Just exactly when were the good old days in America?

[bluestateguy]

I ask this not to be provocative, but because it really is a very vexing question with (IMO) no real clear answer.

A lot of liberals like to romanticize the period from about c.1945-c.1965 as a sort of Golden Age with a thriving middle class, strong labor unions, job security and upward mobility; while treating as an afterthought this era's existence of Jim Crow, overt and legalized gender discrimination, as well as anti-Semitism, homophobia and even anti-Catholicism being accepted parts of American life. The filmmaker Michael Moore has a real tendency to do this, I have noticed.

But what era would you really categorize--if any--as the good old days in US history?

[CoffeeCat]

1. The Good Ol Days...

...are always 20 years, 3 months, 2 weeks and 6 days prior to the current date.

[shraby]

2. I don't believe there were any. I work with the

history of an area and since the beginning life has always been good for those who have and miserable for those who don't. Earlier times were rife with uncontrolled diseases and many were eventually conquered with vaccines and better hygiene in hospitals (i.e. childbirth fever) but all in all there have been no "golden times".

[Brickbat]

3. I personally like to romanticize that period because I believe that people were really working

together on a lot of the problems you list in your OP because they didn't have to worry about a roof over their heads and food on the table because of the good things you list in your OP.

[alfredo]

4. Today was a pretty good day. In three minutes it will be

a "good old day." Maybe I can string a few together so I can reminisce about the "good old days."

[proteus_lives]

5. It's just something people say.

People in every country say it about every time period in their histories.

Sad fact is life is never good for everyone and it never will be.

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. All eras have their problems

I mean early colonization saw the forced transportation of 200,000 souls across the ocean as Convict labor, and anywhere form 200,000-300,000 as indentured labor. Once both entered the colonies, they were mostly indistinguishable. But by the time independence came, half of all Englishmen were either indentures or descendants of such.

Of course there is that peculiar institution that early on was just like indenture, but developed into full fledged slavery.

Of course there is the ethnic cleansing that ran across the length of American history, until relatively recent.

And of course hundreds of years of organization to get some workers rights. You could say that the 1950s-oh very early 70s, were the "golden age" and the beginning of the couter revolution, or as I like to call it, return to normal, where workers are seen as sources of work, preferably cheap... to be paid as little as possible.

The patterns of not liking to pay workers and using cheap labor go on for 500 years. So that golden age, is just a reprieve. What we have had is constant struggle... but that is just me, all the way to my heck on the history of labor in this country. And I have found patterns, which mostly people don't know about. And you know what? We will have to re-fight them battles, PERIOD. And I hope that people don't forget again. But then again, most Muricans are not even half aware of the history I am hinting at.

Ah now back to reading PRIMARY, seventeenth century sources... at least they were typed, so I don't have to struggle with the writing. It is an 1898 printed copy.

[miyazaki]

7. If you were'nt white, never. n/t

[NC_Nurse]

8. Or male

[Steely_Dan]

9. I Believe...

it was Carol King who said..."These are the good old days."

[Frustratedlady]

10. I'd say the 50s to late 60s were the best...

WWII was over and the restrictions were lifted on using metals, sugar, coffee, etc., bright colors came out and were gladly accepted into the home, fashion and cars. New foods were introduced, like cake mixes...people had freezers at home, TV was affordable, schools were offering more courses and parents were getting involved in their activities.

The bad side was no air conditioning!

[shanti]

11. not while i've been an adult

and that was 1973.

[Old Codger]

12. The Good Old Days

Memories of "The Good Old Days" contain a large amount of "Euphoric Recall".

[pipoman]

13. We make our own 'good ol'days',

for most it isn't about wealth or prosperity. It is about health, happiness even when poor, it is about family and self identity. It is about the place we go when times are tough. It is about fond memories of my childhood while watching my mother's life drain away to terminal cancer...those are the good ol'days..

[Psephos]

14. Emerson: "This time, like all times, is a very good one...

...if we but know what to do with it."

He also said, "Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not."

I believe those two statements answer your question well.

[lunatica]

15. It's all depicted in Leave It To Beaver

And Father knows Best. It's also the only place it ever existed. On the TV.

[The Magistrate]

16. Generally, Sir, the 'Good Old Days' Are When The Speaker, Or the Speaker's Parents, Were Young

So the answer will vary person to person....

