# Do you think 1914-1945 was a bad time to be alive? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 28, 2022, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-1914-1945-was-a-bad-time-to-be-alive/972387 "2022-09-28T13:23:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2022, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-1914-1945-was-a-bad-time-to-be-alive/972387/41 "2022-09-30T13:19:11Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > The peak of human wealth and happiness so far was probably 2019. > [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > Then there’s all that CO2 that is going to have it’s say as well. …and what it has to say may be the worst news you want to hear. I’m normally an optimist about human endeavors and our ability to correct problems we create, but I fear global warming may be one problem we may soon be unable to correct. Early 21st century (and perhaps 2019 in particular) may soon be known as the Golden Human Era before the fall. And unfortunately the fall won’t just affect humans. We’re taking all advanced lifeforms down with us if we allow a runaway greenhouse effect to occur. Want to see our future? Look at Venus. You won’t find any cozy vacation spots on that planet. If animals have a collective consciousness it’s probably thinking, _those damned humans weren’t satisfied driving our species to extinction one at at time, now they’re driving us all to extinction in one fell swoop, including themselves. Good job, idiots._ We should be ashamed to be Earth’s apex species. Hopefully other life-bearing planets aren’t as stupid. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2022, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-1914-1945-was-a-bad-time-to-be-alive/972387/42 "2022-09-30T13:56:28Z")
> [@Tibby](#): > > Want to see our future? Look at Venus. You won’t find any cozy vacation spots on that planet. I don’t think it’ll get that bad. Life on Earth was doing pretty well back in the day when all that CO2 was in the atmosphere. It wasn’t always oil in the ground, and the dinosaurs and all the other stuff around back in those days managed just fine with that CO2 in the atmosphere. It might not be the best for all the billions of people living along the coasts and humanity in general, but life itself will be fine, even if we manage to burn every last barrel of oil. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2022, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-1914-1945-was-a-bad-time-to-be-alive/972387/43 "2022-09-30T14:29:08Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > I don’t think it’ll get that bad. I hope you are right and not me. But, I’d rather _know_ we are safe instead of _think_ we are safe. We don’t have the ability to sterilize Earth, thank goodness. Our biosphere is too varied and ubiquitous for that. But we certainly have the ability to disinfect it of many lifeforms. Earth’s biosphere is quite homeostatic and has a positive history of recovering from a long line of devastating natural disasters (_thanks evolution_). But, Earth never had to deal with us dirty humans before now. Let’s hope we don’t tip the scales to the point of unrecoverability. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2022, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-1914-1945-was-a-bad-time-to-be-alive/972387/44 "2022-10-01T15:25:01Z")
One key marker of human happiness that seems to outweigh material plenty (not to say wretched excess) is the economic equality in one’s society. Societies that are more equal report greater levels of happiness than richer societies that are less equal. Economic equality in North America has worsened since the 1970s. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-1914-1945-was-a-bad-time-to-be-alive/972387/45 "2022-10-05T16:41:48Z")
i’m reading [Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin by Timothy Snyder (goodreads.com)](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6572270-bloodlands). i would say, yes, a bad time. living through all the things going on was serious fickle finger of fate thing. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-1914-1945-was-a-bad-time-to-be-alive/972387/46 "2022-10-05T20:58:35Z")
Anecdotal, but from my father: He was born in Hungary in 1931. Lived through the Nazis, WWII (as a child) and then Communism. He says that, bad as things are today, it doesn’t compare at all to how it was back then. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-1914-1945-was-a-bad-time-to-be-alive/972387/47 "2022-10-08T12:31:04Z")
One of the excruciating torments of living in that era was the general run of popular music. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/cWWqGmG2ICs/maxresdefault.jpg "Underneath The Sweetheart Tree - Jack Payne And His B.B.C. Dance Orchestra - Columbia CB 131") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWWqGmG2ICs) (this actually is an improvement on one of their earlier hits, “Hunting Tigers Out In India”, later re-recorded by the Bonzo Dog Band). ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-1914-1945-was-a-bad-time-to-be-alive/972387/48 "2022-10-08T14:50:05Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > One of the excruciating torments of living in that era was the general run of popular music. Huh? Excruciating torment??? That song is a real toe-tapper. It’s on my playlist, right after Led Zepplin’s Kashmir. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-1914-1945-was-a-bad-time-to-be-alive/972387/49 "2022-10-08T14:56:18Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > One of the excruciating torments of living in that era was the general run of popular music By definition: if it was popular, it wasn’t considered a torment. (And I like your example.) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-1914-1945-was-a-bad-time-to-be-alive/972387/50 "2022-10-08T15:06:12Z")
