In “ Why 2017 Was the Best Year in Human History,” Nicholas Kristof from New York Times describes the successes and achievements of 2017. More specifically, Kristoff argues that even with war threats heading our way and the troubles in the new presidency, 2017 was still considered the best year. He writes, “Now fewer than 15 percent are illiterate, and fewer than 10 percent live in extreme poverty. In another 15 years, illiteracy and extreme poverty will be mostly gone.” This indicates that the poverty levels are decreasing and education amongst the people are increasing. Additionally, in the 1950s, “the U.S. had segregation, polio and bans on interracial marriage, gay sex and birth control. Most of the world lived under dictatorships, two-thirds of parents had a child die before age 5.” As of now 100 million children have been saved due to advancements in medicine. Laws have been made that allow same-sex marriage as well as …show more content…
Birth control can now be accessed in local pharmacies as well as clinics. These advancements show that humanity is becoming more receptive as changes to cultural and social norms continue to happen. In this passage, Kristoff indicates that rather than dwelling on the negative, people should look at the progression were making as a society. In conclusion, Kristof’s belief is that 2017 was the best year in history regardless of it’s many failures. In my view, Kristof is wrong about 2017 being the greatest year in human history because comparing it to others, I believe that the negative outweighs the positives. More specifically, I believe that with in increase in taxes, dismantling healthcare, avoiding renewing immigration policies, and overall insignificant action by the government, 2017 can be considered the worst year. For example, “ One in 10 people
When most people think of the 1950’s or 1960’s, they think of Elvis, Greasers, jukeboxes, Woodstock, and rainbow peace signs and hippie love. Although these symbols are somewhat accurate (and very popular), not many people think about the changes society and culture went through. The 1950’s and 60’s were a time of great change and freedom for many Americans. Everything from World War II, to the gay liberation movement, to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 helped to change society. Many of the views American’s had on topics such as war, gender roles and sexual preference were changed greatly after these events and have led to our culture being what it is today. The 1950’s and 1960’s were a time where great changes took place that helped to
As World War Two came to a close, a new American culture was developing all across the United States. Families were moving away from crowded cities into spacious suburban towns to help create a better life for them during and after the baby boom of the post-war era. Teenagers were starting to become independent by listing to their own music and not wearing the same style of clothing as their parents. Aside from the progress of society that was made during this time period, many people still did not discuss controversial issues such as divorce and sexual relations between young people. While many historians regard the 1950s as a time of true conservatism at its finest, it could really be considered a time of true progression in the
How have the 1960s dramatically impacted and influenced today’s society? In today’s society, there are many controversial topics that we are facing today; we have the 1960s to thank for those things. The sixties was one of the most impactful decades pertaining to culture revolutions; it is the decade that brought into play some of the problems and privileges that the present is dealing with now. The sixties brought the gay movement, women’s rights, the drug revolution, and has also impacted music as well.
Beginning in the early 1960’s the average age of men and women rose back to an all-time high, with men around 27 and women around 25. This is where we start seeing more individualized marriages. Most of them wanted to stay single until they finished their education and found some sort of stable job to support the family. So that’s when it came a lot more acceptable to have kids outside the marriage and have a family without being married. The divorce rate increased substantially and so did the number of same sex marriages, which was looked upon differently for the first time. For the household chores the men in the relationship started to become a lot more understanding and more helpful in the house. This is when we also see both the men and women working outside the home. Around the end of the 60’s and into the 70’s is where we saw articles talking about how to sustain a working family and society started to establish a happy functional family. There were three levels which was
The United States has changed immensely since 1950. Americans were worried and anxious about a post-WWII depression that never occurred. 1946 was the year that saw the most marriages. Families started to grow, the economy boomed, people began to own cars and televisions, and much more.
