Point in history you're most glad that you were not at

[mgk920]

While tuning around on the TV before zonking out late Saturday night, I caught about an hour or so of the movie Doctor Zhivago. It is a top notch, Oscar-winning film that was made before most of us in here were born.

While watching it, I could not help but continually think about how glad that I am that I was not alive and living in Russia at the time of the Bolshevik Revolution. They took one repressive regime (the Tzars) and violently replaced it with one that was even worse, turning the country upside down and leaving political, economic and physical wreckage that will still not be completely cleaned up for many decades, if ever.

Inspired by that, my question, should you chose to accept it, is:
What time and place in World history are you most happy that you were not at?

Mike

[Wulf9]

Well, there was a time in American history when a president was appointed by the Supreme Court, then started a war that didn't need to be fought, lost millions of jobs, pretty much tore up the environment, reduced air and water quality standards, ran up a huge national debt, ruined the standing of the U.S. in the world, showed our enemies how to tie up the American military, and.....

Oh, wait, that's now.

[jread]

Well, there was a time in American history when a president was appointed by the Supreme Court, then started a war that didn't need to be fought, lost millions of jobs, pretty much tore up the environment, reduced air and water quality standards, ran up a huge national debt, ruined the standing of the U.S. in the world, showed our enemies how to tie up the American military, and.....

Oh, wait, that's now.

Other than the Great Depression, I will also agree that there is no worse time than right now. Very well-said.

The period of American history that I miss? The 80's. Such a creative and fun decade. It was a great time to be a kid.

[pete-rock]

Other than the Great Depression, I will also agree that there is no worse time than right now. Very well-said.

The period of American history that I miss? The 80's. Such a creative and fun decade. It was a great time to be a kid.

C'mon now. You think this time period in American history is worse than the Civil War era? Both World Wars?

[michaelskis]

C'mon now. You think this time period in American history is worse than the Civil War era? Both World Wars?

Hands down the Civil War...

[giff57]

Since he said world history, I would say the plague.... that would have sucked.

[PlannerGirl]

Any of the dark ages-no thanks!

[donk]

Any of the dark ages-no thanks!

But think of the corsets, and dungeons.

[JNA]

Wasn't the French Revolution a real pain in the neck.

[Gedunker]

Wasn't the French Revolution a real pain in the neck.

[wiping coffee from monitor] C'est la guerre![/wiping coffee...]

You know, every one of us alive today is related to someone that survived the cataclysms described herein. Resilient species, aren't we?

[The One]

My vote would have to be for any of the several genocides that have occured in the last 60 years around the world......Europe(x2), Cambodia, Rwanda, Uganda, Sudan......and so on.....

[PlannerGirl]

Donk I can get custom corsets now made with much softer materials and more flattering styles and no one is going to lace mine up as to change my waist forever (eek)

Oh yes and I prefer my dungeon with central heat and electric lights

the dark ages were just so freaking dirty and violent!

[mendelman]

Before the clothes washing machine was invented.

maunally washing clothes must have been a major pain in the arse.

[Tom R]

The nuking of Hiroshima and Nagasaki come to mind.

[el Guapo]

I'm thinking the caveman days would have sucked to the extreme. Nothing like being considered a snack yourself. Plus, you know the animal skins would have itched. No thank you. I'll take the current time with pleasure.

[Super Amputee Cat]

Other than the Great Depression, I will also agree that there is no worse time than right now. Very well-said.

The period of American history that I miss? The 80's. Such a creative and fun decade. It was a great time to be a kid.

In many ways, the present is worse than the Great Depression

I’m not going to degrade the memory and pain of those that suffered through the Depression because I wasn’t there, but consider this.

Many cities still had streetcar, trolley or interurban systems; both rich and poor used public transportation. There were no interstate highways that would soon choke the life out of the central cities; no SUVs, and no Wal-Mart.

Racism was a problem of course, but black neighborhoods were still relatively close in proximity to white neighborhoods compared to today. Not separated by interstates or vast suburban wastelands.

No shopping malls, no big box stores. Companies, even the big ones, still cared about how their buildings looked like instead of just putting up some huge vinyl sided pole barn out by the bypass that everyone has took look at. There was no TV commercials peddling tawdry products to insatiably materialistic consumer culture. Heck, there wasn’t even TV.

No pop music (at least not the saccharine-coated putrid filth that they churn out today) no Clear Channel, no MTV, FOX News.

Perhaps the most important, we had a great leader during that era. FDR implemented some of the greatest job and public works programs in the history of human civilization. Bush has exported jobs and propped up the economy of China instead of the USA. Bush has made a mockery of the title of president and just the fact that he can call himself president is an insult to the great legacy of FDR and those that followed in his footsteps.

BTW, my worst time? Now.

[Man With a Plan]

Europe in the 1300s:

- the Black Plague
- the Hundred Years War
- corruption in the Church at a time when all people could rely on was the afterlife
- the witchcraft delusion

Germany in the 30s and 40s

- leaders in an educated, industrialized state committing unthinkable acts

[zman]

Good plug for Dr. Zhivago. Great movie... I hope to get a copy of it this weekend...

