question for the old(er) timers

[DCortez]

I was talking to The Wife last year about the 60's/early 70's compared to today. A list of things that would have freaked me out as a father and an American include:

Hippies
Drugs
Free Sex
Rock n Roll
Vietnam
Communism/Russians
Protests
Civil Rights Movement
MLK, RFK, Mississippi killings
Bra Burning
Disco (j/k)



How did those things compare to the things we talk about today?

Family Structure
Political Correctness
School Indoctrination
Race Card
Entitlements
Lap Dog / Corrupt Media
Bill of Rights
Healthcare
Big Government
DOHbama


Hippies protesting bothers me but not nearly as much as a bunch of kindergarteners singing praises to DOHbama. Do you guys see us riding this out or is America nearing the end of it's life cycle?

 

[MadMo44Mag]

Good question DC and IMO the future is filled with doubt!
If the American public does not re-embrace the Constitution and soon, I feel our Republic is lost.
You can ask anyone you meet and they will tell you we live in a democracy - a form of socialism. They have no clue this is a Republic and they have no clue how a Republic works.
People have forgotten that they are responsible for themselves and the Government has no responsibility to take care of them.
I may get flamed for this statement but IMO the day we took God from our schools the moral fabric of our country started to decline and the socialist gained a solid foothold on our Republic.
Now the Obamanation and his left wing brain washing clowns want to strengthen that foothold so a new generation of American communist is born and the Republic is lost.

 

[navyguy]

Good
I may get flamed for this statement but IMO the day we took God from our schools the moral fabric of our country started to decline and the socialist gained a solid foothold on our Republic.
Now the Obamanation and his left wing brain washing clowns want to strengthen that foothold so a new generation of American communist is born and the Republic is lost.

No flame from me, I agree 100%.

We raised our kids in the 60's70's and into the 80's and it wasn't so bad as I recall. Sex wasn't not nearly as free as it is today and I actually think drugs, at least those beyond MJ were not a big issue with kids. The news was the "news" and not someone's agenda. They weren't messing with the constitution, and you could speak your mind without worrying about PC. And the 80's brought us Reagan

I

 

[DCortez]

Sex wasn't not nearly as free as it is today

The idea of sex, then vs now, is different. From Madonna, to Jerry Springer, to Rap, to the "parties" that are thrown at high schools (yea, we missed out). I would think in the 60's, it was viewed as a direct assault on society.


Now, it's one entertainer one upping another, people growing up too fast, families are too busy to have dinner together, etc..


Has America jumped the shark or are we on the path towards euro-enlightenment?

 

[oldguy]

Well I certainly qualify as older,, as someone raised in the 50's it was different,but the 60's is blown way out of proportion in media much of what occurred was limited to small areas,protest,drugs, etc.

It did happen no doubt but people like hippies were seen as a joke, Hillary Clinton back in her Woodstock days would not have been welcome in our home so yeah it was a different world.

As a youth you tend to ignore much of the serious problems and focus on your own desire but we were more concerned with not embarrassing or making our parent ashame of anything we did.

I served in Vietnam much of what you see written on that subject is false or exaggerated. Never seen drugs used, Seen draftees that were born leaders at age 20, remember many of these kids were sons of ww2 vets.

Seen coffins hauled out daily on flat beds while some people here were calling troops baby killers while actually most were super kind boys giving c-rations, candy to kids they met, most were fighting for their friends and
to simply stay alive.

The biggest changes I've been witness to is the loss of values,morals,standards and I believe that is much of the root cause of our problems, it has infected our homes, government, schools,causing massive corruption, divorce,one parent homes and simply hate.

Honestly to your last question can it change not sure,we now have over 310 millions folks,1/3 foreign born,many come only to work not to join as Americans,we're fragmented and this new administration has only added to that. I believe we closing in on the point of no return, and from that place perhaps a world war,disease or other castrophe would change the world, but certainly to regain our middle class and maintain the quality of life we've had will be a tough period of time for all of us unless we regain a manufacturing base the middle class is gone.

People need to turn off tv,junk the cell phones, talk to each other, home school or private school your kids until the public school mess is corrected. It can be done but we've let it go so long as I stated it will be difficult.

Not sure if this answered any questions for you because each generation has a huge different view point and as always it looks better in the rear view mirror.

 

[okie556]

I wanted to reply as soon as I saw DCs post but didn't because I just couldn't think of how to word my response. The post from MadMo, NavyGuy and OldGuy are very well written and pretty much sum up what I wanted to say.

+1000

Okie556

 

[DCortez]

Not sure if this answered any questions for you because each generation has a huge different view point and as always it looks better in the rear view mirror.

I don't know if it ever gets answered.

On rear view mirrors, I saw a documentary on the History Channel and had to laugh at the 1400's opinions that each generation was getting worse.



I can see the pinko commy fag thing not being welcomed back then. Gets back to the Madonna/Jerry Springer thing vs I Love Lucy/Leave it to Beaver thing.


On Okie, yea, I wrote and rewrote both of my posts a few times...

 

[MadMo44Mag]

Topics such as this are so intertwined with causes its hard to put a straight thought that encompass the whole of the topic. I think that makes sense - LOL!!!
As morals have declined so has our country. Fewer people willing to accept life for what it is and take responsabiltiy for their own actions or lack there of. People wanting the government to lead them and care for them because of their unwillingness to accept responsibility for themselves.
It just seems to go on and on like this.
Basically IMO too many people have become lazy and morally bankrupt!

 

[oldguy]

Basically IMO too many people have become lazy and morally bankrupt!

10.4, as a nation we can fail over morals and apathy,capitalism to me
is the greatest however without standards, morals (whatever you wish
or feel comfortable calling it) can fail. I believe I see the problem however
I view the fix as being very harsh for a number of years short term a lot
of suffering for many, long term it may be our only way out, but with no
leaders we're at the mercy of those now in power.

