We Live in a Better World Today - Essay Example

We Live In a Better World Today At a recent family function several older relatives gathered together sipping assorted adult beverages while joyously retelling past events, beginning most sentences with "remember when." If you paused any time at all to listen in on the fairly fascinating conversation you were certain to hear someone longing for the good ole days. Just about everything cost a nickel, folks left their doors and windows unlocked (apparently because the Lone Ranger, Superman and Batman were easily summoned) and they drove muscle cars built by American workers. It was utopia. Except it wasnt. I walked away from the cluster of assorted aunts, uncles, older cousins and people, like me, standing around the perimeter who laughed at appropriate times along with the group but are not part of the conversation. The next couple of hours were spent enduring brief, superficial chats but my mind stayed on the good ole days topic. Were people happier and friendlier a half century ago? Was life generally easier with less stress and fewer major concerns? While contemplating these questions as I pretended to listen to relative x, y or z, a long list of comparisons evolved. I became incredulous then strangely agitated at the suggestion life was somehow better in the 1960s than today. It was a preposterous and the people who lived it should understand this better than anyone. Apparently, I felt compelled to vent this unnecessary outrage so I revisited, unprompted and without segue, the subject with a relative involved in the "remember when" conversation ensuring others involved also heard my enlightening, truthful, reality-based list of observations. Yeah, it was better in the 60s unless you were a woman, minority, gay or a soldier. Phones came with long-distance service and a six-foot cord. Cars were faster but few had seatbelts. How in the world can the good ole days be better? Comparing 2014 with 1964 is like comparing an I-pod with AM radio or a laptop with a slide-rule. Sure, if youre a white male life was better than all others but how many of them would willingly surrender their wireless remote? The nostalgia displayed by the women in the conversation was surprising. They must have forgotten that it was legal to refuse a woman for a credit card simply because she was a woman. It wasnt until the mid-70s that this practice was abolished by law. Women seldom served on juries. The movie 12 Angry Men illustrates the point. Jury duty was a mans job. Womens responsibility was keeping the home, raising children and ensuring her husbands happiness. Men decided legal matters and why not? Women attorneys, judges and legislators were seldom witnessed. Surely they would not understand the legal issues as well as a man. The division of social duties was clear and understood by all. Besides, women were delicate and sensitive. Expecting them to suffer, cry and cower while the gruesome details of a murder was revealed was unthinkable, a cruelty itself. Again, it was the 1970s until women could not be prohibited from jury duty for being born a woman. Many universities still would not accept women applicants. Prestigious institutions such as Princeton and Yale were male-only until 1969. Brown, and Dartmouth came around in the early 70s. Harvard delayed until 1977, Columbia in 1981. Today, this would be unacceptable as would the legal discrimination of women in the workplace which finally changed, at least officially, with the Civil Rights Act in 1964. Reproductive rights were not a topic for open discussion. Though the birth control pill was approved by the FDA in the late 50s, it was still illegal in many states and many drug stores would not stock it. Women certainly could not speak of it publicly or any topic of a sexual nature else she be shamed by friends and family alike. In the 60s a womans career was her home, children and husband. What pleasured her was inconsequential as far as society was concerned. (McLaughlin, 2014). Women were considered second-class citizens a half century ago, subservient to their husbands. Just because spousal abuse wasnt talked about as it is now doesnt mean it didnt happen and with likely more frequency. Wifes were encouraged to "work it out" rather than call the police then leave the abusive situation. The current "No More" commercial concerning spousal abuse is a new phenomenon. Being a woman, a white woman, was much more confining and difficult but having the unfortunate luck to be born a minority meant worse treatment, much worse. Prior to the Civil Rights Act it was legal to discriminate based on race, as incredible as it seems today. Thats why today is better. Having separate schools, neighborhoods, restaurants and bathrooms is an abhorrent thought but was accepted as normal before the mid-60s, at least in a large section of the country. Minorities were grossly underrepresented in positions of power, both corporate and congressional, a condition that still exists but great strides towards civility has taken place over the past 50 years. In 1965, five members of congress was black, none from