By definition, “popular” music equates to “some people like it, while many people barf and avoid restaurants and stores that play it.” Imagine having no alternative to the pop glurge that poured out of radios in the 1930s-1940s. Currently the alternatives are vast and easily accessed. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-1914-1945-was-a-bad-time-to-be-alive/972387/51 "2022-10-08T15:12:27Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > One of the excruciating torments of living in that era was the general run of popular music. Entertaining tune - bring on the torment! Actually the era floated on a musical ocean. Ken Burns should do a documentary on the “Hit Parade”. The popular genre included “L’Apprenti sorcier” and “Rhapsody in Blue” ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-1914-1945-was-a-bad-time-to-be-alive/972387/52 "2022-10-08T15:24:19Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Imagine having no alternative to the pop glurge that poured out of radios in the 1930s-1940s. Currently the alternatives are vast and easily accessed. Imagine having no alternative to the music you and your neighbors could create! Now it’s the 1930’s and you can hear all sorts of things on the radio! (People with access only to the music their community could create, plus the occasional wandering bard, were generally pretty happy with that, too. Music was a big part of most people’s lives, as creators as well as as passive listeners.) ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-1914-1945-was-a-bad-time-to-be-alive/972387/53 "2022-10-08T15:39:46Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Currently the alternatives are vast and easily accessed. Gee, we had radio and military bands in parades, marching bands at football games, street pianos, player pianos, dance bands, Big Bands, sing along at the movies, organ grinders and ubiquitous accordions playing polkas. Everybody from that era knew the pop melodies and lyrics. Consider that today, the game show “Name That Tune” would be impossible. During WW2 popular music was a major propaganda vehicle because it reached everybody… Nothing comes close today. There is no music at Walmart or Target. There are no record stores. There is no dance floor at the upscale hotels. Sure there’s music if you look for it, but it’s not like the 40s. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-1914-1945-was-a-bad-time-to-be-alive/972387/54 "2022-10-08T15:42:30Z")
> [@Crane](#): > > The popular genre included “L’Apprenti sorcier” and “Rhapsody in Blue” Indeed, if popular music still held to the high musicality of early 20th century compositions like _Rhapsody in Blue_ (1924), the current musical landscape would be better for it. The incomparable Yuga Wang: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/IO-4X3iBGws/maxresdefault.jpg "Yuja Wang & Wiener Philharmoniker - Rhapsody in Blue (George Gershwin)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO-4X3iBGws) ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-1914-1945-was-a-bad-time-to-be-alive/972387/55 "2022-10-08T16:51:14Z")
With just a bit of reflection, I can recall the following patriotic titles from the 40s. I was never involved with music. It’s just what I absorbed at the time. Must have been a lot of music around then. Coming In On a Wing and a Prayer You’ll Be So Nice to Come Home To I Had a Little Talk With the Lord Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition When The Lights Go On Again Der Furher’s Face We’ll Meet Again The White Cliffs of Dover God Bless America The House I Live In I’ll Be Home For Christmas Bugle Boy You’re in the Army Now Tell It to the Marines Bless’em All G.I, Jive Run Rabbit You’re In The Army Mr. Jones Somebody Else is Taking My Place Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree I Left My Heart at the Stage Door Canteen Remember Pearl Harbor The Navy Gets the Gravy But the Army Gets the Beans It wasn’t utopia, but the first half of 20th century was a time of craft, exploration and discovery. My uncle wrote, in the family letters, how he experienced seeing his first light bulb, car, steam engine, airplane and city (Medford Oklahoma). He was born in Indian Territory and died a business Executive in urban Chicago. The era had it’s upside. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-1914-1945-was-a-bad-time-to-be-alive/972387/56 "2022-10-08T17:54:21Z")
