Many of us know someone who constantly talks about the “good old days.” The problem?

From an objective, societal viewpoint, past decades weren’t always better.

Nostalgia plays a huge role in why South Carolinians—and Americans as a whole—think the good old days were better.

Psychologists describe nostalgia as a natural process and something that can help people anchor their identity, giving us a feeling of stability and predictability. But in the case of the “good old days,” nostalgia often lies to us.

We combed through historical data to show why things weren’t better in the good old days.

That said, when we say things weren’t better, we’re looking at it through a societal lens; the past may very well have been better for certain individuals.

1: Credit Card Permission

Until 1974, women weren’t allowed to apply for a credit card in their own name.

This made many women financially dependent on men, as they couldn’t build credit to get a mortgage or a car loan.

2: Lower Life Expectancy

During the 160-year period from 1860 to 2020, the life expectancy in the U.S. rose from 39.4 years to 78.9 years.

Infant and child fatalities made up a significant portion of mortality rates in the 1800s. They no longer do.

3: More Poverty

Although there’s still work to be done, world poverty was much higher in the past than it is now.

In 1990, 38% of the world was living in extreme poverty. In 2019, only 9.1% held that title, meaning that 47 million people rose out of extreme poverty every year during that time frame.

4: Less Equality

Slavery wasn’t abolished until 1865. Women didn’t have the right to vote until 1920.

Segregation didn’t end until 1964. Life surely wasn’t better in the past for people living under these oppressed conditions.

5: Fewer Travel Opportunities

It wasn’t until 1957 that planes replaced boats as the preferred way to cross the Atlantic Ocean.

This was also the time when air travel started becoming more economical. In the years leading up to that time, flying was exclusively for the elite who could afford it.

6: Undeveloped Medicine

Penicillin was discovered in 1928, but it wasn’t until 1942 that doctors began treating patients with it.

Since then, scientists have developed approximately 150 antibiotics in 31 classes. Some estimate that the invention of penicillin has saved more than 200 million lives.

7: Military Drafts

The American government implemented a peacetime draft in 1940, which lasted until 1973, with the exception of one year.

During the Vietnam War, approximately 1.9 million Americans were drafted to serve.

8: More War Fatalities

Since 1946, the global number of people losing their lives in war has been on a downward trend.

It’s also more common for wars around the world to happen between domestic groups rather than different states.

9: Lower Graduation Rates

In 1910, only 13.5% of Americans 25 years and older had completed high school. Fast forward to 2019, and high school graduation rates are at 90.1%.

Similarly, whereas only 2.7% of Americans 25 years and older held bachelor’s degrees or higher in 1910, 36% held them in 2019.

10: Poorer Education

During colonial times, education was a mixed bag for American children. There was no standardization among what was taught, and free public education didn’t start in the U.S. until the mid-19th century.

The story even goes that George Washington received education in his early years from a schoolmaster who “knew next to nothing.”

11: Less Interconnectedness

While there’s an argument to be made about technology making people less social, it’s undeniably made it easier for people from different parts of the world to connect with each other.

The cross-cultural exchange of ideas and education has been invaluable to many, particularly those living in developing nations.

12: Danger on the Job

Workplace safety has vastly improved in the U.S. over the years. For example, in 1900, approximately 300 out of every 100,000 miners lost their lives while working.

In 2021, 19.6 coal mining fatalities occurred per 100,000 full-time workers.

13: No Domestic Abuse Laws

Under Old English common law, early American settler men were legally allowed to inflict harm on their wives for “correctional purposes.”

In 1975, most (but not all) states permitted wives to bring a criminal case against an abusive spouse, and it wasn’t until 1990 that judges were permitted to consider spousal abuse as part of their determination about child custody or visitation rights.

14: Less Vulnerability

In the past, American culture valued not wearing one’s emotions on their sleeve or talking about taboo topics. That’s evolving, and therapists are celebrating it.

Being vulnerable with people one trusts can help build better relationships, resilience, and make people feel less alone with their feelings and experiences.

15: Diseases Abounded

Hib, anyone? Many diseases are essentially eradicated or are under control thanks to vaccines.

It’s practically unheard of for an American to develop polio, tetanus, and measles nowadays.

16: Age Discrimination

In 1967, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) was signed into law.

Since that time, it’s been illegal for employers to discriminate against applicants and employees who are 40 years of age and older when hiring, offering promotions, compensation negotiations, and more.

Declinism

When people talk about the good old days, they often say it with the conviction that there’s little hope for the future. That’s declinism.

The negativity from a person with a declinist attitude can be geared towards things like a country, an economy, or the world as a whole.

1950s Perfection

In his quest to discover when the good old days truly were, podcaster Jason Feifer reached out to Americans to get their take. The answer he received the most was the 1950s.

But here’s the problem: Upon Feifer consulting with historians about his findings, they said that was most definitely not the truth. Racial and class tensions were high in the 1950s.

Sociologists were concerned that the spread of individualism was destroying families. And let’s not even start with the threat of nuclear annihilation.

The Cycle Continues

When Feifer asked people who lived through the 1950s whether they thought those were the good days, they appeared to agree with historians. So, what decade do people from the 1950s think were the good old days?

The 1920s.

