Which era do you wish you grew up in?
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Same as you. It was definitely interesting times. It made me a smarter, tougher, man.
Much of the problem with the USA these days is that most people haven't been alive long enough to remember trying times.
We were connected to World War II and the Korean War from our parents serving there. Almost every family had someone who had been in the military in WWII. The National Socialists in Germany killed millions in war and millions in concentration camps (Jews, other ethnicities, homosexuals, etc.) The Soviet Union was determined to dominate the world, enslaving Eastern Europe and threatening Western Europe and many places in the rest of the world. They set up the Gulag system of concentration camps to end opposition within the country. We were under threat of nuclear war. Mao killed about 60million people in China (in the name of The People). The US was fighting in Vietnam; where my dad served for a couple of years, and I knew kids whose older brothers died there. France almost fell to the Communists with a revolution in the streets before De Gaulle sorted things out. Anti-Vietnam marches had hundreds of thousands of people. One such march of radicals was designed to shut the government down. The radicals were actually bombing buildings and murdering people (again, in the name of The People). After eliminating the Viet Cong as a popular force in South Vietnam and defeating the North Vietnamese forces, the US cut aid to South Vietnam and did not support the South Vietnamese when the hundreds of thousands ofNorth Vietnamese soldiers invaded two years after the Paris Peace Accords. The North Vietnamese killed or put into concentration camps those it saw as enemies or not right thinking (including the fathers of a couple of my friends). The fall of South Vietnam led to the Khmer Rouge takeover of Cambodia and the "Killing Fields" as well. [For those of you who don't realize what the world is like without U.S. influence, you should see the movie.]
Segregation was being eliminated in the South of the U.S. However, there was real racism - not the pretend racism of these days. Coming from outside the South, I could never understand racism. When I lived in Mississippi for a year as a kid, I could not understand how one of my friends could say that he loved his black nanny more than his mom and then say racist things about blacks the next day. It was just ingrained in the society. There was real violence against blacks (Richard Williams had a spike driven into his leg). People didn't have to make up micro -aggressions to pretend that they were fighting racism - but it could be actually dangerous to do so. There were riots in major cities by blacks essentially destroying much of the cities. Some cities still have not recovered from these.
Definitely interesting times, unfortunately, some people seem determined to go through all of that again and there is no guarantee it will work out as well as last time.
From the Bible, to the Roman Empire, to the dynasties of China, civilizations fall due to decay within combined with an aggressive outside force.
However, I still believe in the ability of America to renew itself. We'll see.
Much of the problem with the USA these days is that most people haven't been alive long enough to remember trying times.
We were connected to World War II and the Korean War from our parents serving there. Almost every family had someone who had been in the military in WWII. The National Socialists in Germany killed millions in war and millions in concentration camps (Jews, other ethnicities, homosexuals, etc.) The Soviet Union was determined to dominate the world, enslaving Eastern Europe and threatening Western Europe and many places in the rest of the world. They set up the Gulag system of concentration camps to end opposition within the country. We were under threat of nuclear war. Mao killed about 60million people in China (in the name of The People). The US was fighting in Vietnam; where my dad served for a couple of years, and I knew kids whose older brothers died there. France almost fell to the Communists with a revolution in the streets before De Gaulle sorted things out. Anti-Vietnam marches had hundreds of thousands of people. One such march of radicals was designed to shut the government down. The radicals were actually bombing buildings and murdering people (again, in the name of The People). After eliminating the Viet Cong as a popular force in South Vietnam and defeating the North Vietnamese forces, the US cut aid to South Vietnam and did not support the South Vietnamese when the hundreds of thousands ofNorth Vietnamese soldiers invaded two years after the Paris Peace Accords. The North Vietnamese killed or put into concentration camps those it saw as enemies or not right thinking (including the fathers of a couple of my friends). The fall of South Vietnam led to the Khmer Rouge takeover of Cambodia and the "Killing Fields" as well. [For those of you who don't realize what the world is like without U.S. influence, you should see the movie.]
Segregation was being eliminated in the South of the U.S. However, there was real racism - not the pretend racism of these days. Coming from outside the South, I could never understand racism. When I lived in Mississippi for a year as a kid, I could not understand how one of my friends could say that he loved his black nanny more than his mom and then say racist things about blacks the next day. It was just ingrained in the society. There was real violence against blacks (Richard Williams had a spike driven into his leg). People didn't have to make up micro -aggressions to pretend that they were fighting racism - but it could be actually dangerous to do so. There were riots in major cities by blacks essentially destroying much of the cities. Some cities still have not recovered from these.
Definitely interesting times, unfortunately, some people seem determined to go through all of that again and there is no guarantee it will work out as well as last time.
From the Bible, to the Roman Empire, to the dynasties of China, civilizations fall due to decay within combined with an aggressive outside force.
However, I still believe in the ability of America to renew itself. We'll see.
About 200 yrs in future
Flying cars
Strings that never lose tension
Super computers that allow me to relive great tennis matches at court side and live in reality
No cancer by nano
Space elevator
Altercations to my genes for enhanced tennis skills and brains. I really need it
Robot helpers
Space travel to nearby stars
Oh yes android lovers because dating is a giant pain in the
Flying cars
Strings that never lose tension
Super computers that allow me to relive great tennis matches at court side and live in reality
No cancer by nano
Space elevator
Altercations to my genes for enhanced tennis skills and brains. I really need it
Robot helpers
Space travel to nearby stars
Oh yes android lovers because dating is a giant pain in the
GlennK
Rookie
Great synopsis of our era. However, you have more faith than I do in America. With people voting for bigger government (and higher percentages of people on government assistance), the self-reliance that made America great is slowly eroding.
I realize some people need help all the time, and some people need help temporarily, and have no problem with our government providing that assistance (but I also think we as charitable Americans should be helping them more).
swizzy
Hall of Fame
i grew up in the middle of the big tennis boom of Borg.. i assume this thread is a tennis based one.. otherwise it might be science fiction scenario where alternate histories and world history are the themes.. tennis wise you have a couple golden eras.. being young and getting hooked on the sport as i did was great..and i have enjoyed some major points along the way..martina, billie jean, chrissie, sampras, lendl, becker, agassi, the williams', and now with the fed-nadal combo joker etc..it has been pretty wonderful... tennis also would have been pretty fine in the early part of the last century into laver... big bill and the evolution from the amateur game into the pro model..with laver winning 2 cygs's would have been pretty awesome.
OrangePower
Legend
I grew up playing tennis at school in the late 70's through mid 80's, and I think it was a fantastic time for tennis!
Lots of great players to watch! Headlined by the Borg/Mac rivalry of course, but Connors and Vilas still around and playing well. Caught the tail end of Ashe and Nastase careers. Gerulaitis. The rise of Lendl. Young Wilander, Becker, Edberg.
Learning to play, trying to emulate the different styles, trying to imitate Tanner's serve!
And of course on the equipment front, the rapid transition from wood to aluminum and then graphite, and the increases in head size.
All this in an 8 year period.
Compared with the current 8 year period... Pretty much the same top players as 8 years ago, homogenized playing styles, no real changes in equipment since the rise of polys which was a decade ago.
You know of course that "they" already know how to make them but are keeping it a secret for the sake of profits? Like razor blades and toothbrushes.
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