 

[DCortez]

Topics such as this are so intertwined with causes its hard to put a straight thought that encompass the whole of the topic. I think that makes sense - LOL!!!

For sure. I brought up 11 topics for the 60s'/70's and 10 for present. I thought about this quite a bit at work today.


For example, during Vietnam, I saw it on tv for what seemed to be every single night. I was not there, I was watching the national nightly news. I don't remember RFK or MLK being killed. I don't know how other parents viewed the new teenage/young adult experiences from drugs, to sex being brought out into the open, or the questioning of authority. I wasn't at Yasgur's Farm.


At this point, I'm more concerned with my kids being over taxed, living in a less free America, and being vilified for living the Texas and American dream. Their moral compass isn't as big a concern. I feel like I've done a decent job with them, set as decent an example as I humanly can, and have gone out of my way to explain the rules of the road to them.


It sure does piss me off to see what the politicians, social deviants, and education system are doing to American.

 

[DCortez]

Here's a small snippet of an article written by Pat Buchanan today:


Richard Nixon had been elected in the most turbulent year since the Civil War.

Between New Hampshire and November, there was the Tet Offensive, LBJ's announcement he would not run again, the murder of Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis, race riots in 100 cities and Washington, D.C., the takeover of Columbia University by radicals, the assassination of Robert Kennedy, a Democratic convention in Chicago marked by rancor inside the hall and police-radical confrontations outside, and a campaign in which Hubert Humphrey was shouted down at rallies until he agreed to a bombing halt in Vietnam.

No, these times are not those times.


[url]http://townhall.com/columnists/PatBuchanan/2009/10/23/nixon_and_obama_--_soul_brothers[/URL]

 

[TexasR.N.]

Good question DC and IMO the future is filled with doubt!
If the American public does not re-embrace the Constitution and soon, I feel our Republic is lost.
You can ask anyone you meet and they will tell you we live in a democracy - a form of socialism. They have no clue this is a Republic and they have no clue how a Republic works.
People have forgotten that they are responsible for themselves and the Government has no responsibility to take care of them.
I may get flamed for this statement but IMO the day we took God from our schools the moral fabric of our country started to decline and the socialist gained a solid foothold on our Republic.
Now the Obamanation and his left wing brain washing clowns want to strengthen that foothold so a new generation of American communist is born and the Republic is lost.

Well said ^. I personally fear that our best days are behind us. Preparing for the worst, praying for the best.

Craig

 

[M. Sage]

Has America jumped the shark or are we on the path towards euro-enlightenment?

Is there a difference?

 

[cuate]

Good or Bad as you see it : TEXAS Old Days

Blue Laws, stores closed on Sundays
Liquor Laws, Many more areas dry, & no mixed drinks
Voting Laws, no beer or liquor on voting days
Gambling Laws, no lottery, pari mutual betting, and Rangers "busted"
plain old pin ball machines.
Gun Laws, concealed carrying illegal
Religion, You went or you didn't, athiests kept their mouths shut
Dope, looked down upon like the plague
STDs, just the older ones, no HIV/Aids or herpes we heard of
Sex, been there since Adam & Eve but wasn't as openly partaken in
Prostitution, always been there but not as open
Illegals, not even near the present numbers
America, most folks patriotic, loved the country

 

[TxPhantom]

I don't know if I can reply to this thread briefly but I'll try not to ramble too much.
I got out of the Army in 1966 and returned to Dallas from Ft. Benning with a wife and a young daughter. Within a few years I was divorced and I was a free and single man.
The early seventies were a ball! Lots of willing women, thanks to the pill, and not too many responsibilities. I lived it up! It was great! Never a thought as to what was happening to our country as the beat/hippie generation screwed up the world. I just took advantage of it and had a good time. For awhile I worked in bars as a bartender and sometimes as a bouncer, that's where I learned that there is always someone out there bigger and meaner than me,..... the hard way.
Now I wonder, what was I thinking? Why didn't I see that the so called free thinkers I used to hang out with were actually idiots, myself included?
Anyway, I somehow lived through it, luck probably. The problems we have now with the idiot generation, that I used to think was so cool, actually running (should be ruining) our country is the price we are paying now for the lack of diligence of people like me.
Some of you young people posting on this site have a lot more sense, at your age, than some of us older guys did, but we are still learning.

 

[DCortez]

Is there a difference?

About 15 years.

 

[navyguy]

I don't know if I can reply to this thread briefly but I'll try not to ramble too much.
I got out of the Army in 1966 and returned to Dallas from Ft. Benning with a wife and a young daughter. Within a few years I was divorced and I was a free and single man.
The early seventies were a ball! Lots of willing women, thanks to the pill, and not too many responsibilities. I lived it up! It was great! Never a thought as to what was happening to our country as the beat/hippie generation screwed up the world. I just took advantage of it and had a good time. For awhile I worked in bars as a bartender and sometimes as a bouncer, that's where I learned that there is always someone out there bigger and meaner than me,..... the hard way.
Now I wonder, what was I thinking? Why didn't I see that the so called free thinkers I used to hang out with were actually idiots, myself included?
Anyway, I somehow lived through it, luck probably. The problems we have now with the idiot generation, that I used to think was so cool, actually running (should be ruining) our country is the price we are paying now for the lack of diligence of people like me.
Some of you young people posting on this site have a lot more sense, at your age, than some of us older guys did, but we are still learning.

Don't beat your self up. You didn't do anything wrong. Just staying with the times. And the country survied, as it always has. But I'm not sure about the future. There a a lot more things at play. Lets just fight the good fight the best we can.