As for the time in history. After hearing numerous first hand stories about Nazi Camps from my Grandmother and the Nazi occupation of Hungary from my grandfather (spending a European winter outside didn't sound fun), I don't think I would want to be part of that time.

I thank God frequently for giving the Grandparents strength to endure that period of history firsthand and the will to come to America...

[pete-rock]

Since he said world history, I would say the plague.... that would have sucked.

If we're talking world history, I would say the Middle Ages in Europe were the absolute worst, from the fall of the Roman Empire around 400 AD to about 1500 AD. Tribal warfare, serfdom, plagues, dire poverty... that would really suck.

Actually, that sounds a lot like sub-Saharan Africa today.

[Hceux]

Holocaust is a point of time in history that I'm most glad that I am or was not living in. It's fairly self-explanatory why this is true.

[Masswich]

The answer to this question depends a lot on where you are located. So assuming I am located where I am today, the worst time would probably be the Civil War.

Assuming I take pot luck on where I am, the worst time is clearly the Holocaust, given my semitic background.

I am leaving out any time before 1750- because there are a number of inquisitions and plagues I am glad I missed.

BTW, for those of you who really think this is the worst time in history, part of me is tempted to agree with you. But let's get real here- even with the current rollbacks we still have better land use and environmental protection then the world had until 1970. The war in Iraq, no matter how bad, is not as bad as a world war. I am happy my son gets good medical care that can cure things that were fatal 50 years ago- I am happy that we are even fighting as a country over same sex unions and abortion, as compared to the time when both were clearly off the table. Things are not as good as they were in the 1990's but they are better than they were in the 1950's.

Holocaust is a point of time in history that I'm most glad that I am or was not living in. It's fairly self-explanatory why this is true.

[BKM]

In many ways, the present is worse than the Great Depression

I’m not going to degrade the memory and pain of those that suffered through the Depression because I wasn’t there, but consider this.

Many cities still had streetcar, trolley or interurban systems; both rich and poor used public transportation. There were no interstate highways that would soon choke the life out of the central cities; no SUVs, and no Wal-Mart.

Racism was a problem of course, but black neighborhoods were still relatively close in proximity to white neighborhoods compared to today. Not separated by interstates or vast suburban wastelands.

No shopping malls, no big box stores. Companies, even the big ones, still cared about how their buildings looked like instead of just putting up some huge vinyl sided pole barn out by the bypass that everyone has took look at. There was no TV commercials peddling tawdry products to insatiably materialistic consumer culture. Heck, there wasn’t even TV.

No pop music (at least not the saccharine-coated putrid filth that they churn out today) no Clear Channel, no MTV, FOX News.

Perhaps the most important, we had a great leader during that era. FDR implemented some of the greatest job and public works programs in the history of human civilization. Bush has exported jobs and propped up the economy of China instead of the USA. Bush has made a mockery of the title of president and just the fact that he can call himself president is an insult to the great legacy of FDR and those that followed in his footsteps.

BTW, my worst time? Now.

I would also throw in the relative lack of personal debt, the fact that the country as a whole wasn't buried in debt to hostile foreign powers (the Chinese love us, don't you know), many people have ties to rural communities and hence were less likely to outright starve, the stronger family structure (gee, I'm sounding "conservative" here). The threat of fascism was there, but we are equally threatened by Islamism AND by our very own home-grown religious extremism that, Father Coughlin aside, was not nearly so dominant as it is now. Millions of people listen to that nutcase Dr. James Dobson. Here's an utterly sickening little link pertaining to this "Christian Leader": (Scroll down to December 18, Future Fascists) http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/

Plus: youth and families of that era could listen to Big band music. We are stuck with Britney Spears and Nelly.

I vote for NOW, as well

If we're talking world history, I would say the Middle Ages in Europe were the absolute worst, from the fall of the Roman Empire around 400 AD to about 1500 AD. Tribal warfare, serfdom, plagues, dire poverty... that would really suck.

Actually, that sounds a lot like sub-Saharan Africa today.

[Cardinal]

The difficulty in picking out a period in time is that, for all the bad, there was usually something good that came of it. The Black Death, for instance, killed off a third of the population of Europe. It directly led to a redistribution of wealth and an improved standard of living for all classes of society, resulting in the Reniassance.

As for me, I guess I would choose the Dark Ages. After the fall of Rome, there was little rule of law. Knowledge, art and technology declined. There was little more to life than survival.

[nerudite]

Dark Ages in Europe probably.

[boiker]

In world history I believe 4.5 billion years ago would have sucked pretty bad.

In human history, the European dark ages would be awful. It really is an incredible prolonged period of poverty, illness, and oppression.

Out of curiosity, does anyone know of bad periods in Asian cultures that are comparable to the dark ages?