I'm going to presume that most of us on this site are over 50 years of age, so we've been around and have observed atleast 2 if not many more generations in order to make a comparison.

How many of you think the OVER ALL financial and social conditions in the United States....especially for AfroAmericans...are better today than they were in the 70s or 80s?

Whether you say yes or no, please state your reasons..............


I'll go first by honestly saying: I'm not sure.

Houses and cars are nicer today than they were 40 years ago.......but homelessness itself seems to have increased.
I'm not sure if homelessness has increased relative to the size of the population or if the actual percentage itself has increased since the 70s or 80s.
However I believe the percentage of homelessness indeed HAS increased.

I think jobs are more plentiful today than they were back in the day, but the relative wages aren't paying the same.
It's harder for the "average" person without a college degree to make a decent independent living today than back 40 or 50 years ago.

I think dating and finding intimate relationships is either harder or trickier today than 30 or 40 years ago.
I'm not determining this based on myself, but based on a lot of the younger men and women I'm seeing and hearing and the problems they are experiencing.
A lot more people are dealing with personal trauma, baggage, and even psychiatric issues like autism and ADHD than back in the day.
While social media has made it easier for those who ARE attractive to hook up with eachother, it seems as if there are a lot more people with "weird" problems....both men and women....that take them out of the sex/dating pool all together.


I also believe that incarceration is far higher today than it was 40 or 50 years ago.
Even much higher than the 90s during the so-called Clinton Crime Bill era that has received so much notoriety.
Even in the 90s you didn't see or hear about so many private prisons as you do now.
Again, I'm not sure if the increase in incarceration is due to the increase in population....or if the percentage has risen.

11 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

How many of you think the OVER ALL financial and social conditions in the United States....especially for AfroAmericans...are better today than they were in the 70s or 80s?

Of course I believe it's better.

11 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

Whether you say yes or no, please state your reasons..............

The AfroAmerican middle class has grown significantly over the past 40 years.

There are several metrics proving that AfroAmericans are doing better now than several decades ago.😎

ProfD

Perhaps you're right.
When I go back to Detroit or visit places like Chicago and Atlanta, I see plenty of wealthy Black people.
But I've also seen far more dysfunctional Black people today than in the past growing up.
Maybe I weren't as aware of them as I am now.

19 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

When I go back to Detroit or visit places like Chicago and Atlanta, I see plenty of wealthy Black people.
But I've also seen far more dysfunctional Black people today than in the past growing up.
Maybe I weren't as aware of them as I am now.

It seems that as we get older, we pay more attention to certain things & develop strong beliefs/opinions & confirmation bias sometimes along with a dose of cognitive dissonance. But, at least we're still alive & alert & communicative.😁😎

50 years ago (1976) I was a teenager still living at home and had never been anywhere other than the homes of family, so my world view was very narrow. NYC was broke, dirty and dangerous. So I think things are much better today

40 years ago (1986) I'd finished undergrad by then, shacking up with my girlfriend at the time, but I could afford my own place IN NYC -- all of my peers could. NYC was improving and would continue to improve over the years, so by the time I had kids we were effectively living in a completely different city that the one I grew up in -- much better.

I think the technological revolution and the rise of the internet 30+ years ago continued to make things much better into the early 2000's since them thing have slowly gotten worse.

Today in 2026 I do not think things are better than they were say 20 years ago the main reason is inflation. Housing in particular is just so much more expensive--everywhere I look. NYC is largely unaffordable unless you are making well into 6 figures.

Improvements in technology which benefited us early on is just being used to exploit us -- especially the gig workers. Who knows what climate change as in store for us...

Based on our current trajectory, I could see us reaching a time where one could reasonably say we were better off 50 years prior.

21 hours ago, Troy said:

Based on our current trajectory, I could see us reaching a time where one could reasonably say we were better off 50 years prior.

There will always be people who think [insert timeframe here] was better depending on their environment, conditions, circumstances, situation, etc.

The reality is that the present is always better for some people & not so great or worse for others.

Life is what we make it to the extent that we have any control.😎

ProfD

It seems that as we get older, we pay more attention to certain things & develop strong beliefs/opinions & confirmation bias sometimes along with a dose of cognitive dissonance. But, at least we're still alive & alert & communicative.

