"I was born in 1950 and remember much from those days. I would not want
to go back . Things were inexpensive that people had to have, other
things not so much. "

Well 1960 here, but I WOULD go back. Of course you can't. One really bad thing was Nam, if they drafted me I would be Canadian. Don't get me wrong, bunch of assholes attack this country I will be right there, but don't gimme this **** we gotta go tear up someone else's country because France did this and China did that.

People used to pay cash or a new car, now they have to put gasoline on a credit card. The banks practically own the whole country. People did only have one car, but if the synchros in third gear were not quite up to snuff or some other overdrive solenoid thingie in the tranny was bad back then you just drove it. Now it throws a code and you can't get license plates until you put $2,000 into a car that is in good enough working order to do what it needs to do. If you had a little fender bender you drove a dented car until you got it fixed, now the air bags deploy and it won't run. I am no big fan of seat belts either, we used to watch where we're going. Now they got cars that practically drive themselves. I think that is bad, because when you get people used to this they won't know what to do in a real car where you have to actually put your foot on the brake pedal. Same with those table saws that stop the blade in a microsecond if skin is detected so it won't cut anyone. Let people get used to that and then a real table saw will cut their hand off. but then the government will mandate this safety feature and we all have to buy the retrofit, made in China of course, to bring our old trusty table saws up to "code". And speaking of code, teflon tape is garbage and actually is more likely to cause a leak than the old pipe dope, I use pipe dope. You want teflon garbager tape in there you put it in. Another case of replacing something that worked with what does not.

"YOU should remember the TV sets. "

I certainly do. We had like five channels and actually had a debate about what to watch. Now we got five hundred channels and there is nothing on. They can't write a script, the camera work looks like it was done by a six year old and there are so many special effects you don't even know if the TV is working right or not. Yes I will goo back and watch Gunsmoke and the original Star Trek and Get Smart and whatever. Actually with the exception of Star Trek that is pretty uch what I go for on like Hulu or whatever when I get in the mood for TV, not this bull**** they have today. Used to catch a few old Star Treks but CBS has decided to not give them up, most likely because they can't write anything worthwhile. The new Star Trek guy likes lens flares, which any real photogragher tries to avoid, and there is practically no plot. In fact that is common now and they are turning to "reality" type shows because of it. Even the murder mysteries on are based on true stories, look at "Homicide Hunter", all cases of this one detective over about forty years in Colorado investigating murders. And the new music reflects the lack of talent as well.

In the old days a local rock and roll band could mail a tape in to a local radio station and the DJ would play it and people got discovered. This happened alot in Cleveland here. Not the only place though, I think it was NYC where the guy pretty much made Buddy Holly a household word. But now to get into the biz you need to know someone, and they bitch and moan that they aren't amking money. And they blame the profileration of P2P and other means of downloading as the source of their financial downturn but I am here to tell you the real reason is that they are putting out a junk product. Same with movies, all effects, no plot.

Yes, I would go back.

"Many only had one car and as you said it was almost a junker. "

What, a junker because it doesn't get XM radio ? This new junk can kiss my ass. I want a 1967 Chevy. Simplicity. What's more, that one "junker" got the sole (that means one) wage earner to work, and the Wife to the grocery store on Saturday.

"Homes had a telephone and some were even on party lines. Now many
people have their own cell phone. "

Yeah, and when I owned my own house and had my druthers I made people leave those damn phones out in their car if they wanted to visit me. I turn mine off quite a bit. I pay for it, it is my prerogative to answer it or not. It is not a pager and I am not on call. As far as I am concerned, I might just get rid of it but I am older now and could get stranded somewhere or something. If you call my lanmdline and there is no answer (and no answering macjhoine either) that means I am not home and you have to call back. I LIKED IT THAT WAY. However I do like either caller ID or the old answering machine that allowed you to screen calls.

"Only thing I relly can think of back in the good old days that was
better was there was very little crime. "

There was less crime but it was not non-existent. Much was not reported like whoever said in another post here. Rapes were the worst. Woman got raped and her brothers would drive her 2,000 miles away to give the kid up for adoption, as was the case with all out of wedlock kids back then. For better or worse that is how it was. Though from what I have seen, to raise a kid right you need both a male and female influence, they sort of balance each other somehow.

One of the reasons there was less crime was the armed Citizen, really. They never really reported much on how much crime really is stopped by bystanders who are armed. One case at a "Waffle House" a few years ago, two thugs tried to pull an armed robbery, a custoer shot and killed one of them and the other fled, only to get caught a short time later. The dead thug's cousin got up on TV to claim we need more strict gun laws as hjer cousin, who spent his life trying to steal from others, migth still be alive.

Well I have to agree, because if the guy who shot her piece of **** cousin was train better he might have been able to kill both thugs. And I will look their Mother straight in the eye and say "Next time you drop a litter, teach them some respect".

I remember people who got out of prison saying "Damn, I can't even begin to name these new cars". That is your biggest concern ? But then back then they did not require a full background check to flip burgers.

And now, you want to talk Snowden and Assange ? The US government committed an act of war against an ally to get Assange who has never set foot on US soil. I would go back to when there was a little bit of respect. But then there wasn't. the escapades of Smedley Butler were back in the early 1900s and made enemies of most South American cointries. That is why you get aspartame of HFCS in youir food and drinks instead of regular sugar, which is not as damaging to your health. Mexicans enjoy real sugar because they did not try to replace damn near every government down there. Look at the labels if you don't believe me.

A few things went right, we shed alot of our bigotry. We became more tolerant of those who are different. Of course now with Trump's win at the election the liberals are turning into animals, having riots and all that ****, but you have to realize that they see that as their meal ticket being cut off. Conservatives build things, liberals sell them.

Enough for now.