Overall, the main change so far between C20 and C21 is probably the huge world population increase that there has been, although climate change may prove to be as great. The jury is still out on the latter, which in any case seems likely to be directly connected to the former.
Looking back to the mid C20s there was still until the 1950s, food rationing in the UK following on from WWII. That was ended when food supplies began to improve.
However comparing a few aspects of life in C20 with those of C21, some of the points below may be of interest:
In C20, a 5 year old might travel alone to school on an electric trolley bus in London whereas in C21, a 5 year Londoner is old often driven to school in a gas guzzler car. However the dense fog caused by widespread use of coal made breathing difficult and on those occasions even electric trolley buses were driven very slowly. Smogs have long since gone but the gases from petrol and diesel use may be causing the climate change (see above).
Beer; little choice in C20 with Newcastle Brown Ale being a favourite but in C21 there is huge choice with supermarkets selling many continental type lagers
Commuting to Town in C20 was usually in a dreadful old pre-denationalisation green train with slam doors and with staff frequently striking. In C21 denationalised trains, at least those for commuting into to Town, are far cleaner. Still the strikes are back just as the system is largely being re-nationalised.
Fashion in the 1960s seemed great for ladies with mini-skirts being to the fore for a while. For men, office suits were the dull norm bowler hats were then still common. In the 2020s men's office fashion is beginning to improve and bowler hats have long since gone.
In the 1960s I recall the Jesuits at school see Beaumont saying the de Profundis for the boys in boarding school dormitories when there was real risk of nuclear war that night, which was only just avoided by the USA and allies standing firm against the then Soviet Union, which withdrew nuclear weaponry from Cuba at the eleventh hour.
Sadly, the comparison with C21 is hit by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2021 and its appalling killing of so many people there. Indeed, given the tens of thousands already dead in the current Russian war, which war continues and the nuclear threats from Putin, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing conflagration, are surely worse than the Cuban missile crisis?
Holidays abroad were in the 1970s luxuries that few could afford whereas in they 2020s they are still relatively cheap; but for how long? My old school friend John and I had some relatively expensive but on occasion somewhat dangerous, student travels in the 1970s; see 1970s Egypt and 1970s Turkey
Housing is another issue. In the 1970s houses were cheap and though mortgage interest rates touched 17% pa at one point, first time buyers could secure mortgages from their local council which enabled mr and mrs maytrees to buy our first home for £8,500 courtesy of a Greater London Council mortgage loan.
In 2022 Croydon council which wasted was it £4.5 billion on a property scheme, is unable to let its inhabitants take out council mortgages instead of such profligate waste of resources, despite any mortgage losses being likely to be far lower.
In C20 workers tended to be full timers. In C21 the 4 day week seems to be here to stay, which presumably striking railway workers are encouraging?
In the 1970s only about 4% of the population attended university or even polytechnic. Grants and allowances were available so that for example I was even able to run an old m/cycle on that small grant.
In the 2020s almost 40% of the young British population attends university though for most, the free undergraduate university days have long since gone, being replaced for many, with loans of c. £9k pa.
In Germany the percentage attending university or equivalent is even greater but the Germans have an excellent apprenticeship system, which mixes academic and practical learning.
One of the principal changes in C21 compared with C20 is that of telephony. In C20 one waited weeks for the GPO, the old BT, to provide a phone at home. Call box telephones were often out of order and not that clean. The advent of mobile phones (called cells or cell phones by our US friends) has changed all that with even the maytrees' family members owning mobiles. A problem though is that many now spend so much time on their phones in the street in cars (still despite the restricting legislation) and on public transport, that the courtesy of common greetings such as, 'good morning' sadly passes many by.
In the 1960s the UK was not part of the EU but British industry was beset with strikes and strife. Having joined the then Common Market, UK industry declined further and imports of eg European cars became the norm.
As the Common Market developed into the EU of today the advantages of importing manufactured goods from the continent became clear and British industry declined further, with many industries being taken over, eg cars, trains, shipping and shipbuilding.
Whether the UK leaving the EU will make any difference to that industry decline remains to be seen but as the tragedies in Ukraine illustrate, an independent country can make decisions and act upon them far more quickly than what to me anyway, is the bureaucratic nightmare of is it 27 supposedly independent countries which form the EU ie the European Union; or is it better called the EDU, ie the European Disunited Union?
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