[SunsetDreams]

18. You have that right Sir,

and sometimes it also works the other way too.

I've heard my parents and grandparents argue, that we actually have it better.

You don't have it rough, I had to walk to school 5 miles in the snow, with no shoes, etc

I think stories of the good old days are subjective. You will get different answers, from different people.
While one person's experiences with life may be good, anothers may me horrible.

I don't think there is a right answer to the Good Old Days :)

[pinboy3niner]

17. You're asking historically, but it can be hard to separate the personal

The era of my youth was historical--and traumatic. We were inspired by JFK, torn apart by the Vietnam War, had a high level of social justice activism that led to advances in civil rights, women's rights, and so much more. We had a lot going on in music and art and theater (West Side Story, for one example). We saw improvements in journalism, with a new wave of investigative reporting.

Even personal trauma (serving and being wounded in Vietnam, and the traumatic aftermath of that) hasn't quelled my nostalgia for that era. It was an exciting time to be alive. But that's just me. I don't expect others to share my perspective, and it's interesting to me to hear other perspectives. You are as entitled to your 'good old days' as I am to mine.

[Subdivisions]

19. The "good old days", no matter how old you are, are those days when we were basically oblivious

to the way the world works.

[Hannah Bell]

33. there's some truth in that, but i believe there's also some data showing

higher (self-reported) levels of happiness and satisfaction with the direction the country was headed in earlier periods. i'm thinking 50s-until the 70s inflation, but i may have it wrong.

[ce_qui_la_baise]

20. the 50s

where great, if you were a white male. For everyone else it sucked

[valerief]

21. Every day's a good old day for the very rich. nt

[spanone]

22. been around since the early fifties, ain't seen them

[Recursion]

23. Conservatives want to live in the 50s and work in the 90s

Liberals want to live in the 90s and work in the 50s.

And as much as I love the high-paying union jobs the 50s had for white males, it's not clear the economy could afford to do that without subjugating women and minorities. (Not saying it couldn't necessarily, just that we don't really know whether it could or not.)

[upi402]

24. whenever you were young

and before Raygun gave America to the corporations. But after Roosevelt ended corporate cancer and set US to recovery. Minus wartime periods. Between there I say.

[Skink]

25. Let's see Reagan was president and Clint Eastwood had his own police force.

1988

[haele]

26. The good old days were when you or your parents were children -

When there was always someone to take care of the problems and clean up messes. When there was "time off" and you could look forward to scheduling off a week or so during the summer or winter to just have fun. When people seemed to give you or your contemporaries the benefit of the doubt, and not ask too much of you.

Basically. the good old days were a time where you were protected from the real world.

Haele

[Speck Tater]

27. For me, when I was a kid and knew nothing about politics. Those were the good old days! nt

[Amerigo Vespucci]

28. It all went rapidly downhill after that first Thanksgiving...

...right after the Pilgrims changed the name of "maize" to "corn."

[Dogmudgeon]

29. Thursday and Friday

Yep. Definitely.

--d!

[flvegan]

30. Never.

We started by fucking over Native Americans. Haven't stopped fucking over folks since.

But, if one removes politics, probably the industrial revolution when we actually produced things and profit seemed secondary.

[Ozymanithrax]

31. Good Ole Days and Golden ages are Myth-remembered eras...

in human existence.

My childhood up to 1964 is my Good Ole Days. I loved the safety, innocence, and joy of my hometown, and wish my children lived in that dead world.

Now, as an adult, I know that what I remember is not reality, and I would not want my children living in such a place, but it still has this golden glow in my memory. As a child, I don't remember the warts and ugliness that I now know were there.

[SmileyRose]

32. Good ol days = July 4, 1776 to Aug 1,2010

If you are a white heterosexual christian male that is............

[MellowDem]

53. That's the myth...

but for most white straight christian males, things were not good. They might not have been as bad as others, but they still were bad. It's always been the rich, regardless of sexuality, race, religion, etc. that have the power in this country. Especially so today. Trying to portray it as white straight Christian males against everyone else is a great way to help out your rich buddies by dividing those they screw over.

[RagAss]

34. 1566 in St. Augustine Florida...the first wine grapes had fermented..

