The "Good Old Days"

[Rascalking]

Right then? I was asleep when you made that post! What amazing things did I miss?

LOL!

Okay, how about this-there is no better time to be alive than in the 1990’s-oops! um…2000-2009-darn–oh boy…

In all seriousness, it’s a wonderful time to be alive right now. We live longer than our forefathers, we live healthier, and we have more at our disposal than ever before. Catholic Answers in the 1950’s? No. The wide variety of music that we can listen too, from classical to metal in the 1800’s? Nope. Minorities being able to achieve-(yes, there is still room for growth on this one) Kids with learning disabilities, or deaf no longer called, “dumb”-

Sure, we can complain about this or that-and some complaints might indeed be valid-but I am convinced that there is no better time to be alive than the present, and in no better place but America.

 

[Nec5]

I think this is something that will be perpetually said, regardless of the time period we live in. In 20 years people will be saying how it would be great if things were like the 90s.

While it is true that human nature always has a fear of the future and a sense of longing for the past, that does not mean things have not gone steeply downhill.

Christianity is on the decline in the states and is a historical and ridiculed footnote in Europe. Consequently, most of the bedrock values held (marriage, existence of evil, etc) are disintegrating. This is the current state of affairs, whether we like it or not.

I’m sure when various empires across the world fell, this same point of view came up. Some of the elites in Rome probably argued that all you Romans are looking at the past through rose colored glasses. “There’s no such thing as the good old days”, they exclaimed. Then their city disintegrated and was finally sacked.

Technology is really the only thing that continually improves. Human nature does not. Ideally and impossibly, I’d want today’s technology mixed with the moral values and protection of liberties that existed in the 1900s or even earlier. Despite some of the racist policies of that era, at least it was a time when men didn’t marry men and people condoned the vacuuming of baby’s brains.

 

[HarmonyServant]

Ah, see; this is a very tricky question. I’ll admit to loving the time period of the forties and fifties, when things were slower, more calm, and overall, more moral. Abortion was outlawed, marriage was still important, and gas was really really cheap.

But then, we were not in a peaceful world either back then. My grandfather served in the Marine Corps during WWII, and so many families were separated because of the war. I’d hate to be a housewife worried about her husband overseas. And so many women are facing that again now.

No time period is ideal because we live in a flawed world. Our best chance is to live the best of our ability now, for our Lord.

 

[Jay82]

But then, we were not in a peaceful world either back then. My grandfather served in the Marine Corps during WWII, and so many families were separated because of the war. I’d hate to be a housewife worried about her husband overseas. And so many women are facing that again now.

No time period is ideal because we live in a flawed world. Our best chance is to live the best of our ability now, for our Lord.

Or you may have had to work in a factory to support the war effort rather than be only a ‘housewife’. Simplier times back then, but definitely not easy by any means. A lot of sacrifices were made. Not to mention coming out of the great depression we really didn’t have an economic boom until after the war ended. From the stock market crash through WW2, things were not good at all.

 

[Sina]

I voted Modern Western Europe. I don’t want to ever live in the USA, no offence. My political alignments are social democratic and I was born in Europe - and have many relatives in Scandinavia so it is a natural choice.

Modern versus 1950’s - because society has progressed foward in a positive way and I don’t want to go back to the opressive times of the 1950’s for minority groups.

I am concerned with the environmental damage we have done in modern times, but it was already being done in the 1950’s.

As for really old times… no… I would be too scared. I’d likely die in childbirth and my husband would die in a war.

 

[sanctamaria17]

Now, USA. I tend to be social democratic, told I think and act European…but they seem to have limited free expression rights compared to the USA. I’m sorry, but if you’re banning headdresses and minarets for Muslims…what will they ban for the Catholics? I know not all Europe is like that, but it seems to be a growing trend.

Now, because as a woman, no one cares if I want to go to college and it’s not unheard of for me to pursue a career in whatever I want. That’s not acting like a man, that’s having more freedom to pursue your vocation. God did not give men or women cookie cutter vocations.

Yeah, racial tensions were huge. I’ve loved other people of different ethnic origins…I’d hate to live in a time and place where interracial marriages were illegal.

Also wouldn’t want to live during the Cold War. Even if the 70’s-80’s were my musical era (hey, I like the good stuff, like Springsteen!).

I also like being able to use the Internet, having the freedom and ability to travel wherever I want, having more access to information than I know what to do with, and have more opportunities than my parents or grandparents ever did.

“The times are not so bad that no good man can live in them.” St. Thomas More?

 

[sanctamaria17]

Also now because, when would it have ever been possible for me to study in Kenya?? Btw, Church is growing there…They’ve already outpaced the US in Catholics, percentage wise.

 

[mjs1987]

Where is the love for Rome in the first few centuries AD? This is the best time to be in Rome. Rome at the height of its power with no real global enemies. This is when Christianity saw the persecutions and many martyrs made. This was a time when Catholics had to die for their beliefs just to keep the faith alive. In addition, the Roman war machine mustve been a sight to see especially in action.

Europe after the Enlightenment would also be a great time to live in. You have the rise of liberal democracy movements, the Romanticist movement, and the rise of the global British Empire. This was the time when modern Europe as we know began to take shape. This is when the Holy Roman Empire split in Austro-Hungary and Germany. This is when Italy became a united kingdom. France underwent several revolutions as well in this time. I think this period that saw the industrial revolution would have been very awesome to be in though it might suck if you had to do it as a poor sweat shop worker or factory worker. This was the time of new scientific discoveries and military advances. It was also a time when you had the Congress of Vienna in Europe as a fore-runner to the EU and a movement towards nationalism.

Europe in the middle ages saw the church at its highest position in the world. Of course, this came with it crusades led by individual kingdoms and these same kingdoms especially the Holy Roman Empire returning the favor and trying to influence and take over the papacy. In England, the Middle Ages saw the unified kingdom under Alfred the Great and the Norman invasion that brought the Plantagenets to power. You had the common law of Henry II and the Magna Carta of John I. On the continent, France had the albigensian heresy and struggled to unite different regions under a single crown with English interference in doing this. It was a time where regional nobles and barons struggled with kings for power and authority and when chivalry was the code of conduct for the battles between them. Of course like any era it had its downsides such as the Black Death, War of the Roses, the Crusades, and Hundred Years Wars to name a few.

For American history, 1950s represents the best time if you like to see America as the best country in the world in every single category measurable compared to the rest of world. Today though is the best time technologically and even economically because of the technology. The technology of today allows for a military that can do more with less and it allows even the poorest of the poor to have a fairly high standard of living. The problem with modern Europe is that the people trust the government too much and like to use it to solve all of their problems. This means the dominant philosophy gets into law easier and it causes minorities to have to adapt or die out. Europe has very restrictive laws on homeschooling, the police do not have the same constitutional restrictions as they do here, and Europeans are very guarded of their ethnicity and the all-powerful nature of government which leads to laws against Muslims and laws against religion: the two threats to the big governments of Europe. In America, there is still a can do spirit and a live and let live mentality that does not openly shun differing groups. Even the anti-illegal immigration people here do not in general wish the expulsion or completely forced assimilation of all the immigrants. I think in modern America we have a decent balance between the new and the old though I would wish for a return to constitutional principles and the outlawing of abortion.