There will always be people who think [insert timeframe here] was better depending on their environment, conditions, circumstances, situation, etc.

As I alluded to in my opening post, as we get older....the more qualified we are to compare and determine which generations are better in which respect.

Unless somebody is suffering from some sort of dementia, being older allows you to see things in society through a BETTER lens.

You have more knowledge and wisdom to weigh the positives and negatives of the generations you're comparing.

Considering the fact that in most major cities in the United States you can barely find a good Soul Food joint today, as opposed to 50 eyars ago when they were pretty abundant....I'm not sure what that tells you.

Troy

40 years ago (1986) I'd finished undergrad by then, shacking up with my girlfriend at the time, but I could afford my own place IN NYC -

Shacking up?

Not YOU....lol.

You don't sound very religious but for some reason I took you as being generally conservative and reserved....even as a youth.

I pictured you as being kind of like "Preach" from Coolie High.

While your friends were busy running the streets and clowning around, I pictured you somewhere in a room buried in books and trying to study your way out of the ghetto.

No time for shaking up and rolling around in the bed all day with females....lol.

1 hour ago, Pioneer1 said:

As I alluded to in my opening post, as we get older....the more qualified we are to compare and determine which generations are better in which respect.

Within every generation life is better for some than others.

1 hour ago, Pioneer1 said:

Unless somebody is suffering from some sort of dementia, being older allows you to see things in society through a BETTER lens.

Hindsight always seems to be 20/10 through one's own lens. Looking back, people think life was better &/or they could have done things differently to improve their lot.

1 hour ago, Pioneer1 said:

You have more knowledge and wisdom to weigh the positives and negatives of the generations you're comparing.

What is the point of comparing & how does it make life better?

1 hour ago, Pioneer1 said:

Considering the fact that in most major cities in the United States you can barely find a good Soul Food joint today, as opposed to 50 eyars ago when they were pretty abundant....I'm not sure what that tells you.

I clearly remember when Black-owned soul food spots & other businesses sold out to Asians.

Through my lens, I can see where life has gotten better but we still have a long way to go in making it so for everyone.

I don't believe we have to live in a world where some people have to be poor & suffer.

There's enough resources on this planet for every man, woman & child to have a good quality of life.😎

ProfD

Hindsight always seems to be 20/10 through one's own lens. Looking back, people think life was better &/or they could have done things differently to improve their lot.

Not only is this natural, but it makes sense...doesn't it?

You didn't start off doing everything perfectly.

You made mistakes and hopefully you LEARNED from them and did better.

The fact that you're still living to communicate with me tell me you certainly DID learn from some of your mistakes, lol.

What is the point of comparing & how does it make life better?

Well first of all, how would you even KNOW life is better if you didn't have previous experiences to compare them TO?

To somebody 3 generations into Slavery, the best they know is having a good kindly Master.

They hadn't experiences a period of Freedom with which to COMPARE their condition to and realize that it's not good.

Experiencing different generations and time periods not only give you a point of reference as to what was preferred and beneficial...but it also lets you know when and where something went WRONG and became negative.

I clearly remember when Black-owned soul food spots & other businesses sold out to Asians.

But you know what else is funny?

I remember as a kid Asians occasionally going into Soul Food joints and buying food.

Especially pork...like pigs feet and chitterlings.

A wise business owner would have paid attention to that.

Through my lens, I can see where life has gotten better but we still have a long way to go in making it so for everyone.

When you say through YOUR lens life has gotten better.....do you mean for our people collectively or do you mean just for YOU?

I don't believe we have to live in a world where some people have to be poor & suffer.

There's enough resources on this planet for every man, woman & child to have a good quality of life.

True.

Is there enough intelligent brains for every man and woman to USE to bring that about?

A lot of suffering and poverty....certainly not all...but a lot...is brought upon by stupid and foolish thinking and behavior.

A bunch of nomadic people living in the middle of a desert that is constantly plagued by drought and famine........

Do they focus on irrigation projects to fertilize the area and produce agriculture?

NO!

"Haya! Haya! Haya! Grahhhbaaah!"

Instead they constantly get married, throw lavish weddings that using up resources, have a lot of unprotected sex producing child after child that they can't take care of....and when they die of famine or starvation or warfare they think it's some sort of "divine will" that it happens.

