Would you say 1980 has more in common with 1948 or 2012?

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I'd say in terms of technology it's closer to 1948 but the people are more similar to the people of 2012.

What difference does 1/3 of a century make in your opinion? And do you think the changes between 2012 and 2044 will be larger or smaller than 1948-1980 and 1980-2012?

A lot of things that existed in 1948 lasted until the 1980s here. There was no commercial television, and public television time was divided by politically-motivated groups with their own political parties - liberals, socialists, protestants and catholics. People voted for traditional political parties, and not for populist parties, even if they agreed with a lot of what was said. There was a taboo in both 1948 and 1980 on a lot of things that are now acceptable to discuss - some people were even sentenced to jail terms for things now said openly by half of the country. People bought cars for their looks and status, not for their fuel efficiency. People were less eager to question the elite, and a lot of political decisions were made in secret. European cooperation was seen as a good idea in both 1948 and 1980, but not so much by most people now, and they're increasingly basing their votes on that.

In 1988, commercial television was first allowed. In the 1990s, a lot of people (including me) started using the internet and sharing opinions over it. In 2002, a populist politician was murdered for his views, and the traditional parties lost quite a lot of support. From 2006, Wilders offered himself as a replacement for Pim Fortuyn, and he became popular. He's the leader of the third party in the polls now (the first is another eurosceptic party), and expected to be the second in next week's poll for his views on the way this country is governed.

Technologically, clearly 1948. However, in 1980, the people were less reserved, but still refused to discuss some subjects and condemned certain forms of behaviour that are now acceptable.

Technologically I'd say its closer to 2012. Computers, transatlantic passenger jets, snowmobiles, video game consoles, nuclear power, satellites, and dozens of other basic things simply didn't exist in '48. They didn't even have transistor radios.

It seems to me that with the exception of advances in computing, not a whole lot has really changed since 1980. There aren't so many revolutionary inventions as there were between then and '48. Jetskis and a few other things, but not much other than computers that fundamentally changes anything in the way things like passenger jets, satellites, and nuclear power did.

In 1948 the only satellite in our sky was the moon. The only working rockets were some old captured VIIs. There were no integrated circuits and discrete transistors had just been introduced by Bell Labs.

In 1980 there were dozens of sats and humans had already walked on the Moon. Integrated circuits were found just about everywhere doing lots of useful things.

The jump from 1980 to 2012 seems much less than the jump from 1948 to 1980. The world had really changed quite a bit in those 32 years.

ruveyn

And some people were still using horses for transportation and farming.

In some parts of the world animals are still used for plowing and getting about.

Another thing. In 1948 space around our planet was pristine. Now it is filled will zillions of pieces of junk whizzing about at 17,000 mph. This was also true in 1980. We really trashed the space between low orbit and the surface.

Sort of like what happened on the slope up to Mt. Everest. Thousands of oxygen tanks just lying around.

ruveyn

True ... actually there are still places where people hunt for their daily food by spear ... but this was in the First World, in the nations at the apex of technological and economic development.

Globally I think the picture still holds true - in '48, much of the developing world was still living an almost purely traditional culture, without radios or televisions or coca-cola or pickup trucks. By 1980 these things were widespread even in the poorest nations (for better or worse).

Having been alive and aware in 1980, but not in 1948, it's difficult for me to speak to how those years compare.

I think the technological question is almost cut and dried, but the much more difficult question is the degree to which economic and political culture changed between 1948, 1980 and 2012.

Economically, I tend the view that the changes between 1948 and 1980 were more dramatic than between 1980 and today. By 1980, globalization was already on the move. Bretton Woods had been undone. The deregulation of banking and financial services was soon to be underway.

Politically it's not so cut and dried. Certainly vast political change was effected in the 1960's. The Civil Rights Act and events like Selma and Kent State heralded a paradigm shift for the political treatment of race. The legal status of women evolved significantly: when I was a child my mother still required written permission from my father to consent to medical care for me and for my brother. But it's difficult to know if those are more dramatic than the changes that have taken place in the last 30 years.

The decade of the 60s was the Great Divide. After the Kennedy years things were much different that before the Kennedy years. More young people became politically engaged during that decade. Sexual mores changed quite a bit. There was always hanky panky going on, but things sexual became much more open during and after the 60s. Computers made their first major impact during that decade. Aside from corporate computers, home computers and computer kits for amateurs and wonks were developed. T.V. also made a very large impact on politics. JFK was the first President who made full use of T.V. Lots of televised press conferences etc. etc. . The Viet Nam war was the first war to be televised and shown at home during the dinner hour.

ruveyn

Besides what has been mentioned so far, I would add television to the technological developments which had a huge influence on society. Oddly, TV had a bigger influence before cable than after. The entire country was watching one of only three networks, unless you include PBS, and local broadcasts. So each show on the networks in prime time had a big influence. Marshall McLuhan's book, "The Medium is the Message" addresses this influence, among others.

I voted for the second option.

1980 would have to be more like 2012. There were too many technological and social changes that occurred pre-1980.

That is a very superficial view of things. I was around in 1948 and 1980 and 2012. The transition from 1948 to 1980 was much greater. The quality of life, the issues and the way people thought about things was much greater than going from 1980 to 2012.

In 1948 the second world War was very much in people's minds and memories and then the Korea war which lasted 3 years and cost 50,000 lives was fought. There was no comparable war between 1980 and 2012. The most shocking things in the period for 1980 to 2012 was the Muslim attack on the WTC. For people who had no direct memory of Pearl Harbor the outrage did not register fully. Pearl Harbor came back to me in a flash

In 1948 the technology that was growing was really 1942 technology put on hold when WW 2 broke out. 1948 was what the world would have been like if WW 2 had not happened.

In 1948 racial attitudes were very regressive. Things did not really start to change until 1965. By the time 1980 rolled around, young folks had no memory of segregation. Mixed race marriages were fairly common since 1980 and almost unheard of prior to 1950. In 1948 and in the 1950s there was no such thing as being "read your rights". It was a who different world. Very old fashioned in many respects.

In the period of time from 1980 to 2012 "duck and cover" drills for atomic attacks were a fading memory. The hard phase of the Cold War was really a scary time. In 1962 the world came very close to WW 3. People who grow up since 1980 have no idea what was going on. Atom Bomb scares. McCarthyism. The big anti-Communist campaigns. Later decades had nothing like that.

ruveyn

ruveyn

Superficial?
Maybe I worded or structured it wrong but my intent was to say that 1980 obviously had more in common with 2012 than 1948.

The Second Cold War though did happen between 1980 and 1985 though... fear of nuclear annihilation did flare up again during that time.

It was also the death knell of the can-do era of postwar optimism, and the herald of this era of cynicism that has followed it. A complete about face for society, not just in the US but slowly across the whole of the West.