Spiny Norman,

That was a great post. Seriously. That was to the point and worth thinking about.

The 'old days' were always better...sometimes I think about that when I listen to the radio. "Ah, the old days when The Go-Gos and Pat Benatar, etc. were making the pop hits." Ha ha ha...somehow, I think the margin of improvement or slipping back are pretty small. We humans tend to reproduce the same good-and-bad mess, don't we? I tend to think things are better now, for my two cents.

John

Things CAN be better today. In fact they should be. But they're not (in my opinion).
We learned from the mistakes we did make in the "old days".
But we went too far.
Equality shouldn't mean a quota. It should mean opportunity.
Responsibility should fall on the individual, not the corporation with the deepest pockets, or on the latest government program.
Parents should raise their own kids.
Sexual orientation should be PRIVATE.
Companies sell inappropriate merchandise to children. Because the can. Without regard to whether the should.
That's not what freedom is supposed to mean.

Spiny,
If you need the definition of what a generalization is, let me know.
Your very specific retorts are a joke.

Ah but you were making generalized statements as if they were no other viewpoint, IE; ""But Americans were proud. "" I offer the view that we are every bit as proud as we were then. I'm sure some today are not. I'm sure some then were not. The world is not black or white but many shades of gray. That can be frightining to some and exhilirating to others.
Generalizations like these are a disservice to the great varity of opinions and ideas that people from all walks of life have to offer.

No, I didn't mean to suggest that my generalization left no alternative.
A generalizaion, by definition, implies that there are indeed exceptions to the rule. Don't make this into something it isn't.
I think it's very fair to say that America 1950 was a group of people much prouder to wave the flag than America 2000. And for your benefit, let me state that I mean "in general". Not every person in 1950 was proud to be American, and there surely are a large group today who are very Patriotic.

You see, it gets too wordy if I do that for every point. So I generalized. Sorry to confuse you.

I'm only 26 years old, but I love life. My parents immigrated from China to the USA when I was only 3. I am proud to be an American. I think there is so much opportunity that surrounds us, you just got to look and work hard for it.

I do believe we are currently living in a Computer Revolution due to technology. With the boom in technology, especially the internet, the world is radidly changing and every aspect of society must change with it. My grandchildren will be reading about this Revolution in their history books, just as I read about the Industrial Revolution. we are living through an exciting time in history, we might be aware of it, but history is seen better only after the fact. I don't think one can say any certain period of time was better, its all about what perspective you are looking from. Every period has its highs and lows. I am just happy to be alive and trying to ride the high tide as long as possible.

choner

"""No, I didn't mean to suggest that my generalization left no alternative."""
But that's exactly what those type of statements do.

""" A generalizaion, by definition, implies that there are indeed exceptions to the rule."""
It could be interpreted that way but is is not defined that way.

""Don't make this into something it isn't. """
What? A debate with supporting facts? heaven forbid!

"" I think it's very fair to say that America 1950 was a group of people much prouder to wave the flag than America 2000."""
I think that's unfair to the people waving the flag today.

"""And for your benefit, let me state that I mean "in general". Not every person in 1950 was proud to be American,
and there surely are a large group today who are very Patriotic. """
And that's just what I was doing, acknowledging those facts.

"""You see, it gets too wordy if I do that for every point. So I generalized. Sorry to confuse you."""
Not at all confused, just bringing up alternative viewpoints that were more specific then the general statements you had made earlier.

Geeze ... some of you guys take yourselves and life way too seriously!

This was meant to be a light-hearted and nostalgically funny little poem ... something to bring back a few memories (for us old timers) and give everyone a little chuckle ...

Let's not make it out to be more than it was intended to be ...

Longing for yesteryear is healthy. It's nice to Reminisce with family and friends.
I don't dislike the America of today, quite the opposite in fact. I merely realize that the innocence of our country is behind us.
Let's face it, you can't argue that todays 30 somethings (and younger) are the first generations not expected to excede the succcess of their parents. No, Spiny, that doesn't mean they can't, simply that in general they probably won't.

jdrabinski

the Go-Gos and Pat Benatar are the old days? i thought stan kenton playing college proms, lenny bruce, and muddy waters were more the old days.

i can remember seeing stage plays, where all the actors mimed. this of course was before sound.

Senator McCarthy? Hell, I remember Charlie McCarthy. Mortimer Snerd, too. Some of you probably don't even remember Candace Bergen, much less who her father was. That's ok. Down the road, kids will look at you funny when you ask if they ever heard of L'il Kim.

Rick,
Good one!
Were the stage actors in black and white also?

eleltea

who or what is L'il Kim?

Rick,L'il Kim is a young black female artist. A protege of The Notorious B.I.G.
LLT,I saw the episode when Candace Bergen and Melinda Marx appeared on "You Bet your Life",live. I immediately fell in love with Candace Bergen. X