[Recursion]

37. But wasn't Drake about to sack the town? NT

[ThomWV]

35. The period between the end of the Korean War and the Race Riots of the mid-60's

[Recursion]

36. Must be why people like "Mad Men" NT

[ThomWV]

43. I'm afraid that one shot way over my head ....

Is "Mad Men" a book or a movie?

[Recursion]

45. TV show set in exactly those years

The main character is a Korean War vet who has trouble adapting as the country changes from the 50s to the 60s.

[WinkyDink]

51. "Race Riots"?

[Motown_Johnny]

38. You are right about that era, and also wrong about it

This is when civil rights and desegregation began. Yes it was bad but it is when things began to improve.

It is also when all the "Rosie the Riveters" began to gain independence.


You are right that things were bad back then, but all the improvements we have achieved in this country began in that era.

[ThomWV]

44. We agree and not

I think you are perfectly correct in pointing out that it was during that period that many of improvements in equality we now enjoy were being fought for by those who would become the Democrats of today, but I'd disagree that all of the improvements we've achieved began in that era. I think that many of them, their beginnings at least, date to an earlier time.

[The Midway Rebel]

39. Gandpa O' said...

"You haven't lived in the good ol' USA unless you have had your arm broken by the hand crank on a Model T."

[Kalun D]

40. Good Days

When the disparity between rich and poor was at it's least.

when a family could be supported by one wage earner, leaving the mother at home to better raise the children. Because the strong family is the foundation of society. Just ask anyone from a broken home, or someone raised by the TV because mom was at work.

[Morning Dew]

41. Some of the good ol' days ended on 08-09-95

Jerry Garcia
08/01/42 - 08/09/95

[Fleshdancer]

42. when you were too young to have real responsibilities

Every generation talks about "the good ol' days" so I've concluded that what they really miss is their childhood when everything seemed safer and more carefree. Most people look back at their childhood and think their neighborhood was free of crime, people were more honest, and there was less bad news in the world. None of this was ever true, we were just too young to understand the reality.

[SidDithers]

46. These are the good old days...

society has progressed forward, and while there is still a long way to go, we've never been better than we are now.

Sid

[TBF]

47. LOL - my rec stays at "0" - the trolls and rich folk have been busy this

morning.

I agree, starting with the land grab from indigenous peoples that started this country. I'd be hard-pressed to find "good old days".

[Warren Stupidity]

48. For working families, 1945 - 1980, give or take a few years.

The Reagan Era, and the triumph of the Neoliberal Counter-reformation, have been one long grind down of working families.

[pipi_k]

49. 65 Million years, B.C.E.

No unemployment...no oil spills...no dishonest politicians...no homicides


Pretty good living in the US. Everything went downhill from there...

[WinkyDink]

50. Whenever they were, the era ended for good on 11/22/63.

[MellowDem]

52. "Golden Eras"...

in every society there is a percieved "golden age". These golden ages are always when your people were at their most powerful, had the most territory, were the richest, had great military or technological feats, had the most explosive economic growth, etc. etc. Your example would fit this usual idea of the "golden age". The thing is, these are all very material ideas of success, and often came at the expense of other peoples, human rights, etc. And by no means were people, besides the ones who had much, any happier. The whole idea of a "golden age" is a rather narissistic and nationalistic propaganda tool in most ways it is used today. Even when describing ancient societies in history, the golden era is when that society was the most powerful, not the most egalitarian or just.

Which is why it is good to look at Golden Eras in terms of non-materialistic things, things such as human rights, justice, harmony, etc. Which, to be honest, there really hasn't been much if any in the whole history of human existence until very recently. So congratulations! You are living in the Golden Age of humanity! ;-)

[lefthandedlefty]

54. I am 52 and still waiting for the good ole days

I have known a lot of bad ole days 1969-1977 remember price feezes,so called gas shortages,the old double nickel.1981-1993 increased taxes on trucks(I know most people on here hate trucks and truckers,but that is how I have made my living for the past 34 years)higher insurace costs CDL license (That is a joke just took a lot of experienced drivers off the road and put school drivers on the road) trickle down economics more and more money wasted on the military.2001-2009 useless wars even more money wasted on the military $5.00 a gallon gas in my case a 400 percent increase in insurance costs.

[asdjrocky]

55. 1491

[jdp349]

56. The Good Old Days are sort of like Atlantis

They really never existed.