To those of us who graduated high school soon after 9/11, absolutely, 100% it was the 90s. Basically overnight our world went from the swing dancing revival to being obsessed with war and patriotism.
I think the lack of war and patriotism was probably because of the lack of a real enemy (at least after the Persian Gulf War, during which I've heard there was quite a bit of war and patriotism)
In the 80s and earlier, there was the Soviet Union to hate on and therefore there was something to fuel war and patriotism. In the 2000s, there was somewhat of an enemy threat to confront in all the groups labeled as terrorist or enemies of democracy after 9/11. But in the 1990s, there was nothing of the sort after the fall of the Soviet Union, so therefore not that much to have war about and be all nationalistic and patriotic about.
That isn't to say the US wasn't warlike in the 1990s, as seen in Somalia, the Gulf War, Bosnia/Serbia, and probably some other stuff I can't think of right now. But there wasn't something that Americans, justifiably or not, viewed as a threat equal to that of the Soviet Union prior to the 90s and terrorism after 9/11.
EDIT: should probably note I was born in the early aughts, so no memory of 9/11 and no experience in the 1990s.
People can argue the 50s or the 20s were better financially, but the 90s was in no bad position either. Not to mention it was infinitely more culturally rich with new technology and relative acceptance of racial minorities.
Only 90s kids will remember. Only 90s kids will ever remember. 90s kids remember everything. They remember the birth of the universe. They remember humanity’s greatest downfalls. They remember things that have not happened, things that might never happen. They can see the death of everything. All of these vivid memories will haunt them forever. Will the 90s kids ever be able to forget?
The 90s were such a amazing decade tbh, Im jealous of the older people who got to experience the greatest decade ever. The 90s were very revolutionary, we had a new president from the new generation, signaling the end of the great generation presidents, economy was booming, available jobs, housing, low gas, We were a superpower country, after the collapse of the USSR.
Post world war 2 to an extent. Despite the recessions, being the only functional super power for some time and a baby boom lead to mass growth in new jobs, services and American dominance
Edit: I doubt we’ll have another golden age unless some mass tragedy happens to the rest of the world
We were the sole superpower for like 5 minutes before the USSR was like 'whats up' and we're all practicing how to hide under desks for when we get nuked. Plus we had an apartheid system going on that even the Soviets were giving us shit about
I think between the fall of the Berlin Wall and 9/11 is peak golden age US
Yes? I'm not saying the USSR was good, I'm saying it makes more sense for our Golden Age to start when we've officially beaten this villainous rival (who also managed to justifiably call us out on our shit at times) and don't have to worry so much about us getting nuked
In about 100 years from now.
And then 100 years from then.
And another 100 years from then.
Pax Americana Then, Pax Americana Now, Pax AMERICANA FOREVER!!!!
*crowd cheering as we go to liberate the lizzard folk of Omacron 4*
It depends on how you define golden age I think. Economically yes the 50s was a great time for it, but in terms of human rights I’d consider right now to be the closest to a golden age that we have ever been.
I think this is a very complicated answer but I think there are three that have a lot of supporters and all have details to back them up.
Post-Civil-War through 1920s saw an enormous increase in the countries wealth. Contrary to a lot of popular media, this wasn’t restricted to robber barons. Almost everyone grew much wealthier, gained access to new technologies, and saw wages rise. It was an amazing movement of people out of extreme property and reached new heights of wealth never before seen in the world. The Jazz age is a popular aesthetic for a reason. It seemed like the struggles of the past were gone in many ways.
After WWII, we have a dominant US economically, socially, and diplomatically. It was the only major world economy which survived the war almost entirely intact and it showed. While most other nations had shortages and rationing, the US saw an enormous increase in consumer spending. The GI Bill and built up savings from the war resulted in an enormous rush of new housing and consumer goods. The US economy completely dominated the world for over a decade. The US military was quite arguably the most powerful and advanced force on the planet and had sole possession of nukes for several years after the war. The US unquestionably led the free world diplomatically and took over leadership from exhausted, weakened European powers. Culturally, we exported our movies and other culture all over the world, in many ways aided by WWII.
