Major events in the last 50 years

Outside of my joining the BB?

 

If I had to pick one, it would be the rise of Islam worldwide. Of course, that's not a one-time event, but an ongoing situation, so it may not count.

One far-reaching event that has negatively impacted America was the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade ruling in the 1970s.

 

WWII

It forced the United States to accept it's place as the leader of the free world. For better and for worse with all they both entail.

 

:laugh: So we are.

The Vietnam War. It shaped our views of foreign involvement for decades up to and including today.

Is that OK? One could make a case that it began before 1959 if they really wanted to stretch.

 

We have yet to recover from the Vietnam War.

 

The invention and popularization of the computer. Our economy and our politics are forever altered by the information revolution.

 

Years ago someone asked Bill Gates if computers would eliminate paper. He laughed. The information revolution is nothing but a time waster. It hasn't changed anything substantial. People think that access means smarts but 90% of the use is trivia and porn.

Compare computers with the invention of the free public library. Maybe 10% use it for educational purposes.

 

Then please quit wasting time.

 

I'm retired and all I have is time. Nothing to do when it is raining except things I don't want to do.

 

Funny how your perspective changes, isn't it? About 1990, I would have told you the fall of Communism would far outpace other events.

But now, *sigh*, it's been replaced with another threat--islamo-terrorism. Unfortunately, that might be number one.

Other possible contenders, IMHO:

-rise of the Internet and how that has changed everyday life;
-assassinations of Kennedy, Kennedy, and King, and its destablization of American life and culture;
-Global proliferation of nuclear weapons;
-The rapid "secularization" of much of the world's non-Muslim population.

 

Digital communication. It brought forth high capacity storage, CD's, DVD/Blu Ray, High Def TV, High Speed Internet, and much more.

 

What would you know about the Vietnam War?

I agree with rbell, the rise of Islamic power and the fall of the Soviet Union have had the biggest overall impact. Some single news events that come to mind are the JFK, RFK, and MLK assasinations, the moon landing, and the Nixon resignation.

 

>What would you know about the Vietnam War?

I lived thru those days as a young adult. I watched TV, read the papers, listed to talk radio, apparently had to many kids to get drafted. I wasn't foolish enough to volunteer to be cannon fodder.

And you?

 

Ooh, forgot about the moon landing.

I'd put the Nixon resignation with the assassinations, insofar as it de-stabilized our society, and further eroded confidence in an institution that Americans had simply accepted without question.

 

I served and that is all you need to know. All your post tells me is, like most of your others, you have no idea what you are talking about.

 

The rise of the Great Society as put forth by Kennedy/Johnson and what it has subsequently become.

 

Yeah, but in all fairness, that dancing cat on Youtube is awfully cute.

Some people here may know that I'm going back to school to pick up a few credits to complete a degree I left half finished. Fortunately, I have a family member who's on faculty so I usually just go and hang out in her office while she's in class, but every now and then, I have to go down and use the computer in the library and the porn I have to walk past on the monitors down there would make Redd Foxx blush.