So they remain in poverty and scarcity generation after generation.

You can't blame everything on Western greed.

Some of this shit is cultural.

5 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

Not only is this natural, but it makes sense...doesn't it?

You didn't start off doing everything perfectly.

You made mistakes and hopefully you LEARNED from them and did better.

The fact that you're still living to communicate with me tell me you certainly DID learn from some of your mistakes, lol.

Sure. We should learn from our mistakes but nothing will undo the past.

5 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

Well first of all, how would you even KNOW life is better if you didn't have previous experiences to compare them TO?

It's easy to observe how things have changed over time.

5 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

To somebody 3 generations into Slavery, the best they know is having a good kindly Master.

They hadn't experiences a period of Freedom with which to COMPARE their condition to and realize that it's not good.

Right. We don't see how there was anything good about slavery.

5 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

Experiencing different generations and time periods not only give you a point of reference as to what was preferred and beneficial...but it also lets you know when and where something went WRONG and became negative.

Good if we actually did something to correct it.

5 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

Through my lens, I can see where life has gotten better but we still have a long way to go in making it so for everyone.

When you say through YOUR lens life has gotten better.....do you mean for our people collectively or do you mean just for YOU?

i was referring to our existence overall.

5 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

A lot of suffering and poverty....certainly not all...but a lot...is brought upon by stupid and foolish thinking and behavior.

You can't blame everything on Western greed.

Some of this shit is cultural.

Sure. However, the majority of human suffering & poverty is caused by greed.😎

ProfD

Sure. We should learn from our mistakes but nothing will undo the past.

The Nation of Islam has a saying,

"Of all out studies, History is best qualified to reward our research."

The purpose of studying the past isn't so much to "undo" it so much as it's to LEARN from it and notice patterns.

Right. We don't see how there was anything good about slavery.

That's because WE'RE emancipated, lol.

We didn't grow up in Slavery and it's various forms and so ALL of it is oppressive to us.

But to one who grew up in Slavery, to them....

A master who puts butter on their biscuits may be considered better than one who doesn't.

A plantation in which you get Sundays off may be considered a better life than one where you only get half the day off.

i was referring to our existence overall.

As AfroAmericans, or as humans in general?

Sure. However, the majority of human suffering & poverty is caused by greed.

Perhaps, but it's still hard to say.

A lot of poverty is by COMPARISON.

Many of these "poor" people around the planet have been living the same way for hundreds if not thousands of years, and they've been happy UNTIL they compare themselves how people are living in the West.

Then all of a sudden they are considered in "poverty" and many become miserable.

Too busy pocket watching....lol.

Many people aren't happy to have everything they need in THEIR life; they are focused on the millionaires and billionaires and why THEY have so much money and how did they get it and what they're doing with it.

12 minutes ago, Pioneer1 said:

The Nation of Islam has a saying,

"Of all out studies, History is best qualified to reward our research."

The purpose of studying the past isn't so much to "undo" it so much as it's to LEARN from it and notice patterns.

Again, what are people doing with that information to make life better for future generations?

12 minutes ago, Pioneer1 said:

That's because WE'RE emancipated, lol.

We didn't grow up in Slavery and it's various forms and so ALL of it is oppressive to us.

My point was that in modernity, there are Black folks who are perfectly fine with living under s system of racism white supremacy. They don't see it as oppressive as slavery

12 minutes ago, Pioneer1 said:

As AfroAmericans, or as humans in general?

Both. AfroAmericans are humans contrary to what some folks believe.🤣

12 minutes ago, Pioneer1 said:

A lot of poverty is by COMPARISON.

All poverty is created by human greed.

12 minutes ago, Pioneer1 said:

Many of these "poor" people around the planet have been living the same way for hundreds if not thousands of years, and they've been happy UNTIL they compare themselves how people are living in the West.

Happiness is relative.

Most people don't care or know whether they're poor orbl rich until they compare themselves to others.

Children are the best example of it. As long as they're provided with the necessities of life, rich or poor doesn't matter to them.

Not until a person starts comparing themselves to others & how they're treated does it make a difference.

The Western value system of what matters in life is terrible especially between the systems of racism white supremacy & capitalism.

12 minutes ago, Pioneer1 said:

Too busy pocket watching....lol.

