tended to exclude those they did not like for one reason or another.
Skin color was a big factor in a lot of peoples choices of associations or who they employed and there was a definite cast system in this nation although most people maintained American was a "classless society." It has only been recently that the presidential candidates have created a class system for the US although they refer to only one class labled as such - the MIDDLE CLASS!"
There are not classes in this nation only income levels. There is low, median and high income and to say otherwise is ridiculous.. There are a lot of classless individuals who are wallowing in money-just look at some of the rap stars, and others who we use to call the "Nouveau Riche," or newly rich.
Other things that have changed dramatically is the value of the dollar.
As a child of the 50's and 60's I remember a time when a single paycheck was not only enough income to buy a house and a car, pay for all the basics (gas, electric, phone) but for those who wanted it they could purchase a summer cottage on a lake or at the shore as well. There was no such thing as multimillion dollar homes on lakes of at the beach and most of the time they did'nt even have indoor plumbing. I can still remember some scary nights in the outhouse and the distinct smell of the privy. It was guaranteed you did not get hemorrhoids at the very least.
Politics was a bit cleaner, and of course we did not have the media blitzes on TV that we have now. I remember the first real TV campaign was Eisenhower/Nixon and Stevenson/Sparkman.
Oh well if I kept going I would never stop. AS always there were bad things about the 50's and 60's- real change started in the 60's with Kennedy - and it wasn't really the change for the better.
In general life back in the 50's was really a much simpler and better time but grew progressively worse as the nation grew for 150,000,000 to 300,000,000 million souls. I guess I am on the verge of taking a long dirt nap just about the time I get am getting totally disgusted with the quality of life in these United States. It sucks and I would spend hours complaining so I better stop before I bore anyone reading this, if in fact you are still reading it.
You are welcome to the US and the world as it is. I can die with the knowledge that it once was truly a much better place.