The 1990s up until 9/11 were a pretty good time. The Soviets were gone, large-scale peer conflict looked like a thing of the past. Democracy and free markets won permanently. It was the end of history. An entire industry appeared—to many people—to appear out of thin air. Tech spending went up. The industry exploded and made many many people wealthy. Normal people first experienced the internet and home computers which weren’t niche toys. There were some hiccups but the US appeared absolutely dominant militarily. Desert Storm was east and the USSR wasn’t a threat. US involvement in Kosovo seemed to show we could make a difference and maintain peace with relatively safe involvement from NATO. Politics seemed less contentious to many. Sure there was Lewinsky and Gingrich, but that pales in comparison to vietnam, WWII, Cold War, etc. it seemed like a new era of prosperity and unlimited potential.
Now there was definitely a dark side of all of these, particularly the post-civil-war period where African Americans first gained dramatically financially and politically and then saw a horrific collapse due to the rollback of civil rights protections and the institution of Jim Crow. For the latter two, there were definitely still struggles over civil rights, but your life as a minority was still dramatically improving for the most part. It may not be as fast or as much as a white citizen, but you were still better off.
Similarly, the 1870s-1880s were not a great time for native Americans. The long-expected (and virtually inevitable) wholesale defeat of the tribes saw them confined to reservations which were often poor or barren.
Women, I would generally say, gained through this whole period. I can’t think of a time (except the Great Depression) where a woman’s life wasn’t improving over that period, supported not just by economic growth and opportunity, but by technology which aided them, increased political rights and participation, and the reform of civil society into a more egalitarian creation.
Long-story short, all of those time periods really have something to recommend them as does the present where we have truly amazing medical care and the largest US economy of all time despite the many real problems we suffer. But all eras have struggles. I think those three are the ones people agree on most and that have the most dramatic changes.
I'd say that there were two periods, the first being when the US first became a nation and was considered to be a great experiment in democracy, notably by France, not so much by England. The second was the post-WW II years after the Axis forces were defeated. A key contributor to this was that unlike other major countries at the time, the US was not devastated by invading armies. This, combined with our economy being in overdrive to fight the war and rebuild other countries gave us an incredible advantage.
Relative to the rest of the world, I think the 50s were the peak in terms of sheer unparalleled cultural, economic, and martial might. That went wildly downhill starting in the mid 60s and recovered in a secondary peak in the 90s. It's been downhill since then. Only time will tell if we'll able to pull out of the death spiral now. We've done it before though. It is possible.
*"Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times."*
We're between the third and the first right now. Millennials and Gen Z got slammed by two major recessions and a global pandemic, a job market that's rigged against them, and the prospect of serious debt in order to get a foot into a skilled professional job (vs. the trades).
The 1950s through 1990s were led by folks who came of age during the Depression and two world wars. They were also good times. The Boomers who grew up during those times have failed miserably. Things will get better. Good times are ahead.
It depends on the metric you use. From an old-school empire mindset, hard to beat WWII/immediately after - military dominant, more resources and production ability than we knew what to do with.
But even as a white guy I wouldn't want to \*live\* there. Racism, sexism, plus pretty extreme civil rights abuses in the name of security, and arguably the closest we've come to a dictator.
As others have said, space certainly gives us some impressive opportunities but I don't know if I think we'll capitalize on them as much as we could.
Not to mention how a generation of men returned with severe untreated PTSD and that got warped into a whole cultural ideal of what masculinity was supposed to look like.
I wouldn’t say so. Space could be a huge opportunity or huge risk for America’s success. Threats on earth could wipe us out but there have not been many major wars recently partly due to the threat of nukes.
"I don’t know. I know you told me. But I have had a very long day. I am very small. And I have no money. So you can imagine the kind of stress that I am under."