Many people aren't happy to have everything they need in THEIR life; they are focused on the millionaires and billionaires and why THEY have so much money and how did they get it and what they're doing with it.

The systems promote both sides of that equation.

The majority of people on the planet will never have more than they need to survive.

Yet, people will be told that through education & hard work they can have more than just enough.

Meanwhile, becoming a millionaire or billionaire has little or nothing to do with education &/or hard work.

Fortunes are built on everything from someone else's labor to hoarding natural resources to trading in the stock market.

So, when the average person is confronted with that reality, it can lead to disenfranchisement or despaire or destructive behavior.

Laws are constructed to control &/or contain people who try to buck the systems which can lead up to everything from greater confinement to wars & death.😎

ProfD

Again, what are people doing with that information to make life better for future generations?

Your guess is as good as mine, lol.

My point was that in modernity, there are Black folks who are perfectly fine with living under s system of racism white supremacy. They don't see it as oppressive as slavery

Correct.

Or atleast many can't think of a better system to replace it with.

So they live under this one.

All poverty is created by human greed.

So you don't think the individual is at fault in bringing poverty on themselves in atleast some cases?

Happiness is relative.

Most people don't care or know whether they're poor orbl rich until they compare themselves to others.

Correct, and that's one of my points.

Pocket watching others.
Angry....not because they don't have enough wealth....but because somebody else has more wealth than them.

The Western value system of what matters in life is terrible especially between the systems of racism white supremacy & capitalism.

I agree that it's not the best.

But when you compare it to OTHER systems, where you have gangs of young men roaming around with rifles on the back of mopeds raiding villages and killing other people and TAKING what little wealthy there is....the Western system is much better.

The systems promote both sides of that equation.

The majority of people on the planet will never have more than they need to survive.

But is that the fault of the West, or is much of it the fault of a FAILED CULTURE in which they are not taught how to prepare for famine, drought, winter, and hard times?
Too busy spreading carpets out on sand and dirt floors throwing weddings and feasts every other week instead of getting their ass out in the field and producing crops, irrigating the land, and building stable infrastructures.

Yet, people will be told that through education & hard work they can have more than just enough.

Meanwhile, becoming a millionaire or billionaire has little or nothing to do with education &/or hard work.

Most millionaires and billionaires INHERITED their wealth....from parents and grandparents who thought enough of them to actually LEAVE them wealth for their future.

That's love.

A lot of poor people don't even PLAN to have children, let alone plan on having anything to leave them.

Reminds me of that Temptations song about Papa was a rolling stone....when he died all the nigga left his kids was ALONE, lol.

I can't get angry at the billionaire or millionaire leaving a fortune for their children when you got these some of these poor ass muthasuckaz who ain't leaving shit for their many many children...but a lot debt and car notes.

Fortunes are built on everything from someone else's labor to hoarding natural resources to trading in the stock market.

So, when the average person is confronted with that reality, it can lead to disenfranchisement or despaire or destructive behavior.

So a woman chose to smoke crack....because she was angry about people making a fortune on Wallstreet?

Laws are constructed to control &/or contain people who try to buck the systems which can lead up to everything from greater confinement to wars & death.

Richard Pryor said the same thing about prisons, until he actually WENT to one and talked with a few of the inmates.
He left saying THANK GOD FOR PRISONS

👮🏾‍♂️ -Muthafucka, why did you kill EVERYBODY in the house???

"Well.....they was home!"

6 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

All poverty is created by human greed.

So you don't think the individual is at fault in bringing poverty on themselves in atleast some cases?

Sure. A person can definitely make decisions that lead to being poor under the systems that control resources.

Poverty is a condition of human design.

6 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

Correct, and that's one of my points.

Pocket watching others.
Angry....not because they don't have enough wealth....but because somebody else has more wealth than them.

The anger comes from knowing wealthy people aren't necessarily smarter &/or harder working. Inherited wealth is a great example.

6 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

I agree that it's not the best.

But when you compare it to OTHER systems, where you have gangs of young men roaming around with rifles on the back of mopeds raiding villages and killing other people and TAKING what little wealthy there is....the Western system is much better.

Criminals are heading into the system of greater confinement &/or the cemetery.😁

6 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

But is that the fault of the West, or is much of it the fault of a FAILED CULTURE in which they are not taught how to prepare for famine, drought, winter, and hard times?

