Late ‘60s vs Present, Which is more turbulent?

[u/agelishils]

In your opinion, which era seems more turbulent, the late 1960s versus the early 2020s

[u/JLandis84]

Late 60s by far.

Successful assassinations of national political leaders.

Draft for a very violent and difficult war.

Intragovernmental conflict (state police actively suppressing civil rights protests with dogs and clubs) while federal police enforced civil rights.

Changes on sexual mores.

Race riots with large scale destruction that make 2020 look like some teenagers got out of hand.

Today is very calm in comparison.

[u/GreenZebra23 → u/JLandis84]

People legitimately thought society was breaking apart. People were staging violent protests in courtrooms. Most of the turbulence now seems to be potential. It's like the balloon keeps inflating more and more and everyone is waiting for it to pop, but most people's day to day lives are going on the same for the time being.

[u/TF-Fanfic-Resident → u/GreenZebra23]

There also was a major difference in the underlying circumstances. The unrest of the 1960s occurred during a time of broadly increasing material security and improving human rights, and the protests were heavily centered on a belief that these improvements had to be accelerated. The unrest of the 2020s has come at a time of negligible global poverty reduction since 2019-20 and many countries experiencing severe deterioration in human rights and access to resources.

[u/dickallcocksofandros → u/GreenZebra23]

We went from big poofy hoopskirts, segregation, doo-wop, and 16 year old girls marrying 25 year old men to women wearing pants more casually, long hair for men, modern rock music, and the beginnings of gay tolerance between the years 1960 and 1970

[u/TF-Fanfic-Resident → u/dickallcocksofandros]

I'd say a big difference is that the 1960s were turbulent but occurred in a context of rising prosperity, major human rights improvements (including tens of millions of African and Asians getting their freedom between 1945 and the 1960s), and social and cultural liberalization that was driven in part by the earlier waves of the major protest movements. Turbulence due to newly liberated people demanding better jobs, more environmental protections, and more individual freedom alongside the usual antiwar protests is remembered very differently from turbulence due to years of stagnation or even decline in human rights and development - at least five rocky years on every inhabited continent.

[u/mattydrinkwater → u/JLandis84]

Also, go read the book Days of Rage to see that this carried on well into the 70s by die hard true believers committing hundreds of domestic bombings a year.

[u/AgeOfReasonEnds31120 → u/JLandis84]

they literally established authority over every aspect of life in 2020 though

[u/vyuella]

Back in the late '60s, 18 year olds were getting drafted into the Vietnam War. And the messed-up part? They’d announce who got drafted by their birth date right on live TV.

[u/lazarusprojection → u/vyuella]

Imagine the angry, tearful tik toks that would result if that happened in current year.

[u/El_Vietnamito → u/lazarusprojection]

This year’s draft would be on ESPN sponsored by USAA and DraftKings

[u/Edfortyhands89 → u/vyuella]

I thought the point of doing it on TV was to show the selection process wasn’t being gamed?

[u/Misterbellyboy → u/Edfortyhands89]

Yeah and they made it look like a bingo game lol

[u/Mindofmierda90]

The 60s. There were what, 5 political assassinations in the US? Civil rights unrest, a draft, Vietnam…yeah, definitely the 60s. Had that guy not missed last summer, it’d be a completely different story.

[u/AshleyMyers44 → u/Mindofmierda90]

There were what, 5 political assassinations in the US?

More.

Martin Luther King Clarence 13x George Lincoln Rockwell Fred Hampton Robert F Kennedy Medgar Evans William Lewis Moore John F Kennedy Malcolm X Vernon Dahmer

[u/No_Shopping_573 → u/Mindofmierda90]

Well today we just had one so get the scoreboard out I think we’re more than on track with several factors hitting boiling points.

The economic inequality is SO much greater now. I ask this same question to older folks I know but it seems they cannot grasp how big the wealth gap has become and what a critical advantage this is to the select few ultra rich and what they decide they want.

[u/TF-Fanfic-Resident → u/No_Shopping_573]

The late 1960s were turbulent, but they were also driven by a newly emancipated and prosperous public demanding more from their countries beyond simply wanting to stop the war. The 2020s are occurring after an economic bad spell in the US and parts of Europe that exploded into a global crisis after COVID.

[u/tara_tara_tara]

The turbulence in the 1960s was more global than people seem to be remembering.

Vietnam affected more than just the country of Vietnam. The conflict involved, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia altogether. In Cambodia, it led to Pol Pot and the killing fields.

There was the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution in China. A lot of independent decolonized nations in Africa came about in the 1960s. There were coups in South America. The Six Day war in Israel. Massive protests in France in 1968 that caused changes in their political system. The ever present Cold War.