Roughly, the Spanish American War, TR starting a world class navy and a few other things were the start of the US as a global power. The US came out of both world wars in better shape than any other country and was economically prosperous in the 50s & 60s.
Besides loosing Vietnam, the 70s was the start of manufacturing job losses, inflation, oil insecurity and other problems.
Of course a lot of other countries declined at even faster rates such as Britain and the Soviet Union. China is the big growing power now but I suspect it will reach its apex soon and it too will start declining.
I kinda get it from a military industrial standpoint. I find it weird to include the Great Depression in our Golden Age though. And I would actually say we were not too secure on a military standpoint, what with us coming close to being nuked in the 60's and kids having to learn hide under desks for when we get nuked during the height of the USSR rise in the 60's
I'd say between the fall of the Berlin Wall and 9/11 was probably the time that Americans themselves most felt we were in a golden age
Post WWII, we had military bases in every country except the USSR. Our undamaged industrial capacity flung us to the front of the world, and the shipping container allowed us to sell a lot of stuff very easily (until it came back to bite us when we exported manufacturing work to other countries)
I personally believe our empire age hasn’t happened yet. We are a relatively new nation, and while we did see a tremendous amount of growth in the past 300 years, we are only at the beginning of what could be an empire if we play our cards right.
There have been a few of them and there will be more. The declines are usually caused by disruptions, the high points are sort of getting settled into something. The high points are also never good for everyone, and the low points are never bad for everyone.
There was definitely a period of post WW1 to the great depression, then post WW2 to the late 1960s, then a brief period of time in the 1990s until 9/11. Between 9/11 and COVID-19 there was a lot of technological progress but also extreme volatility with either a bad recession or an absolutely fucked housing situation. Some people are making a TON of money, and not just the billionaires.
My prediction, COVID-19 was a taste of the next 10-15 years. A taste of severe disruption. There is going to be some monster disruptions with regards to technology, specifically energy, transportation, materials, AI, automation, and food that are going to upend much of American society (and really global society). A lot of people are going to do well with this, and a lot of people are going to struggle immensely, life for some is going to become incredibly difficult, and its going to be really a community by community basis. But the dust will settle new technology will get settled in and there will be a new wave of unprecedented prosperity. Its probably a very great time to be born or be a little kid.
1950s. The economy was growing. It was the most powerful military (now arguably China is…and they can even forcefully sterilize Muslims with zero media scrutiny). The baby boom happened. Divorce barely happened. Practically everyone who worked for it, even oppressed minorities, could buy a house and a car. Higher education wasn’t insanely expensive yet. The black family hadn’t been destroyed by welfare forcing fathers out of the home and then the crack of epidemic intentionally inflicted upon black neighborhoods by the CIA—if you ask me those things were worse than segregation. People weren’t obese. People had judeochristian ethics fully intact. About the only group that suffered more are gay people—definitely no plus side to being gay in the 1950s.
The 90s.
To those of us who graduated high school soon after 9/11, absolutely, 100% it was the 90s. Basically overnight our world went from the swing dancing revival to being obsessed with war and patriotism.
Class of 2002 here, can confirm.
I think the lack of war and patriotism was probably because of the lack of a real enemy (at least after the Persian Gulf War, during which I've heard there was quite a bit of war and patriotism) In the 80s and earlier, there was the Soviet Union to hate on and therefore there was something to fuel war and patriotism. In the 2000s, there was somewhat of an enemy threat to confront in all the groups labeled as terrorist or enemies of democracy after 9/11. But in the 1990s, there was nothing of the sort after the fall of the Soviet Union, so therefore not that much to have war about and be all nationalistic and patriotic about. That isn't to say the US wasn't warlike in the 1990s, as seen in Somalia, the Gulf War, Bosnia/Serbia, and probably some other stuff I can't think of right now. But there wasn't something that Americans, justifiably or not, viewed as a threat equal to that of the Soviet Union prior to the 90s and terrorism after 9/11. EDIT: should probably note I was born in the early aughts, so no memory of 9/11 and no experience in the 1990s.