The West exploits other countries.

They would argue their culture isn't failed. It's just different from ours.

6 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

Too busy spreading carpets out on sand and dirt floors throwing weddings and feasts every other week instead of getting their ass out in the field and producing crops, irrigating the land, and building stable infrastructures.

Those cultures have been living the same way for thousands of years.

6 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

Yet, people will be told that through education & hard work they can have more than just enough.

Meanwhile, becoming a millionaire or billionaire has little or nothing to do with education &/or hard work.

Most millionaires and billionaires INHERITED their wealth....from parents and grandparents who thought enough of them to actually LEAVE them wealth for their future.

That's love.

How did the heirs amass that fortune?

6 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

So a woman chose to smoke crack....because she was angry about people making a fortune on Wallstreet?

Nope. She self-medicates to temporarily escape the reality of being poor.

6 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

Richard Pryor said the same thing about prisons, until he actually WENT to one and talked with a few of the inmates.
He left saying THANK GOD FOR PRISONS

👮🏾‍♂️ -Muthafucka, why did you kill EVERYBODY in the house???

"Well.....they was home!"

One of my favorite Richard Pryor punchlines.🤣😎

On 6/6/2026 at 8:22 AM, Pioneer1 said:

While your friends were busy running the streets and clowning around, I pictured you somewhere in a room buried in books and trying to study your way out of the ghetto.

No time for shaking up and rolling around in the bed all day with females....lol.

I would’ve been better served if I was in fact more like Preach when I was a boy I loved to read and learn, but no, I fell prey to peer pressure wanting to run the streets chasing women, gambling, and drinking. I did ultimately pursue athletics and academics — trying to be “balanced.”

I did sport classes like preach so if you saw me, you probably thought nerd:-) until I was about 19 when I started wearing contacts.

ProfD

Sure. A person can definitely make decisions that lead to being poor under the systems that control resources.

Poverty is a condition of human design.

Some may argue that poverty is actually a social construct.

Especially given the fact that many people don't even know they're poor UNTIL they compare themselves with others more well off.

The anger comes from knowing wealthy people aren't necessarily smarter &/or harder working. Inherited wealth is a great example.

In other words, some of that anger is actually DELUSIONAL and unfounded?

Because the fact is many wealthy people ARE smarter and harder working than many poor people.

Not everyone inherited their wealth, some are self-made.

But a poor person full of excuses will push that narrative to avoid taking responsibility for their lack of smarts or poor work ethic.

The West exploits other countries.

True

Many of the leaders of those countries seem to WELCOME that exploitation.

They would argue their culture isn't failed. It's just different from ours.

I would argue both.

Not only are most cultures in Third world poverty stricken nations DIFFERENT than ours but they are also INFERIOR to ours from a financial point of view.

I would also suggest that the West COULD be considered more SOCIALLY and MORALLY advanced than a lot of these nations because sexism and slavery was the cultural norm but eventually banned and outlawed in the West....but still exists in full force in many of these other nations.

Those cultures have been living the same way for thousands of years.

Facts

And evidence of this is there lack of advancement for thousands of years.

Many of them...like the Afghans...are still living in the stone age.

Meanwhile the West has been constantly progressing not only financially but technicologically for hundreds of years and especially since the Industrial revolution.

How did the heirs amass that fortune?

They inherited it.

Usually from family members who thought enough of them to actually leave them something besides a car note, lol.

....or a long lost brother they never knew existed until the funeral, lol.

Nope. She self-medicates to temporarily escape the reality of being poor.

Or she came from a middle class or working class family, fell in love with the wrong boyfriend and started smoking crack with HIM.

Plenty of cases like that too.

Many poor people didn't come from poverty, they came from wealth and fucked their lives up with terrible decision making and rebellious attitudes.

One of my favorite Richard Pryor punchlines.

My man got so many of them.....lol.

In that one performance alone!

Troy

I fell prey to peer pressure wanting to run the streets chasing women, gambling, and drinking.

It's hard for me to imagine you shooting dice and drinking cheap wine....lol.

No wonder you flipped on the old White woman at the dollar store and cussed her out over some wine! 🤣

What was your favorite: Ripple or Thunderbird?