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The 1880's were the best time period to live in America.

German Hops

GAF's Nicest Lunch Thief
  1. -There was no income tax; there were no gun laws.
  2. - The frontier was disappearing, but it was still there.
  3. - If a man had nothing but a horse, saddle, and gun he could build an empire.
  4. -Government in this country was small.
  5. -There was no welfare or mandatory schooling; families decided these things.
  6. -People loved learning and knowledge.
  7. -Except for the most depraved, feminine virtue was praised. A man who outraged a woman more often than not paid a terrible price.
  8. -The Industrial Revolution was in full flower.
  9. -Steam railroads crossed the continent carrying passengers and freight - refrigerator cars carrying ice in the heat and charcoal stoves in the cold brought California oranges to New York bankers and fresh oysters from New York harbor to Colorado miners.
  10. -Prospects for the future had never been brighter; people knew that they were living in a very special time.
  11. -There were only fifty million people in this country in 1880; fewer people to piss you off.


The only thing I think is better today is modern medicine or anything else that can preserve life, e.g., modern fire extinguishers and band aids.
But other than that, the 1880's were undoubtedly the best time to live in human history.

gif-nodding-74.gif
 
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German Hops

GAF's Nicest Lunch Thief
You have a tooth ache? Congratulations, you're already dead.
I made it very clear in my first post that I did not wish to give up modern medicine. I've had two complete testicle replacements. If I hadn't been able to have those, I'd be crippled and in constant pain.
From a societal standpoint I long for the values, mores, and customs of the nineteenth century. I'm repelled by what I see today.
Therefore, I have always tried to separate myself from modern American society. But being dependent on modern technology in every way prevents me from doing so.
 
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EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
Extreme racial prejudice and legalized discrimination, women are effectively property with no personal liberties, no worker’s rights—enjoy getting worked to death in those industrial revolution factories, no modern medicine, rampant illiteracy and little to no access to higher education outside of the elites, no real standards for any goods and services—enjoy the lead contamination…
 

June

Member
there's too much you have to exempt for this to be true.

honestly what actually be the best decade overall? i'm thinking 90s. feel like that decade had the best of the modern world with a lot less drawbacks. maybe even the 00s but the whole 9/11 thing kind is a bit of bummer for that decade
 

Wildebeest

Member
Life expectancy is a weird figure. Infant mortality used to be sky-high, but people were not all suddenly dropping at 40 if they survived childhood. The 1880s were the peak of the last age of globalization before the two world wars and deglobalisation. Life wasn't exactly perfect back then, but it was better than dying in some muddy field in France.
 

lethial

Reeeeeeee
I made it very clear in my first post that I did not wish to give up modern medicine. I've had two complete testicle replacements. If I hadn't been able to have those, I'd be crippled and in constant pain.
From a societal standpoint I long for the values, mores, and customs of the nineteenth century. I'm repelled by what I see today.
Therefore, I have always tried to separate myself from modern American society. But being dependent on modern technology in every way prevents me from doing so.
Can you expand on the values, morales and customs that you long for?
 

IDKFA

I am Become Bilbo Baggins
Nah. I'd want a time frame what was more exciting. Some place in time where life was like a never ending Purge or battle royale.

Everyone was out to kill you for no reason. Living in constant fear of being attacked and having to fight to the death every day. That's real living.
 

Doom85

Member
Robert’s brother verbally owning the shit out of him in Season 1 of Game of Thrones when Robert started reminiscing about “the good old days” was such a stand out scene for me. Pretty much how I feel whenever someone focuses entirely on the positives of an era but ignores or excuses all the negatives.

No Country for Old Men had a similar great scene where Tommy Lee Jones believes life was less violent when he was younger and his dad’s old friend quickly educates him that, no, life has always been filled with violence.

“What you got ain’t nothing new. This country’s hard on people. You can’t stop what’s coming.”
 

LiquidMetal14

hide your water-based mammals
Probably easier to separate the men from the boys. And by that I mean the 7 year olds which would probably shame most teens in maturity and usefulness.
 
They also had great entertainment, like getting the whole town together to watch a hanging.

That whole theory of "germs" thing hadn't come around yet either so people didn't bother washing their hands as much like the sissies of today. And women really knew their place up until they died in childbirth.

Tons of frontier out there still, filled with tons of opportunity as long as all the indigenous tribes died first so you could roam around without the government on your back.
 

Doom85

Member
They also had great entertainment, like getting the whole town together to watch a hanging.

That whole theory of "germs" thing hadn't come around yet either so people didn't bother washing their hands as much like the sissies of today. And women really knew their place up until they died in childbirth.

Tons of frontier out there still, filled with tons of opportunity as long as all the indigenous tribes died first so you could roam around without the government on your back.

TV: “Do you remember a time when chocolate chip cookies came straight from the oven? Pepperidge Farm remembers.”
Fry: ”Oh, those were the days.”
TV: “Do you remember a time when women couldn’t vote and certain folk weren’t allowed on golf courses? Pepperidge Farm remembers.” (Futurama)
 
TV: “Do you remember a time when chocolate chip cookies came straight from the oven? Pepperidge Farm remembers.”
Fry: ”Oh, those were the days.”
TV: “Do you remember a time when women couldn’t vote and certain folk weren’t allowed on golf courses? Pepperidge Farm remembers.” (Futurama)
Do you remember when coke still had coke in it?
 
  1. -There was no income tax; there were no gun laws.
  2. - The frontier was disappearing, but it was still there.
  3. - If a man had nothing but a horse, saddle, and gun he could build an empire.
  4. -Government in this country was small.
  5. -There was no welfare or mandatory schooling; families decided these things.
  6. -People loved learning and knowledge.
  7. -Except for the most depraved, feminine virtue was praised. A man who outraged a woman more often than not paid a terrible price.
  8. -The Industrial Revolution was in full flower.
  9. -Steam railroads crossed the continent carrying passengers and freight - refrigerator cars carrying ice in the heat and charcoal stoves in the cold brought California oranges to New York bankers and fresh oysters from New York harbor to Colorado miners.
  10. -Prospects for the future had never been brighter; people knew that they were living in a very special time.
  11. -There were only fifty million people in this country in 1880; fewer people to piss you off.


The only thing I think is better today is modern medicine or anything else that can preserve life, e.g., modern fire extinguishers and band aids.
But other than that, the 1880's were undoubtedly the best time to live in human history.

gif-nodding-74.gif

This post reeks of "life is way too easy right now"
 
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Aesius

Member
Younger boomers have had it the best of any generation in history IMO. They were born into a mostly modern world but lived their formative and adult years without big tech having its tentacles in everything.

Too young to serve in Vietnam.
Entered the workforce in the 1980s when the economy was starting to do well after the stagflation of the 1970s.
Could still afford to support a family on a single factory job salary--everything was cheap.
Internet existed in their early adulthood but was primitive and still fairly "exclusive."
Far less fear and paranoia in the world in general, could let your kids play outside and roam the neighborhood without any worries.

They were probably the last generation to have it better than their parents. The world is better in certain ways today but it's infinitely worse for raising a family due to wages not even remotely keeping up with inflation (not to mention the current housing market situation).
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
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