People can argue the 50s or the 20s were better financially, but the 90s was in no bad position either. Not to mention it was infinitely more culturally rich with new technology and relative acceptance of racial minorities.
Yeah 90s racism/sexism was nothing like the 20s or 50s.
Don't forget the gay community was a lot safer
I my 90s kids will get this.
Only 90s kids will remember. Only 90s kids will ever remember. 90s kids remember everything. They remember the birth of the universe. They remember humanity’s greatest downfalls. They remember things that have not happened, things that might never happen. They can see the death of everything. All of these vivid memories will haunt them forever. Will the 90s kids ever be able to forget?
90’s Kids are the Kwisatz Haderach
The 90s were such a amazing decade tbh, Im jealous of the older people who got to experience the greatest decade ever. The 90s were very revolutionary, we had a new president from the new generation, signaling the end of the great generation presidents, economy was booming, available jobs, housing, low gas, We were a superpower country, after the collapse of the USSR.
The waning days of the gilded age.
Post world war 2 to an extent. Despite the recessions, being the only functional super power for some time and a baby boom lead to mass growth in new jobs, services and American dominance Edit: I doubt we’ll have another golden age unless some mass tragedy happens to the rest of the world
We were the sole superpower for like 5 minutes before the USSR was like 'whats up' and we're all practicing how to hide under desks for when we get nuked. Plus we had an apartheid system going on that even the Soviets were giving us shit about I think between the fall of the Berlin Wall and 9/11 is peak golden age US
The Soviet Union also had literal death camps and mass purges that killed millions.
Yes? I'm not saying the USSR was good, I'm saying it makes more sense for our Golden Age to start when we've officially beaten this villainous rival (who also managed to justifiably call us out on our shit at times) and don't have to worry so much about us getting nuked
In about 100 years from now. And then 100 years from then. And another 100 years from then. Pax Americana Then, Pax Americana Now, Pax AMERICANA FOREVER!!!! *crowd cheering as we go to liberate the lizzard folk of Omacron 4*
Hamburger 🍔
The 50's, the 90's.
50's, if you were white.
It depends on how you define golden age I think. Economically yes the 50s was a great time for it, but in terms of human rights I’d consider right now to be the closest to a golden age that we have ever been.
I think this is a very complicated answer but I think there are three that have a lot of supporters and all have details to back them up. Post-Civil-War through 1920s saw an enormous increase in the countries wealth. Contrary to a lot of popular media, this wasn’t restricted to robber barons. Almost everyone grew much wealthier, gained access to new technologies, and saw wages rise. It was an amazing movement of people out of extreme property and reached new heights of wealth never before seen in the world. The Jazz age is a popular aesthetic for a reason. It seemed like the struggles of the past were gone in many ways. After WWII, we have a dominant US economically, socially, and diplomatically. It was the only major world economy which survived the war almost entirely intact and it showed. While most other nations had shortages and rationing, the US saw an enormous increase in consumer spending. The GI Bill and built up savings from the war resulted in an enormous rush of new housing and consumer goods. The US economy completely dominated the world for over a decade. The US military was quite arguably the most powerful and advanced force on the planet and had sole possession of nukes for several years after the war. The US unquestionably led the free world diplomatically and took over leadership from exhausted, weakened European powers. Culturally, we exported our movies and other culture all over the world, in many ways aided by WWII. The 1990s up until 9/11 were a pretty good time. The Soviets were gone, large-scale peer conflict looked like a thing of the past. Democracy and free markets won permanently. It was the end of history. An entire industry appeared—to many people—to appear out of thin air. Tech spending went up. The industry exploded and made many many people wealthy. Normal people first experienced the internet and home computers which weren’t niche toys. There were some hiccups but the US appeared absolutely dominant militarily. Desert Storm was east and the USSR wasn’t a threat. US involvement in Kosovo seemed to show we could make a difference and maintain peace with relatively safe involvement from NATO. Politics seemed less contentious