On Apr 21 of this year Burt Prelutsky published a column titled
"Viewing the 1960s from my 60s".
He seems to think there was something wrong with the '60s, and
he blames it on liberalism. A poster named Robert, (another
Robert) argued that the left was way ahead in the culture war.
Another poster, THRadio disagreed.
Here I will respond to THRadio's points.
T> THRadio writes: Monday, April, 21, 2008 1:10 PM
T> Pyrrhic Victory
T> Robert, for once I agree. The left is WAY ahead in the
T> culture war. And what a lovely garden you have created. By
T> almost any social measure
Well, let's just look at those social measures:
T> child abuse, spousal abuse,
There is no way you can say, because no one much talked about
these things before the '60s. Spousal abuse was probably worse,
because it was accepted. I wouldn't be surprised if the same
wasn't true of child abuse.
T> substance abuse,
Hard to say, but I would bet it was worse around 1900, when it
was legal.
T> STDs,
Thomas Sowell wrote a column in which he said syphilis rates
were going down through the '50s, but STD rates went up in the
late '60s. Notice he switched from Syphilis to STDs? I do
believe that was because Syphilis rates, his original anchor,
stayed down through the '60s and '70s.
Also note that he started with 1950. Why didn't he go back to
the '40s? Probably because the mountain that was the syphilis
rate in the '40s makes the STD rate in the late '60s early '70s
look like a molehill.
I do suspect the high rate in the '40s is due more to lack of
treatments, rather than promiscuity. Those who were around, and
aware, know that the real boom in STDs in the Vietnam era was
focused on drug resistant strains brought back from Vietnam, not
the older diseases. As treatments were developed the growth
tapered off.
Both booms were tied to military deployment for war, much more
than any decline of morals at home. Or that is my suspicion.
T> abortions,
As a pro-life Catholic Democrat I am dissapointed in this
country's turn to abortion. However, since it was illegal before
Roe vs Wade, how much it increased due to any liberal influence
is questionable. For the great majority of the years since WW2
we have had a supreme court dominated by republican appointees,
so why hasn't it been fixed?
T> school test scores, school discipline,
I won't argue dicipline with you, but SAT and ACT scores have
been going up, not down, at least until George Bush and No Child
Left Behind.
Thomas Sowell wrote a column in which he said even IQs are going
up.
T> murder,
Murder today is about 30% lower than it was in the 1980s. The
low rate for 20th/21st century America was 1903. By 1925 the
rate was 8 times higher. I would guess the growth followed the
urbanization of America.
Homicide is such a relatively rare crime it is reported per 100,000
population. And at that it usually fluctuated between 5 and 10 per
100,000. Today it is between 5 and 6. In 1933 the rate
peaked at 9.7/100k. It dropped off until the 1970s, when it started
up till it hit around 10/100k. It fluctuated in that range until 1993,
when the rate started down to the point we are at today.
Interestingly enough, justifiable homicides climbed in the '70s,
dropped off in the '80s, and started up again in the '90s.
T> depression,
How would you know? Who was keeping stats on depression before
it became big business?
T> suicide,
Suicide rates today are in the range they were in as of 1900.
They were about 50% higher during the Great Depression, and
otherwise have fluctuated broadly in the range they are in now.
T> divorce. . . . )
Ah, here is one that is going to stun you. Between 1880 and 1980
the divorce rate in this country has aproximately doubled every
25 years. Where was your liberal demon in 1880? 1900? 1915? If
liberalism was the cause between 1965 and 1980, what was the
cause before that?
Another one you are going to have to work at, just tossed in as
a bonus. The rate of unwed births to black women peaked in 1961.
Between 1961 and 2004 the rate of unwed births to black women
went down about 33%. The rate of unwed births to white women
increased over 300% in that time period.
T> we are far worse off today due to the amoral, atheistic,
T> narcissistic, and materialist philosophies of the 60's.
T> Bravo!
Then what happened before the 1960s to cause such decline in
virtue?
T> You must be so proud of your accomplishments.
Maybe we should be.
The figures above are from the Dept of Justice report, Homicide
Trends in the United States, and the Census Bureau's Statistical
Abstract of the US, 1993 edition and 2007 edition, and
"Historical Statistics of the United States, from Colonial Times
to 1970". That last is a two volume set, which should be in the
hands of anyone looking for historical background on the issues
discussed above, and much more.
Oh, and some from the "World Almanac and Book of Facts".