Wielding nostalgia for a bygone era — is invariably mischaracterized. If you really go back to study U.S. history, you would find two things: The past was worse, and conflict has always been the norm.
The past was simply not “better” by any objective standard. Economically, we were all a lot poorer. “In 1960, there were roughly 400 vehicles per 1,000 Americans, about half of today’s car ownership rate.
Crime was higher by a lot in the 1970s. Poverty, child mortality, deaths from virtually any major disease, workplace injuries, high school dropout rates, etc., were all much worse in the 1950s. Also, kids got polio, Jim Crow was in full swing, gays had to be in the closet, and no one had cell phones, home computers, or microwave ovens. Very few people had air conditioning or could afford to fly.
You might rightly decry income inequality today. However, since 2007, income inequality has been on the decline. The 1930s? The Great Depression. Do you prefer the 1940s? World war. Then came McCarthyism and the Cold War. The 1960s? Riots, assassinations, the Vietnam War. You get the point.
Conflict and even violence have been a constant presence in American life. But so, too, has been progress, albeit halting at times, toward greater freedom and prosperity.
We generally are living healthier, longer lives. If nothing else, the 21st century is evidence that we are a resilient people.
Some who rail against modernity, would like to turn back the clock, a perusal of history suggests now is the best time to be alive.
By Jennifer Rubin, abridged