Fifty years, makes me an old man. Fifty years ago I was a 12 year old kid in central Jersey as the 1960s began. The decade of Camelot and the Viet Cong, the Beatles and Bob Dylan, bell bottoms and shagging hair, the civil rights movement and woman's lib, what might be considered the beginnings of the world we live in.
Looking back at the changes wrought over the last half century there are some real incongruities. Many of the cultural trends that originated in the 60s are still playing themselves out. We landed on the moon and won’t be back for another decade or more. Of course there have been major changes as well. Computers, the internet, and cell phones were just glints in the eyes of visionaries 50 years ago. Many Kossacks weren’t even born yet, although the collective memory of TV and other media make the past 50 years part of even a pre-teens virtual experience.
Reflecting on the last half century got me thinking. How much change occurred during previous 50 year time spans relative to the last 50? I thought it would be interesting to conduct a poll to see how we view the past and future in terms of the changes and upheavals that occur over 50 year periods looking backwards and forwards from the decade just ended. So here it is. Feel free to comment on what you think were the most significant periods of change over 50 year time spans during the last 250 years. And what about the next 50 years? Will the changes to come be as significant as those that have already occurred?