ERIC writes:

Notice the way men, women and children comport themselves in these scenes from life in Ontario, California in 1947.

Laura writes:

I am especially struck by how calm the teenagers seem to be. Look at the groups of girl scouts and boy scouts. They are not constantly fidgeting. They do not have the same distracted, restlessness you see so often today.

—- Comments —-

Perfesser Plum writes:

What I noticed here was grinning faces; wide open eyes; shy smiles; hamming up the way they said hello; and seriousness in pre-adult activity (musical performance). The adults acted similarly.

What I’ve seen in children from the 80s on is smirking; narrowed, snake-lidded eyes; challenging faces; hamming up self-presentations regarding violence and sex; and frivolity and apathy (“Whatever”) in the face of pre-adult activities.

 Children of the fifties exuded spirit of joy and hope, an inner life rich with good feelings, and a sense of comfortable position in relation to adults. Today’s kids exude a spirit of despair and confusion; an inner life rich with rage, narcissism, and nihilism; and a hostile position in relation to adults and adult institutions.

I believe the transition from wasted hippies (The Who nailed it in “Baba O’Reilly:” Teenage wasteland It’s only teenage wasteland Teenage wasteland Teenage wasteland They’re all wasted!) was fostered by the replacement of family, after school activity, church, Scouts, and playground sports with a teen world populated by malevolent sights, sounds, role models, and thoughts–much of which is from feral black “culture.” If there is an economic, and thereafter a social collapse, I believe they will come running home (hopefully, adults will be there), because their main proficiencies are chilling, texting, dressing like hookers and hobos, and fast food. They can’t even change a bicycle tire.

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