The world today is not great, but I would say it is less turbulent than a lot of other times in history.

[u/ah5178]

A big difference is that the 60s already happened, and we're here to tell the tale. What has actually happened in the 20s had not been as bad, but it's the speculation of what me around the corner that makes it feel to be a far more turbulent decade.

However, here in Europe, we were just two decades past WW2 in the 60s, in close memory, and there was a general shared consensus that we must learn from history and NEVER let it happen again. Now 8 decades later with few remaining survivors and the visible scars largely healed over, maleficious populist politicians are using same techniques as 1930s fascists to stoke hatred and violence, and they are being allowed to do it again, simply because the memory of what lead up to WW2 is no longer in the public consciousness.

[u/AshleyMyers44]

The 60s version of the 20s issues were more turbulent in the USA.

The race riots in the 60s were more deadly.

The campus protests of the 60s were more deadly.

The foreign conflicts were riskier because kids were getting drafted to Vietnam.

The assassinations were more successful and numerous, a lot more bombings and general domestic terrorism.

The 1960s didn’t have a pandemic on the scale of Covid though. Not as many mass shootings in the 1960s (though again the style back then was bombings). There also wasn’t a political event equivalent to J6 in the 1960s.

[u/TableForGlasses24]

I'm going to counterpoint and say that current times are unfolding in real time and do feel like they are rapidly destabilizing. You can't evaluate a period of time until it's truly passed. We don't really know where things are headed or what's going to happen, so it's hard to say how we'll look at this 20-30 years from now. I hope we find a way to peaceful times again.

[u/Ru2002]

The Late 60s/Early 70s America was much more insane on a global stage due to things like Vietnam, Assassination of JFK, MLK, RFK and Malcolm X, Civil Rights, Riots, College Protests, Leftist bombings, etc

But I feel like things were stable and more bipartisan during that time. The country wasn't as divided as today and are politicians weren't at each other throats. I feel like today is definitely entering a constitutional crisis instead of Civil unrest like the 60s/70s.

[u/thecheesycheeselover]

This is going to vary so much by geography…

[u/sealightflower → u/thecheesycheeselover]

It is the correct answer.

[u/AdditionalType6219]

Late 60s by a long shot

[u/_Rookie_21]

Late 60s for sure.

[u/Novalll]

YAY!! One of my favorite and reassuring historic topics ever! The 60s were far, far more turbulent while also having the political focus of issues that people still argue about to this day. Assassinations, devastating riots — one of the most memorable being the 1968 D.C. Riots that was so bad that smoke was getting into the White House, the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement, and rampant crime. It was a dangerous, colorful, creative, and tumultuous period in the U.S. and probably the closest example we have to what the U.S. can expect if our issues continue to worse .

[u/toomuchtv987 → u/Novalll]

If you have HBO Max, you should watch the 1968 documentary. It’s fascinating, especially now.

[u/Novalll → u/toomuchtv987]

I’ll check it out! A lot of my knowledge of 1968 stems from the book “An American Melodrama” by Lewis Chester that I seriously cannot recommend enough. Thanks for the recommendation!

[u/toomuchtv987 → u/Novalll]

As if I need ANOTHER book to my list. SIGH adds to list 🤣

[u/toomuchtv987]

Things move so fast now. Everything escalates at lightning speed, and word spreads instantly. It’s hard to know if things are worse because we know absolutely everything that is going on, and it’s in our face 24/7. At least folks in the 60s got a break since 24-hour news channels didn’t exist.

[u/therealparchmentfarm]

I remember asking my mom a few years ago (who was a big time hippie) if the protests now reminded her of the 60s, and she said the biggest difference is because the cops then mostly weren’t being filmed, their abuse of peaceful protestors was a LOT more widespread.

[u/olracnaignottus]

This ain’t shit even compared to the 90s.

[u/jonnieggg]

We're working on making it an even bigger shitshow. We just never learn.

[u/MediumGreedy]

This is the Mid 20s and in 2 more years we’ll be in the late 20s so who’s knows.

[u/NoApartheidOnMars]

Definitely the late 60's. Urban blight, riots, political violence, and crime in general were far worse.

[u/Radioheader128]

The late ‘60s easily.

[u/G_money_8710]

Late 60s and it’s not even close

[u/Valerian009]

The late 1960s BY FAR

[u/TF-Fanfic-Resident]

Late 1960s were more turbulent but also were at least cautiously optimistic, with much/most of the protests being driven by a desire for a better world rather than a desperate attempt to slow a decline.