I think people always look at "before" and think it was better or society was better. In fact, I'm glad Sonic and Jumper were not growing up in the good ole days of WWII, the depression, segregation and bigotry and alienation toward people due to race and/or sexual orientation. I certainly wouldn't want to live with an abusive man, like in the 1950s, and feel I had to stay with him because divorce was seen as so horrible and was hard to get. Some really "nice" people abused their kids a nd spouses and nobody knew because nobody cared about those issues. I was in a Jewish family. Things weren't so hot for the ones who ended up in Concentration Camps. And my Dad and Mom had to live in a certain suburb when they got married because the rest of the Chicago suburbs had signs that said "No Jews Allowed." All those nice people agreed with these laws. Also, there were no safety nets at all and not everyone has family to pick them up if bad things happen. I would not have anyone.
I do think things are worse from at least when I grew up in the 1970s and there was a groundswelling of people caring about the civil rights and well being of others. Many good laws were passed to help others. Now? I have never seen such a selfish country of people. I do not know if it is everywhere or just the US. I have not ever known this country to be so selfish, so hateful toward others who are less fortunate than they are, and so greedy.
I have always been a big volunteer and if I have one legacy of life it is helping others when I didn't have much myself. I remember stuffing ten dollars bills in beggar's hats when I worked in Downtown Chicago and sending clothing to poor people when addresses of unfortunate souls were listed in the papers. Both of my husbands (lol) have adopted and fostered children. I've moved on to pet rescue. Giving was a way of life for me and my kids and, except for 35, all of them are very giving as well. And nice. Nice like the people that were described here. I know a lot of nice people and some people who I feel are not nice at all, but I don't hang around with them.
Society has changed the way we hear big events, how the media tries to brainwash us (my opinion), but it hasn't changed human nature. The people who have the most are not working in the homeless shelters. To most of them, these folks are not even people. That especially relates to our difficult children who are mostly doing drugs or in some way slacking off badly. They are seen as trash by many people.The mentally ill are also often seen as trash. Those who have the most and never suffered have the least amount of compassion. This has probably gone as far back as mankind itself. There are exceptions, but in general the more you have the more you are sure everyone can do what you did and the more people resent others who don't have, for whatever reason.
But it was even a worse world in the 1950's for any unfortunate group of people, including the homeless (yes, they existed) and the mentally ill (you never even SPOKE of mental illness even in the early 1960's). And that goes extra for anyone of color. Remember how we jailed our Japanese-American population (and some asians who weren't even Japanese)? And some had fought in the military! I'd say, they didn't think it was so great or stress free back in the WWII days and after.
I think looking back at our own wonderful relatives who are no longer around is not a snapshot of how the world was at that time. Does anyone else remember the Cold War or bomb drills? There was plenty of pressure back in the day. And does anyone think the depression wasn't pressure? Remember all the suicides when the markets crashed? The unemployment rate being 25%? How was that not pressure? It was for my sweet grandfather who was an out-of-work accountant. My grandma had to collect the rent for the landlord each month to put any food on the table and it was a horrible job for such a kind lady. She didn't want to have to badger poor people out of work to pay rent. Good ole days? Not to her!
Personally, I'd rather have somebody tell me exactly what they think of me than to smile and shake my hand and say, "Yes, ma'am" when they secretly hate me because my children are not white. There was a lot of deception back then. Still is, but it was worse then. My c hildren, in some states, would not have been allowed to drink from the same water fountain as me. And "nice" people thought that was ok. I'm glad we have moved ahead and I believe we always had stress.
I'm not on board with "it was so much better then." Or "people were so much nicer then." Really?????? If so, how did all that I mentioned ever happen?