The decade of my childhood was the 1950s.  Perhaps I’m just nostalgic about life in the ‘50s, but by any measure it was in my view so much more peaceful and so much less stressful than life today.  It was the simplest of times.  Our veterans who returned from the “war to end all wars” started families and businesses.  Homes were purchased, communities were established, new schools were opened, and most folks went to church or temple regularly.  It was a Norman Rockwell America.  We lived in neighborhoods and we knew our neighbors.  Radio was prominent in our homes and when the antenna was properly placed on the roof television viewing was not only free but also fine.  Our knowledge of current events was provided by the magazines we so looked forward to reading, such as Look, Life, and the Saturday Evening Post, and by the news update we could watch at the movie theater, right before or after the cartoon that accompanied every film. 

We had a peacetime President who was a military hero.  Although he was generally regarded as a caretaker President, he did lead the way for construction of our interstate highways.  Regardless of political affiliation most everyone liked Ike. While there was some political discord it was respectable.  The Cold War and fear of Communism started in the ’50s, but it seemed to be limited to Russia and to a lesser extent Cuba, and we did not worry about terrorism from radical groups.  Except perhaps in the Deep South we did not live in an environment of divisiveness, at least that was my belief as a child growing up in a city where diversity only meant that there were many sons and daughters and grandchildren of immigrants that were part of our world.  I don’t remember any impediment on a citizen’s right to vote.  There was crime, of course, but not like we see today.  I honestly don’t remember anyone in my community who had a gun, except perhaps a hunting rifle for use when hunting season opened on or about Thanksgiving Day.  Polio was a national health scare, but Jonas Salk developed a vaccine that was universally accepted by our populace and we continued to be a mask less society.  Health insurance was affordable.  Insurance companies did not gouge their insureds.

In contrast, look at today.  Cold War with not only Russia but also China and North Korea.  Fear of ISIS and other terrorist enemies.  Mass shootings in schools, churches, theaters, and shopping centers.  Rages of passengers on airplanes.  Politics that have become so partisan that it’s practically impossible to get anything done.  Actions of state legislatures to suppress voting rights.  Police injustice against minorities.  Efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act.  An insurrection against our seat of government.  And most alarmingly, a failure to confront the existential elephant in the room – climate change.

What is better today?  Obviously, a lot of creature comforts in the communication, transportation, and entertainment arenas. As a nation (although regrettably not me) we adhere to a better diet and exercise more.  I remember my cousin John, who was an IBM programmer, telling me in the early ‘70s that within a decade everyone could have a personal computer.  That was hard to believe since the computer then was a huge mainframe.  But his prediction came through and the personal computer, together with the advent of the Internet, has brought the world to our fingertips.  Just about anything we want to know is available with a click or two.  It still boggles my mind.  My childhood experience with a phone involved a dial apparatus that was subject to a party line and now my phone is a computer that I can place in my pocket.  Technological advancement is without a doubt the most important beneficial difference since my childhood.  I also would like to note, though, the emergence from the closet of the LGBTQ community as another significant difference from my childhood.  I believe that we are who we are and I respect that.

I don’t like to say this, but I think what is really different today from my childhood is the attitude of people.  In my view too many folks today are self-centered, rude, obstinate, and feel entitled.  People seem more angry than they ever have been.  In the ‘50s there was a prevailing sense of optimism.  In short, there now seems to be a consensus of pessimism.

So what has not changed?  What has been constant?  It’s been said that the only thing that is constant is change, and contrarily that the more things change the more they remain the same.  When I participated as a presenter in tax and estate planning seminars I would tell the audience that it’s often said “the only sure or constant things in life are death and taxes” and since my practice was concentrated in estates and taxes, that should mean I will never be out of a job.  Very few people laughed at that.  But here are some facts that have remained constant since my childhood:

The ball still drops at Times Square on New Year’s Eve

Popcorn is still the go-to snack at the movie theater

Queen Elizabeth still reigns as Her Royal Highness

Our democracy still lives (God bless Mike Pence)

I still can’t swim

Wheaties is still the Breakfast of Champions

Priests still give 3 Our Fathers and 3 Hail Mary’s to anyone who still confesses

For some strange reason the Red Sox still play at Fenway Park

Krispy Kreme still makes the best doughnuts

While the above list is impressive I’m sure there are more things that have remained constant since my childhood, probably the most important of which was expressed by James Earl Jones in Field of Dreams when he said “the one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball”.