RateItAll: The Opinion Network

I was born in the decade, so that counts pretty high for me.

On balance a pretty even decade historically, despite the gloss some of the nostalgia trap folks put on it.

Overrated decade, mostly because it was the decade alot of Boomers grew up in.

Contrary to popular belief, the economy was rather sluggish throughout the 50s, relying mainly on government defense/science spending for growth.
In fact, real GDP per capita grew faster in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s!

The 1950s are underrated. Between 1914 and 1945 the world was torn by war, depression and despair; many people in the US, and most people in Europe, Asia and Latin America, believed that Democracy and Capitalism were finished, outdated relics of the 19th Century, like monarchy or the horse and buggy. The future was Communism-or Fascism. After WWII, the choice was between Democracy and Communism: quite a difference. The main Axis powers were rebuilt-from rubble-into democratic states that soon became the second and third richest countries in the world. The reconstruction of Germany (to a lesser extent, Europe) and Japan remains the most altruistic and successful military occupation/economic reconstruction program ever undertaken. In America, the 1950s were a decade of prosperity not seem since the 1920s-and wealth was spread much more broadly than it was in the 20s. While the threat of nuclear war and Communist subversion created considerable hysteria and paranoia, the threat of Communism also had a seldom-noted silver lining: it forced the capitalist elites of democratic countries, and their governments, to behave far more responsibly than they had in the previous half-century. The threat or Communism, or at least Socialism, was a check on greed, speculation and selfishness; a check that only lasted as long as the Cold War.

The 50s had their dark side: nuclear paranoia, racism (exaggerated but real), and conformity (then again, for those who lived through the misery of economic depression and war, the comforts of conformity were considerable, and not to be dismissed lightly by people who have known only relative peace and prosperity). Also, the food was terrible, as American's still Anglo-German foodways were combined with wartime substitutes and new frozen/processed foods. The result: without a doubt, the worst decade in the history of cooking. For all the decade's shortcomings, the 1950s were still America's golden age(1), and a not-so-bad-age for the rest of the world.

(1)In most respects. American cultural achievments peaked before and after the 1950s: architecture, books, movies and music were all lackluster in the 50s, compared to the 20s, 30s, 40s and 60s. Even the terrible 70s had better movies.

I think this decade has been way too idealized, especially when viewed thru a filter of old tv shows and movies. Adultery, murder, paedephelia, intolerence against everyone who wasnt white and hetero--it was all still going on, just that nobody admitted it was or talked about it. Child molesters must have had a field day back then when nobody took a child's word over an adults, and serial killers literally got away with murder because nobody knew they existed nor did the police have the commuications it has now to compare murders, suspects etc. Everything had a gloss of happiness, nothing was discussed, and appearances were everything.

Actually, some of the nostalgia for the 50's was great fun, and the stylistic side of the decade, and the cornyess, such as the perfect families to the cool drive ins, cars and other youth culture was exciting for the people who lived through it.

With all its faults, America was at the top of its curve here. Afterwards it's all been downhill.

I put the 1950's in the same category as the 1990's and 1920's - the golden years of America.

The ideal that the '50's represent are long overdue for a comeback. Only this time, be a lot less indulgent with the children.

The Fifties were great if you are a conservative Republican who believes in family values. This was a repressed decade for a counrty that wasnt quite ready to confront issues that would later come forth in the '60's ( a great time). Rock and Roll was considered rebellious, there was still segregation in the South, we went to war in a country few people knew about for dubious reasons ( Korea). There was an extreme paranoia of communism. Not a really good decade.