> [@Jay\_Z](#): > > Overall, human lifespan improved during the period. Average expected life span. On an individual basis, not so much. Some people lived to be old, more died young as compared to current time. > [@Jackmannii](#): > > By definition, “popular” music equates to “some people like it, while many people barf and avoid restaurants and stores that play it.” I’m confused. Definition of popular. > 1. of or relating to the general public > 2. suitable to the majority: such as > adapted to or indicative of the understanding and taste of the majority > 3. frequently encountered or widely accepted > 4. commonly liked or approved Maybe you mean _most people_ when using the word _some_. And _fewer_ when using the word _many_. It’s not how I would put it, though. > **[Definition of POPULAR](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/popular?src=search-dict-box)** > > of or relating to the general public; suitable to the majority: such as; adapted to or indicative of the understanding and taste of the majority… See the full definition ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-1914-1945-was-a-bad-time-to-be-alive/972387/57 "2022-10-08T20:49:38Z")
The 40’s had some great music! Sure, you can find all sorts of silly songs. But when has that not been true? The 60-s and 70’s produced great music, but also crap like ‘Disco Duck’, “Yellow Polka Dot Bikini”, etc. The 40’s was the Big Band era. Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, The Andrews Sisters, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, etc. The 40’s was also the popular pinnacle of the Blues and Jazz. Swing Jazz music was popular. Frank Sinatra was the most popular male singer of the late 40’s. Bebop,Jazz was all the rage, with artists like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Thelonius Monk. Living in the 40’s would be a pain for lots of reasons, but the music isn’t one of them. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2022, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-1914-1945-was-a-bad-time-to-be-alive/972387/58 "2022-10-09T08:10:08Z")
During a session of “what would you rather do” (ala Family Guy) I asked some buddies “if you could wake up tomorrow with 1 billion dollars, but it was 1921 not 2021, and you had to live the rest of your life from that point on, would you take the deal?” Surprisingly a few of them said they would. I mean, WTF would you spend the money on? Most of us are in our late 50’s and early 60’s. By the time anything cool came around we’d either be too old to enjoy it or dead. I think after a short period of time we’d be bored as hell with that time in history regardless of how much money we had. But the same would probably not be true from 1960 (my birth year) to the present. With 1945-1960 being kind of up in the air. But, yeah, 1914-1945 sucked! ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2022, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-1914-1945-was-a-bad-time-to-be-alive/972387/59 "2022-10-09T09:23:47Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Frank Sinatra was the most popular male singer of the late 40’s. No. > By the end of 1948, Sinatra had slipped to fourth on _DownBeat_ 's annual poll of most popular singers (behind [Billy Eckstine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Eckstine), [Frankie Laine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankie_Laine), and Bing Crosby).[[129]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Sinatra#cite_note-FOOTNOTESummersSwan2010149-146) and in the following year he was pushed out of the top spots in polls for the first time since 1943.[[130]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Sinatra#cite_note-FOOTNOTEKelley1986158-147) _[Frankly Sentimental](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankly_Sentimental)_ (1949) was panned by _DownBeat_ , who commented that “for all his talent, it seldom comes to life”.[[131]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Sinatra#cite_note-FOOTNOTEShaw1968131-148) > **[Frank Sinatra](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Sinatra#Columbia_years_and_career_slump_(1946%E2%80%931952))** > > Francis Albert Sinatra (/sɪˈnɑːtrə/; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the most popular entertainers of the mid-20th century. Sinatra is among the world's best-selling music artists with an estimated 150 million record sales. > Born to Italian immigrants in Hoboken, New Jersey, Sinatra began his musical career in the swing era and was greatly influenced by the e... ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2022, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-1914-1945-was-a-bad-time-to-be-alive/972387/60 "2022-10-09T12:56:36Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > I think after a short period of time we’d be bored as hell Possibly, if you applied yourself to the task. In 1921 determining if there was a continuous road leading from coast to coast was an open question. If you had the money you could hop in your car and check it out. Everything was still open for exploration and development. Driving to the top of Pikes Peak was an adventure worthy of a windshield sticker. Same with visiting Niagara Falls or the Petrified Forest. If boredom is the issue, I’d say people today suffer it more than those in the twenties, thirties and forties. Times may have been hard, but they were not boring. People were looking ahead, not into their cell phones. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-1914-1945-was-a-bad-time-to-be-alive/972387.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-1914-1945-was-a-bad-time-to-be-alive/972387.md?page=4)