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The 1960's


CC_Maud_Pie

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CNN has a TV series called "The 1960's". This topic isn't about what you think about the CNN show. But rather how you feel about the 1960's. As a person who is interested in history and current events, I can't help but think all the time how crazy the 1960's have been. Why? Because many Earth-shattering and historical events have all happened during this decade like these:

- Moon Landing/Space Race

- Civil Rights Movement in the U.S.

- Beatlemania/British Invasion

- Cuban Missile Crisis

- Assassinations of historical figures (JFK, Malcolm X, MLK, RFK)

- U.S. getting involved in the Vietnam War/Anti-Vietnam War movement

- First televised presidential debate

- Berlin Wall being built

- 1968 Chicago Democratic National Convention protests

- Psychedelic movement

The list goes on

On a personal side, both my parents were born in the 60's.

What do you think?

Edited by CC_Maud_Pie
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The 60s were a fascinating decade. Alot changed during those short ten years, some of which was very good (like Civil Rights), but most of which was very bad (Vietnam, counterculture, the rise of bubblegum pop, and the more extreme elements of the Civil Rights movement). There's a good reason why it's often called the end of America's golden age. It's one of history's most beautiful tragedies.

 

I haven't seen the CNN series, but I recommend that anybody interested in the decade start watching Mad Men if they haven't already. If you have ever wanted to experience the waning years of the golden age from a white collar perspective, it's required viewing.

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My Dad was born in the 40s and my Mom was born in the 50s so they remember the 60s. By the stories that they've told me, the 1960s seemed to be a pretty interesting decade to live in except when the Cuban missile crisis was occurring and everyone thought World War III would've happened.

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Well, the 60s are, alongside the 70s, my favorite decades for popular music (meaning music outside of classical) by a wide margin. The technology and influences of the time just really made the music of the era very nice to listen to. Especially in the 60s, the instrumentation in songs was perfect. A perfect balance (IMO) of electronic and acoustic sounds - Plus, lots of wind instruments! xD (Just had to add that one...)

 

It's been several years since I took an American history course, though, so I don't have much else to say about the decade. However, I do know that many important civil rights fights were fought during the decade and don't want to forget that.

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Well, I lived through the 1960s.  I remember  (1966) John Lennon landed in New York (on tour with the Beatles) & made some remark to the effect that if it had been Jesus landing, there still wouldn't have been that much fuss.  My parents freaked, but I thought he was just telling the truth & couldn't see what all the fuss was about.

 

Now, well, I saw a critic's comment that the Beatles were just the Everly Brothers with an English accent & I think that's pretty true (early Beatles, at least)

 

I remember when Kennedy got shot, the principal came on the loudspeaker & announced it, but said it did not mean that we were at war w Russia.  Then, they closed the school & sent us home until after the funeral.  It was like it was the death of the American Dream, the end of hope.

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There was also the acid tests, that involved the LSD drug that hippies and even notable musicians ended up taking during that period, which made them see the world differently, and there were psychedelic stores. In my History of Rock n Roll and RnB class in college, I learned about music festivals such as Monterey, Woodstock, and Altamont (where an 18 year old was beaten to death).

Here's a band at Woodstock getting the crowd to curse:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xuUBCF3KKxc

And who can forget these 2 legendary songs:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=c9Y1UiVvS3A

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=B0yoiBYbT2I

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I would have loved to have seen the '64 World's Fair.

 

 

That's also the same year the Ford Mustang was introduced, the Civil Rights Act was signed, Beatles records first came to the US, the Verrazano Bridge was opened, and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer first appeared on US television.

 

Although the turmoil over civil rights and the whole specter of the Cold War made the decade seem kind of a bit scary, especially considering the "big bad" Russians were the first to put a man in space and created the largest atomic bomb the world has ever known.

 

If you think about it, the 2010s show quite a few similarities to the '60s. We still have quite a huge anti-establishment notion in our society today, as evidenced by the strength of polarizing political elements and our loss of faith in our political leaders. Many people are still against our involvment in what seems like a new war starting every week, and we're still having race issues as evidenced by Ferguson even half a century after segregation was abolished. People are still tripping, albeit by a different name: marijuana. And, most importantly, the rapid and often scary pace of technological development still continues, although now it's no longer about space and nukes, now it's drones and surveillance, which again help to foster these anti-establishment sentiments.

 

Our nation's influence as a superpower may be teetering on the brink of downward spiral, we don't host world's fairs anymore, and we seem to no longer to be able to build great things like the Verrazano Bridge anymore. Of course, the success of no musical act today can hold a candle to what the Beatles did, and we definitely don't make Christmas specials as good or as often as we used to. The mask has changed, but the face remains the same.

Edited by Wind Chaser
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Scootadoodle

You probably watched the sitcom That 70s Show (or whatever it was called).  They made it seem pretty good & it did have some good movies, some of the best sitcoms ever, & some great music. 

 

But, I lived through it & over all that decade flat out sucked.  It started with the Kent State Massacre & ended with the Iran Hostage Crisis.  It had the really nasty parts of both the Vietnam war & the protest against it.  Gas prices tripled, we twice had gas lines down the block  (You know, up till then, gas stations used to have price wars?).  We damn near lost Detroit to import cars (I recall seeing a picture of downtown Detroit labeled "Japan's Revenge For Hiroshima")

 

It had the Watergate Break In, which led to Nixon's resignation & scandalized the nation for years, Gerald Ford pardoning him, Jimmy Carter as president.  He gave away the Panama Canal & was blamed for a great deal of other stuff.  (IMO, if he had been in charge during WW2, we'd all be speaking German).

 

Aids got started during that decade & so did Crack (Sex and drugs got to be every bit as bad for you as your mother always said they were.  For that alone, I HATE that decade).  Disco got started in the 70s, the Beatles broke up (69 or 70, can't recall).  The 60s had Woodstock 1, the 70s had Altmont.  That decade invented nostalgia for a reason.  They also coined the term "stagflation" & "the misery index" (inflation + unemployment)

 

I don't blame you for being too young to remember, just recall TV leaves a LOT out.  From personal experience, I know that looking back, the worries either got solved or never happened (the 50s, McCarthyism & Nuclear Destruction, for instance), but living through them is no fun

 

Actually, for a decade to love I'd go either with the 50s (For hetero sexual white male Christians (or those who could pass for such)), or the 1980s.

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