I THINK THE 1950S WERE A GOOD TIME MOSTLY BECAUSE OF THE MORALS, ALTHOUGH FORNICATION WAS AROUND THERE WAS LESS OF IT IN THOSE DAYS, LESS PRESSURE TO SLEEP WITH A GUY ON A FIRST DATE OR EVEN ANY TIME BEFORE MARRIAGE. CHASTITY WAS A VALUED THING. NOW DAYS VIRGINITY IN THE WHOLE IS NOT REALLY SOMTHING TO BE VALUED OR IS EVEN WORTH MORE VALUE LOST! THATS A SHAME A REAL SHAME! X Becci (age 19)

I remember all of this decade and I think some of these comments are somewhat unfair. Racism had been even worse in earlier decades. Things began to change some in the fifties. The politics didn't look so bad back then. After decades of depression and war, people appreciated peace and prosperity. It was the last decade in which a significant percentage of Americans still lived on farms. The migration to the city was at high tide and the country was looking back at its rural past. The western was very popular. At the same time a new era was dawning. Science fiction films on a large scale were widely watched for the first time. There was much change going on under the surface. It was a bustling time culturally, with striking music ranging from Miles Davis to Hank Williams to Ray Charles. I judge the movies of the fifties to be the best in total of any decade of the century. Hitchcock and Wilder and Ford and even Welles were doing their best work. The stage was still vibrant. Little did we guess that everything would go to hell within a few short years.

The last of the post-war era when everything was black-and-white. In retrospect, there was way too much intolerance.

Not a good time to be black. Hardware stores sold a lot of rope.

Joseph McCarthy came in and hurt so many people as well as their reputations. He caused so much pain and at that time, This country was still racist and segregated.

It's an odd thing, but history proves it out: prosperity breeds banality and repression. What a bland and uptight time that was. Prefab houses sprouted like so many weeds. Conformity was expected, entertainment was so "wholesome" your mind could go numb. Racism, homophobia, paranoia often surfaced but even if not making headlines were always there. Yuck.

Poodle skirts scare the living f*ck out of me. They used real poodle fur for those! I look at poodles now and am happy they are safe from those crazy teenyboppers. Also, Joe McCarthy came into power and ruined a lot of lives.

The 1950's in my view had two dynamics; a passive and active set. It was passive in that people were expected to conform to a set standard of behavior. This paradigm could be best exemplified as Victorian, suppressive of feelings etc. But at the same time, there was an active dynamic waiting to burst at the seams. Technology was advancing rapidly, the Cold War was on, the economy was booming, America was on top of the world, people were having lots of kids and driving big cars on new big highways. Indeed, America was on the move in the 1950's. Eisenhower could have provided more proactive leadership, but at the time the country didn't demand it like they did from Roosevelt in the 1930's and the '40's. People were tired of social activism and war, this was one big reason why the Democrats were turned out of office in 1952. Indeed, Eisenhower exemplied this decade. Passive, yet solid leadership with an emphasis on economic expansion. The countries growth would ultimately lead to the social upheavals of the 1960's and '70's that would forever alter the social landscape of the United States.

