The Way We Never Were - by Stephanie Coontz

[Scotsgit]

No, the 50s were good for the working class, too. Almost no unemployment, rapid income growth in line with GDP growth, improvements in living standards, rapidly declining private debt, improving education, social welfare and the least economic inequality America has ever had.

It sucked if you were weren't male and white. But America has never been as good for the working poor.

That depends upon where you were:  In the UK, while people may have never had it so good, there was still conscription (until 1963) and the rebuilding campaign was still putting many in prefabs that were little better than what they'd livedin before.

[SpaceProg]

I know a lot of you are familiar enough with the Bible at least to show informed skepticism of it.  One only needs to read some of King Solomon's laments on how the world's going to hell and it's not like it used to be.   
Thoughts like that aren't new, and they'll carry on until humanity ceases to be entirely.

Then the cephlapods that take over will gripe about it.

[Lt. Fred]

No, the 50s were good for the working class, too. Almost no unemployment, rapid income growth in line with GDP growth, improvements in living standards, rapidly declining private debt, improving education, social welfare and the least economic inequality America has ever had.

It sucked if you were weren't male and white. But America has never been as good for the working poor.

That depends upon where you were:  In the UK, while people may have never had it so good, there was still conscription (until 1963) and the rebuilding campaign was still putting many in prefabs that were little better than what they'd livedin before.

Same deal in Europe, too (as you can imagine). Getting the shit bombed out of you tends to have that effect on infastructure.

But it was fantastic in the States and Australia. Australian unemployment rate 1936= 25%. Australian unemployment rate 1945-1972= 1%.

[Jack Mann]

"Romance is dead," the Cave Man cried.

[lighthorseman]

Short answer is that people who enjoy being told the 50s were halcyon days of plenty, and fearing and not understanding the modern world, make up a huge voting bloc.

[Sixth Monarchist]

The Teddy Boys and Rockers of the 1950's probably had people in their 60's looking at them wondering what the hell was wrong with them as well.

Indeed, but anyone in their 60s back in the 1950s was almost certainly born in the Gay Nineties.