The 1950s was a huge time of change in the world. After World War ll, a record breaking 4 million babies were born each year, this time period became known as the Baby Boom. This rise in population was well needed, there was tons of factories made during the war that needed employees. The 1950s not only changed population, but it changed
The baby boom had a huge impact on women in the 1950s. Because of this
Children had to go to school and obey their teachers and parents, women had to run the households and always look their best, and men had to go out for their jobs and provide money. Children would always call their fathers “sir” and would show great amounts of respect. And at school, children would greet their teachers with a “Hello, Ma’am” or “Hello Sir”; they showed absolute esteem to their friends and teachers. Women and children would also dress up no matter where they went, whether they were at school or cooking at home. These were principles in the 1950s; nowadays, men and women of all ages are addicted to the modern technology, their appearance, and their social lives. Children and teens are absorbed in the house, never looking up to the nature around them. There are many differences among the 1950s and now; teens are more rebellious than ever, science is being more advanced, and our homes and lives are more technologically
The 1950s was a time of prosperity for many Americans. During this time the Cold War was occurring in which the threat of a nuclear bomb attack was looming over America and in addition, The Space Race against the Soviet Union was also occurring. The economy of America was doing well due to the amount of money that people had saved up during World War II and also because of the money that veterans were receiving from the government known as the GI Bill. Another booming thing that was occurring during the 1950s was the rate at which families were growing. Many people believed that they could not be happy if they were single and were also wanting to get married young so that they could avoid the “evils” of premarital sex. The booming economy
More and more women were pushed into the work force. "The 1960's and 1970's became an era of diversity and identity politics as a host of "others" sought recognition and liberation from the constraints of discriminatory laws, social policies, and negative stereotypes" (Erera 354). As more women were entering the work force, they were becoming financially independent and were able to live on their own. This led to many women who were unhappy in their marriage to divorce their husbands and raise their children on their own. As more and more women became financially independent, the more appealing single life became to them. Soon women all over were adopting and fostering children, and many also decided to give birth while still remaining single. "With the increasing numbers and visibility of single-parent, step, and adoptive families, the gay liberation movement opened the way for the emergence of gay and lesbian families" (Erera 355). Gay and lesbian families were starting to become more common as the seventies had passed.
There are many differences between the 1950s and modern day culture as illustrated by the
American culture in the 1950s was based on nuclear family. It was set of a perfect family for example, men go to work and support the family when women stayed home to raise a family. The people in the 1950s who raise their families had morals to have a value of having an ideal family. The women in the nuclear family had a commitment of taking care of their children and staying at home as being a
The 1950’s and the 1960’s was a time of change and evolution. It brought on the Civil Rights Movement. This was a very influential time period were these new ideas were incorporated into everyday life and they
The 1950’s were cookie cutter; there was usually a working father, a homemaker mother, and a couple of kids. Although women were working and had jobs in the 1950’s, after WWII many women still stayed home being a house wife if the husband’s income could afford it. If women had jobs, and the job was unnecessary they were considered selfish. Having a husband at this time was more important than having a job or a degree. Marriage in the 1950’s was highly based around religion. Pre-marital sex was considered unacceptable, and women were married at ages as low as nineteen (People & Events, 1).
Education comes with social benefits as well which can improve the situation of the poor, such as lower fertility and improved health care of children ("Poverty and Education"). "Poor people are often unable to obtain access to an adequate education, and without an adequate education people are often constrained to a life of poverty." - Servaas Van Der Berg. The absolutely poor in developing countries have low education levels. Some may not even have access to primary education or may not have completed their primary education, not realizing that it is important to reduce poverty. Education is often poorly measured, and the impacts do not always show up as statistically significant in cross- country growth regressions (Levine & Renelt, 1992). Africa’s education crisis makes media headlines and analysis by the Brookings Center for Universal Education (CUE) explains why this needs to change. Progress towards universal primary education has come to a halt and learning levels of children who are in school are poor as well. Using a Learning Barometer, CUE estimates that 61 million African children will reach adolescence lacking even the most basic literacy and numeracy skills, this will deprive a whole generation of opportunities to develop and escape poverty ("Poverty, Education, & Opportunity").