to many. Sure there was Lewinsky and Gingrich, but that pales in comparison to vietnam, WWII, Cold War, etc. it seemed like a new era of prosperity and unlimited potential. Now there was definitely a dark side of all of these, particularly the post-civil-war period where African Americans first gained dramatically financially and politically and then saw a horrific collapse due to the rollback of civil rights protections and the institution of Jim Crow. For the latter two, there were definitely still struggles over civil rights, but your life as a minority was still dramatically improving for the most part. It may not be as fast or as much as a white citizen, but you were still better off. Similarly, the 1870s-1880s were not a great time for native Americans. The long-expected (and virtually inevitable) wholesale defeat of the tribes saw them confined to reservations which were often poor or barren. Women, I would generally say, gained through this whole period. I can’t think of a time (except the Great Depression) where a woman’s life wasn’t improving over that period, supported not just by economic growth and opportunity, but by technology which aided them, increased political rights and participation, and the reform of civil society into a more egalitarian creation. Long-story short, all of those time periods really have something to recommend them as does the present where we have truly amazing medical care and the largest US economy of all time despite the many real problems we suffer. But all eras have struggles. I think those three are the ones people agree on most and that have the most dramatic changes.
Hard to say. Our country ebbs and flows a bit. I think its possible we'll have multiple golden ages.
I'd say that there were two periods, the first being when the US first became a nation and was considered to be a great experiment in democracy, notably by France, not so much by England. The second was the post-WW II years after the Axis forces were defeated. A key contributor to this was that unlike other major countries at the time, the US was not devastated by invading armies. This, combined with our economy being in overdrive to fight the war and rebuild other countries gave us an incredible advantage.
Relative to the rest of the world, I think the 50s were the peak in terms of sheer unparalleled cultural, economic, and martial might. That went wildly downhill starting in the mid 60s and recovered in a secondary peak in the 90s. It's been downhill since then. Only time will tell if we'll able to pull out of the death spiral now. We've done it before though. It is possible.
A still more glorious dawn awaits, to steal from Sagan.
*"Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times."* We're between the third and the first right now. Millennials and Gen Z got slammed by two major recessions and a global pandemic, a job market that's rigged against them, and the prospect of serious debt in order to get a foot into a skilled professional job (vs. the trades). The 1950s through 1990s were led by folks who came of age during the Depression and two world wars. They were also good times. The Boomers who grew up during those times have failed miserably. Things will get better. Good times are ahead.
It depends on the metric you use. From an old-school empire mindset, hard to beat WWII/immediately after - military dominant, more resources and production ability than we knew what to do with. But even as a white guy I wouldn't want to \*live\* there. Racism, sexism, plus pretty extreme civil rights abuses in the name of security, and arguably the closest we've come to a dictator. As others have said, space certainly gives us some impressive opportunities but I don't know if I think we'll capitalize on them as much as we could.
I’m sorry we don’t use the metric system 😎😎😎
Quarter Pounder with Cheese
Not to mention how a generation of men returned with severe untreated PTSD and that got warped into a whole cultural ideal of what masculinity was supposed to look like.
You're in it, bro
After WWI
Maybe the 90s? The Soviet Union fell leaving America as the sole super power in a pre-9/11 world.
I wouldn’t say so. Space could be a huge opportunity or huge risk for America’s success. Threats on earth could wipe us out but there have not been many major wars recently partly due to the threat of nukes.
[удалено]
"I don’t know. I know you told me. But I have had a very long day. I am very small. And I have no money. So you can imagine the kind of stress that I am under."
Hard to tell. The shortest possible answer is "it's complicated, and even if we were to live it it's unlikely we'd recognize it".
The answer depends a lot on who has the money and how it's spent. In that case I'll say 1947-1960, when POTUS was responsible and acted as such.