southern states. Today, approximately 10 percent of congress is black, 20 percent women. The State of Mississippi, the epicenter of the historical suppression of blacks and resulting Civil Rights Movement, today has more black elected officials than any other state. Unthinkable back in the good ole days when most blacks lived below the poverty line but not today. "In a 1961 poll, forty-one per cent of respondents said they wouldn’t vote for a “generally well-qualified man” from their party if he happened to be black." ("Waking," 2013). Today, a two-term black president occupies what used to be a whites-only White House. We have become a more tolerant society, to levels unimaginable 50 years ago. Homosexuality was widely considered by the medical community as a mental disorder. Gay marriage in the 60s? Bi-racial marriage was illegal in several states. Racism and sexism was not only socially accepted but was lawful to practice during and prior to the 60s, a circumstance that is considered offensive today in a more civilized, moral and just society. There is no lottery to draft young men into battle, less threat of nuclear annihilation, no "duck and cover" films shown in elementary school. Today, it would be considered extreme paranoia and unusual for a suburbanite to dig a bomber shelter in the backyard. It was considered extreme paranoia back then too but not unusual. Not being troubled by the threat of immanent death from a heavenly fireball is a benefit enjoyed more today than yesterday. Geopolitical affairs and attitudes involving civil liberties evolve slowly, but they have progressed and in a positive direction. Technology has developed at a higher speed and has become indispensable in this modern, globally interdependent time. Global trade has improved the economy for many countries worldwide. The computer age has put a great technological distance between today and yesteryear and has lessened the distance between the worlds societies and businesses. Social media connects cultures who, 50 years ago, were entirely ignorant of each other. Its not remarkable for a person to have friends from many backgrounds which expands the life experience and encourages tolerance. In the 60s most knew only one way to live and were comfortable only with similar types of people, a condition that cultivates ignorance which, in turn, promotes fear and intolerance. Word processors arrived in the 80s and personal computer became common in the 90s. For most today, the thought of functioning before that time is daunting. How did we (they) do it? Hand held calculators werent available until he 70s. Living in the 60s seems more closely connected with Medieval times than today, even for people who lived in the 60s. Only the rich had answering machines connected to their phone, their one phone. No private calls. Phones were usually placed in a central location in the home. Long distance was costly and kept conversations with grandma short. Today grandma keeps in touch with grandchildren by sending messages and photos quickly and easily. People used to use film in cameras. a pricy proposition. Film was dropped off then picked up after all photos developed were paid for, even the bad pictures. Digital photos are easier, faster and better in every way. Cameras are as convenient as the phone in your pocket, a concept which, to 60s society, would seem like magic or witchcraft. Microwave ovens appeared in the mid-70s, cable television and recording capability in the early 80s. Searching for information involved time spent at the card catalogue during library hours. Now its a seconds-long Google search process from one of several handy devices that results in an infinitely broader and comprehensive collection of answers. Video games began with Pong in the late 70s. Checking weather conditions in the 60s meant going outside. Barbaric. (Tritchler, 2010). We live in a better world today. We have grown past the ugliness of the 60s. Of course, 50 years from now society will likely look upon the early 21st Century as a dark, ignorant culture in its technological infancy. Thats progress and who would want to reverse positive societal advancement? My relatives remember the good times in their past and thats wonderful. We all do. But, to want society to return to a time that is clearly inferior is not being fondly nostalgic, its ignoring reality. I look forward to what positive changes the next 50 years brings. I also look forward to the next family gathering, if Im invited. References: McLaughlin, Katie. (August 25, 2014). 5 things women couldnt do in the 1960s. CNN Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/07/living/sixties-women-5-things/ Tritchler, Olivia. (November 8, 2010) Pro/Con: Was society better in the 1960s when peace and love was promoted? TRN Wired Retrieved from http://trnwired.org/2010/11/procon-was-society-better-in-the-1960s-when-peace-and-love-was-promoted/ Waking Life. (August 24, 2013) The Economist. Retrieved from http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21584003-his-i-have-dream-speech-martin-luther-king-threw-out-challenge-america-how-has-it Read More