This was a contradictory time that appeared to be placid and boring on the outside, but was actually quite turbulent and troubled beneath the surface. The first signs of overt incompetence, deteriorated character and gross confusion were perceived in our so-called "authority figures," and the People In The Street first began to question and rebel, which was a healthy dynamic that actually helped our country until it was squelched in the Reagan years. Politically, it was an era of very lame leadership, with the churlish, not terribly bright and vastly overrated Harry Truman kicking off the decade before giving way to the absolutely clueless and extremely over-the-hill Dwight Eisenhower. Truman not only nuked the Japs at the end of WWII, which was perhaps the first prominent display of state-sanctioned terrorism against another country in the 20th century, and essentially unnecessary to boot, but he was also totally out of his depth in dealing with Korea. He had little control over the governmental and political processes when Joe McCarthy and the rest of the paranoid rightwingers started looking under everybody's bed for Reds, destroying people's careers for the specious reason of being under suspicion of Fellow Travelerism, while never uncovering very much to suggest that the Communists ever gained a significant foothold in American life. Yet, the country was in a state of hysteria, and irresponsible politicos, mostly on the GOP side, whipped the fear into a frenzy. The Rosenbergs were executed under the most flimsy of premises (Eisenhower failed to grant executive clemency, which shows you what a do-nothing scumbag and douchewad he was), Alger Hiss was railroaded under trumped-up charges and dozens of people in the entertainment industry with absolutely no ties to the Communist Party ended up having to go to foreign countries to find work. A truly terrible time in American life, and not at all generated by "The Phantom," rather, the American Cold Warriors brought this upon us. Eisenhower continued this suspect leadship by dragging his feet on civil rights, insisting on the development of an interstate highway system to the detriment of public transportation and instigating our country's first involvement in Viet Nam. This guy was more interested in playing golf, taking naps and reading Zane Grey westerns than governing, and this "hands-off" uninvolved style of management set the standard that other slumbering idiot, Ronald Reagan, would further 25 years later. Socially, it was an era when Dad irrevocably ruled the roost, women were still consigned to the kitchen, children weren't accorded human status (they were supposed to be seen, not heard), people of color were still at the back of the bus until mid-decade, and queers keep to the underground out of fear of persecution (a good deal of this is still going on). A pretty dreadful scene that couldn't hold forever. Economically, it was a boon time, but at least three negative implications arose from this: (1) As Mom & Dad WWII Generation thought the Gravy Train was going to rumble on forever, too few of these a-wipes saved enough for retirement and expected Social Security to pick up the slack: the end result was the Baby Boomers having to dish out untold trillions of $$$ because most of The Greatest Generation looked to the government as its prime source of retirement income, and thus became The Generation on Welfare; (2) the so-called Captains of Industry also thought that the U.S. would effortlessly remain Top Dog in the manufacturing world, which resulted in a monolithic approach to business that eventually caught our economy flatfooted in the 1970s; and (3) Due to the military commitment that was necessary to protect U.S. corporate interests that developed during this period, the military-industrial complex became much too much an intregal part of the U.S. economy, which ultimately deprived other entities in the economy the resources needed to stay healthy. All these implications would manifest themselves in succeeding decades, but the seeds were planted in the 1950s. However, this was a time of technological advancement, particularly in the areas of television, rocketry and computers, but were the eventual repercussions worth it? Television proved to be the most powerful personality in most households, which led to a breakdown of various social customs, ushered in the dumbing down of America, tainted the values of the nation, contributed to the increasing mystification, propagandization and alientation of countless millions: TV truly turned out to be a vast wasteland in the 1960s, and now, 40 years later, the vast wasteland has become us. The hundreds of billions of dollars spent on the space program was a tremendous waste: a much smaller program could have easily met the needs and demands of the telecommunications and broadcast industries, and the totally useless lunar projects and the irresponsible and reckless shuttle program could have been avoided. This would have allowed the government to put significant money into our national infrastructure and educational system where it was sorely needed, and several people would not have met their untimely deaths for the dubious sake of The Glory of The Conquest of Space. And the 1950s marked the beginning of the Information Age, which turned out to be a total bill of goods that also wasted a tremendous amount of time, effort and money, led to a second wave of social custom deterioration, a further dumbing down of the populace and an increased disconnectedness from one another. And it remains to be seen whether we're any more productive in the workplace as a result of this, and if we are, were the benefits and costs commensurate? Finally, the best thing that can be said about the era was its cultural advancement. Country & Western and Rhythm & Blues had a bastard child and its name was Rock & Roll: this cultural dominant held on until the advent of Hip-Schlock, the era of the Crappers, but should resurface again once the youngsters tire of wearing their ballcaps on backwards and aspiring to being Low Life Niggas. Youth culture made its first impact during this time, and for better or worse, never took the back seat again. Perhaps people look back on this decade with nostalgia and consider the 1950s as a period of our collective lost innosense, but really nothing of value was lost when you consider what we gained, namely a recognition of and an immediate disdain for the BS and unrealistic values foisted on prvious generations of Americans by the maintainers of the Status Quo. Of course, the 1960s, 1970s, particularly the 1980s and the 1990s brought to us another continuum of BS from the government, media, poltiical parties, etc., that undid the new awareness that appeared in the 1950s.

