[AGL] 169 million vs 324 million

[Bill Killeen]

There is vastly more freedom now.  Growing up and attending high school in the fifties, you pretty much behaved.  Nobody questioned the teachers (to any avail) and most people's idea of rebellion was smoking a cigarette in the woods in back of school.  You went to sports events and maybe a dance on Friday night if you were lucky.  You were expected at church on Sunday.  There was no Big Brother watching you but there was Big Dad, who was scary enough.  If you had a job, you felt lucky and didn't bitch about minor inconveniences.  1963 was the cusp of the change.  By 1966, all hell broke loose.

Sent from my iPad

> On Jan 31, 2017, at 1:20 PM, eisenstadt0 <eisenstadt0 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> we have been discussing these questions in our household
> 
> 1963 (US population 169 million) vs 2017 (US population 324 million)
> 
> all answers to be adjusted in terms of having been young then
> and old now - therefore assume you are a 20 year old now.
> 
> was there more social freedom then than now? (pre-Civil Rights
> then makes nowadays better)* - answer possibly an exception to 
> the other answers
> 
> was there more economic opportunity then than now?
> 
> was there more personal freedom then than now, less of the 
> heavy-handed security state then than now obtains? were 
> we a less fearful people then than now?
> 
> was there more room to roam in (for example, off to California)
> in a relatively emptier land then than now? (for example, driving 
> 100 mph on IH 35 at 3 in the morning returning from San Antonio 
> because no headlights on the road behind your car)
> 
> were rent and food cheaper then than now?
> 
> conclusion: the 1965 immigration law changed our lives for the worse
> 
> *this is a thorny question: are blacks more alienated now than then
> after 50 years of affirmative action?
> 
> according to Robert Putnam in Bowling Alone, Putnam a respected
> objective researcher, the more "diversity" in the area, the less trust
> of others reported, also reported is a vastly diminished number
> of informal social organizations of like-minded people. Social glue
> dissolving. 
> 
> hitch-hiking cross country was possible then although requiring 
> patience. Hitch-hiking is no longer an option, no one stops for 
> hitch-hikers anymore in the fearful world of contemporary America.
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