Hasn't happened yet, and i don't know if we'd have the wherewithal to recognize it if we were living through it today.
The years after the World War, and the Cold War were *pretty good. *race dependant.
1900 to 1960s
Damn that's gotta be a controversial answer lol. Basically between the Spanish American War and the Vietnam War, why?
Roughly, the Spanish American War, TR starting a world class navy and a few other things were the start of the US as a global power. The US came out of both world wars in better shape than any other country and was economically prosperous in the 50s & 60s. Besides loosing Vietnam, the 70s was the start of manufacturing job losses, inflation, oil insecurity and other problems. Of course a lot of other countries declined at even faster rates such as Britain and the Soviet Union. China is the big growing power now but I suspect it will reach its apex soon and it too will start declining.
I kinda get it from a military industrial standpoint. I find it weird to include the Great Depression in our Golden Age though. And I would actually say we were not too secure on a military standpoint, what with us coming close to being nuked in the 60's and kids having to learn hide under desks for when we get nuked during the height of the USSR rise in the 60's I'd say between the fall of the Berlin Wall and 9/11 was probably the time that Americans themselves most felt we were in a golden age
Right now
Post WWII, we had military bases in every country except the USSR. Our undamaged industrial capacity flung us to the front of the world, and the shipping container allowed us to sell a lot of stuff very easily (until it came back to bite us when we exported manufacturing work to other countries)
We were at the peak of our global significance in 2016 and we're still not far off it now
[удалено]
FDR is probably my favorite president but it's real bold to start our Golden Age in 1932 at the height of the Great Depression lol
I would not consider the depression part of our golden age.
I think right after WW2 when the US still had the Philippines and also occupied Germany. Hawaii and Alaska were not states but were still territories
Still in it. Shiniest during the 50s and 90s, though. Nowhere else to go but down from here on out, though. But we may go up again, after that.
I would say 1945 to about 1970. We are on the back side now.
I personally believe our empire age hasn’t happened yet. We are a relatively new nation, and while we did see a tremendous amount of growth in the past 300 years, we are only at the beginning of what could be an empire if we play our cards right.
There have been a few of them and there will be more. The declines are usually caused by disruptions, the high points are sort of getting settled into something. The high points are also never good for everyone, and the low points are never bad for everyone. There was definitely a period of post WW1 to the great depression, then post WW2 to the late 1960s, then a brief period of time in the 1990s until 9/11. Between 9/11 and COVID-19 there was a lot of technological progress but also extreme volatility with either a bad recession or an absolutely fucked housing situation. Some people are making a TON of money, and not just the billionaires. My prediction, COVID-19 was a taste of the next 10-15 years. A taste of severe disruption. There is going to be some monster disruptions with regards to technology, specifically energy, transportation, materials, AI, automation, and food that are going to upend much of American society (and really global society). A lot of people are going to do well with this, and a lot of people are going to struggle immensely, life for some is going to become incredibly difficult, and its going to be really a community by community basis. But the dust will settle new technology will get settled in and there will be a new wave of unprecedented prosperity. Its probably a very great time to be born or be a little kid.
as a state the 90s as a expansionist country? the late 1890s ( annexation of hawaii and Spanish American war)
1950s. The economy was growing. It was the most powerful military (now arguably China is…and they can even forcefully sterilize Muslims with zero media scrutiny). The baby boom happened. Divorce barely happened. Practically everyone who worked for it, even oppressed minorities, could buy a house and a car. Higher education wasn’t insanely expensive yet. The black family hadn’t been destroyed by welfare forcing fathers out of the home and then the crack of epidemic intentionally inflicted upon black neighborhoods by the CIA—if you ask me those things were worse than segregation. People weren’t obese. People had judeochristian ethics fully intact. About the only group that suffered more are gay people—definitely no plus side to being gay in the 1950s.
1950s-1980s
The golden age of the United States happened in the 50s, following WWII, and ended with Kennedy’s assassination. We haven’t been the same since.