Ah, the much maligned 1950’s. It’s funny how people who weren’t even born then seem to have total recall of this decade – thanks, apparently, to an extended, in-depth history course via Nick at Night. I was born almost exactly in the middle of this decade and though my overall memory of it is a tad fuzzy due to still being a toddler when it came to a close, I would be willing to bet that I have more of a grip on the reality of this time than people born a decade or two later. There’s no magical mystery to this…it’s just that, as I was growing up, I came to know many people who were adults during those times and recall some of the actual attitudes, events and value systems that existed. Also, in the early ‘60’s remnants of the earlier times were still easily detectable. Aside from all we pesky Boomers (sorry, abortion wasn’t legal yet or I’m sure there would be fewer of us since people who consider pregnancy a bother have existed since the beginning of time) this was also the decade that saw the birth of Rock & Roll, the infancy of the Civil Rights movement, teen rebellion being depicted in films, and, of course, television. Yes, to our more jaded eyes, the early television shows do appear to be getting hokier as time goes by. But I have a very strong suspicion that, for the most part, these shows were never meant to be anything but entertainment. Imagine how pleasant it would be though to occasionally sit down to relax and not have to deal with someone’s personal/political agenda being worked out in the form of a sitcom! Entertainment for the sake of entertainment – what a concept! For the most part, the writers, actors and comedians of that time weren’t trying to depict the reality of our lives – at least not all the harsher, psycho-asinine aspects of it continuously. Nobody I ever knew – including a fairly large group of grandparents, parents, copious aunts, uncles, parents of friends or even other children – ever had a problem separating real life from the weekly antics on “Leave it to Beaver” or “Father Knows Best”. Sitcoms of the 1950’s didn’t challenge anyone’s sense of reality any more than a decade later when Marsha Brady managed to get Davy Jones to come to her school prom. I can say with all honesty – though not with a straight face – that I never once saw my mother run the vacuum wearing a dress or a string of pearls, had neighbors who were anything like either the Ricardos or the Mertzs, and not once did I see Rod Serling pop up in a corner of the house with a smoldering cigarette (though I have half expected him to during certain other events in my life). Though the definition may seem to change with the decades, people were still as capable of grasping the concept of fiction - even so very long ago. Other than bland, white bread comedy, what 50’s TV reflects more than anything is a time when people didn’t take themselves or their entertainment quite as seriously as they do now. Yes, there were problems; things that needed to be challenged and crusades that needed to be launched – there always will be. And things were not always fair – something I doubt seriously the world’s population will ever come to agreement on. Though I’m not suggesting that we should stop trying to make things fair or solve problems - just that while we’re at it, it might be more realistic to realize that people were attempting in their own way to move forward as much then as now. If they hadn’t been, we would still be wincing at 8-inch screens, using clunky typewriters instead of keyboards and driving gigantic cars that we could no longer afford to buy gas for, and listening to old Pat Boone records. No, I’m not advocating that anyone put on a pair of rose-colored glasses when viewing this decade. No person, place or time period has ever been perfect. I know minorities were very poorly treated and had fewer options, women were still a long way from receiving equal pay for equal work and also lacked opportunities, not to mention dumb clucks like McCarthy and Hoover were still running amuck and even feeling pretty saintly as they played stupid games with people’s lives and careers. While I would never argue that all this reeked, I also know we left a few good things behind in those years. In many parts of the country people could leave their doors unlocked because there was simply less crime, families had fewer possessions but seemed to appreciate what they had a little more, the air was cleaner, we depended on fewer chemicals, and a simple expression of faith wasn’t automatically seen as a challenge to someone’s civil rights.

Some good music came out of this decade, and generally, the United States of America was able to avoid the effects of the Cold War until the 1960s, so it seems that general happiness and contentness was rampant in this decade. It also marks the beginning of the true Civil Rights Movement.