4 ms·

So I'm just curious for someone who was around, but how similar were the last twenty years to the twenty years previous to that?

by sown 17y ago

WorkerBee 17y ago
how similar were the last twenty years to the twenty years previous to that Kinda not. Computers, IT, internet and mobile phones were just starting to change the way that everyday people did things in the 1980s. They really got going in the 1990s. The cold war and the USSR ended about then. The thing is, change is coming faster now than it did in 1990. And it's not slowing down.
arethuza 17y ago
Single biggest thing: no Cold War. Go watch Threads: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090163/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090163/ and if you aren't old enough, consider that people lived with this kind of threat for decades.
- hga 17y ago
  Indeed: for around 6 decades we had a determined adversity who was dedicated to destroying us by any means possible in every realm ... and we weren't used to dealing with that sort of threat. And by some time in the '50s "the bomb" made that threat immediately existential (bomber or missile flight time) ... it's hard to describe what living under that was like.
  - arethuza 17y ago
    "we had a determined adversity who was dedicated to destroying us by any means possible in every realm" Of course, that was the view the Soviets also had. Although they were an "evil empire" I don't think they actually had anyone in power actively campaigning to start a war, which did happen in the US. The Soviets were largely dangerous because they were so very afraid and (by the 80s) had senile leaders - look at the near disaster of Able Archer 83.
    - hga 17y ago
      In the 30s??? I think not. They started effective war on the West in general and the US in particular no later than that. (A war doesn't have to be "hot" to be a war.) Maybe they "were largely dangerous because they were so very afraid and (by the 80s) had senile leaders" ... but perhaps they should have thought of that before starting and sustaining a generations long war? Moving out of the Lenin-Stalin eras, was Khrushchev, who actually ordered Soviet subs to use nuclear tipped torpedoes on the US Navy "so very afraid"?
      - hga 17y ago
        (I should point out that the last comment was WRT the Cuban Missile Crisis, and Khrushchev's "adventurism" (or whatever) in it and the lead up was the grounds for purging him from office.)
    - WorkerBee 17y ago
      Of course, that was the view the Soviets also had. Although they were an "evil empire" Yes, this. At the Museum of communism in Prague, there is an exhibit that talks of how the people in the eastern bloc were kept in a state of terror of the imminent threat of the American Weapons of Mass Destruction. Which was quite plausible, since the Americans had already nuked one country. Of course, this threat served political ends of damping down domestic dissent and disloyalty. Draw your own parallels. we had a determined adversity who was dedicated to destroying us by any means possible in every realm -sigh- Someone hasn't learned yet.
- sown 17y ago
  I kinda meant in terms of technology but yes, the coldwar is a good point.

So I'm just curious for someone who was around, but how similar were the last twenty years to the twenty years previous to that?

by sown 17y ago

So I'm just curious for someone who was around, but how similar were the last twenty years to the twenty years previous to that?

WorkerBee 17y ago

how similar were the last twenty years to the twenty years previous to that Kinda not. Computers, IT, internet and mobile phones were just starting to change the way that everyday people did things in the 1980s. They really got going in the 1990s. The cold war and the USSR ended about then. The thing is, change is coming faster now than it did in 1990. And it's not slowing down.

arethuza 17y ago

Single biggest thing: no Cold War. Go watch Threads: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090163/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090163/ and if you aren't old enough, consider that people lived with this kind of threat for decades.

hga 17y ago
Indeed: for around 6 decades we had a determined adversity who was dedicated to destroying us by any means possible in every realm ... and we weren't used to dealing with that sort of threat. And by some time in the '50s "the bomb" made that threat immediately existential (bomber or missile flight time) ... it's hard to describe what living under that was like.
- arethuza 17y ago
  "we had a determined adversity who was dedicated to destroying us by any means possible in every realm" Of course, that was the view the Soviets also had. Although they were an "evil empire" I don't think they actually had anyone in power actively campaigning to start a war, which did happen in the US. The Soviets were largely dangerous because they were so very afraid and (by the 80s) had senile leaders - look at the near disaster of Able Archer 83.
  - hga 17y ago
    In the 30s??? I think not. They started effective war on the West in general and the US in particular no later than that. (A war doesn't have to be "hot" to be a war.) Maybe they "were largely dangerous because they were so very afraid and (by the 80s) had senile leaders" ... but perhaps they should have thought of that before starting and sustaining a generations long war? Moving out of the Lenin-Stalin eras, was Khrushchev, who actually ordered Soviet subs to use nuclear tipped torpedoes on the US Navy "so very afraid"?
    - hga 17y ago
      (I should point out that the last comment was WRT the Cuban Missile Crisis, and Khrushchev's "adventurism" (or whatever) in it and the lead up was the grounds for purging him from office.)
  - WorkerBee 17y ago
    Of course, that was the view the Soviets also had. Although they were an "evil empire" Yes, this. At the Museum of communism in Prague, there is an exhibit that talks of how the people in the eastern bloc were kept in a state of terror of the imminent threat of the American Weapons of Mass Destruction. Which was quite plausible, since the Americans had already nuked one country. Of course, this threat served political ends of damping down domestic dissent and disloyalty. Draw your own parallels. we had a determined adversity who was dedicated to destroying us by any means possible in every realm -sigh- Someone hasn't learned yet.
sown 17y ago
I kinda meant in terms of technology but yes, the coldwar is a good point.