Of course, there were problems there too. The concept of traditional American families was at risk in the eyes of those living in the 1920s, for divorce rates were increasing.

The Victorian era was surely better. But, no, people back then were, in some cases, literally worried sick over the change in pace of life that railroads and telegraphs brought; a new fatigue and anxiety-inducing disease was named during that time.

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Taboos are, by definition, tough to talk about. They’re the unspoken things that our social customs forbid.

We may not discuss them openly, but we all know when someone breaks one. If someone stands too close to you while talking, is having an affair, or peels a hard-boiled egg on a plane, you might give them a disapproving look (or more).

Even though we don’t typically discuss the forbidden social practices on this list out in the wild, they’re worth reading about.

There are a few you might not have even realized were taboos.

1: Avoiding Eye Contact

Few people would ever think to discuss it, but avoiding eye contact is taboo in the U.S. In other countries, like Japan or Korea, averting one’s eyes is sometimes polite.

In America, if you don’t make eye contact with the bank teller, a police officer, or the guy delivering your groceries, it comes across as rude or even suspicious.

According to MIT, in Western culture, eyes indicate where your focus is.

So, making eye contact shows you’re interested in what the other person has to say.

2: Personal Space Issues

America is a sprawling country with plenty of room to spare. Perhaps that’s why we have such a broad definition of personal space.

Getting within arm’s length of someone who is not a family member, lover, or very close friend is a huge taboo in the U.S.

According to the University of Louisville, Americans typically stand at least two to three feet apart.

3: Smoking, Even Where It’s Allowed

According to the CDC, less than 12% of Americans smoke, and many public and private venues have no-smoking rules. Still, smoking is allowed in many areas of the U.S.

That said, lighting up a cigarette, even in some places where it’s technically allowed, is taboo.

You’re likely to get a dirty look or two if you smoke where anyone can see you.

4: Firearms

Firearm policy may be almost constantly in the news, but talking about it with acquaintances or anyone you don’t know well is a major no-no in much of the U.S.

Telling people you own a firearm is like admitting some deep, dark secret in many parts of the country.

In many spaces, even discussing current or proposed firearm policy is a good way to end a conversation.

Weapon ownership in the U.S. is a sensitive topic at best.

5: Bringing Up Politics

Bringing up politics during polite conversation is taboo in the U.S.

It may be all anyone reads about in the headlines or sees on the news, but sharing political opinions is sure to earn you a few unapproving looks.

Politics in the U.S. is divisive, and while many Americans like to believe that they can hold a civil conversation with someone who has opposing views, that’s not always true.

Many people get emotional about their political beliefs, and conversations can get heated quickly.

6: Public Displays of Affection

Holding hands, a peck on the cheek, or a warm hug are all socially acceptable forms of public affection. Go too far, though, and you’ll run into taboo territory.

A couple that’s too lovey-dovey in public is bound to get a few disgusted stares.

Americans want couples to show each other they care without getting too touchy-feely.

7: Honking

Car manufacturers give cars horns for good reasons. They provide an auditory warning that’s crucial for alerting others of your presence.

However, in the U.S., honking when it’s not absolutely necessary is taboo.

Drivers who honk out of anger or frustration are looked down on by those who can control their emotions.

8: Making Too Much Eye Contact

Making eye contact when you’re talking to someone in the U.S. is socially acceptable. However, there’s such a thing as too much eye contact.

Letting your eyes lock with someone else’s during conversation can come off as creepy.

Americans keep just enough eye contact to show interest, but not so much that the other person thinks they’re a sociopath.

9: Talking About Death

One of the few facts of life is that everyone will die. It’s not something we like to think about, though.

We don’t talk about it, either.

According to the National Funeral Directors Association, only 36% of Americans discuss end-of-life plans with their loved ones in advance.

10: Not Taking the Shopping Cart Back

Maybe you’re in a hurry, or maybe you have screaming kids in the back seat.

Whatever your reasoning, you might decide to leave your shopping cart in a planter or an adjacent parking spot instead of putting it back.

Most of us have been guilty of this at one point or another.

Still, not taking the shopping cart back to its corral after loading your car is taboo in America, and few of us want to be caught doing it.

11: Food on a Plane

No one is saying you can’t eat on a plane, but certain foods are total taboos.

While bringing your mixed nuts, crackers, and sliced fruit is okay, there are other things you should never unwrap on a plane, even if they sell them at the airport.

Expect a few dirty looks and maybe even an open complaint if you start peeling a hard-boiled egg or pull out a tuna sandwich.

The same goes for pungent curries, stinky cheeses, and anything else with a less-than-appealing aroma.

12: Evangelism

One of America’s founding principles is freedom of religion. Sharing your religious beliefs with others, though, is taboo.

Religious topics can quickly offend or spark arguments.

So, many people choose not to discuss them with anyone outside their closest circle.

13: Letting Kids Roam

While it wasn’t always the case, an unsupervised childhood in the U.S. today is almost unheard of.

Letting your children roam the neighborhood until the street lights come on is a total taboo.

Even though research shows there are major benefits to unsupervised play, American children rarely get to enjoy a few hours without a parent or guardian.

Our society worries about predators and other dangers to such a degree that even seeing a child walking to or from school without an adult makes people nervous.

14: Spanking

Spanking your kids as a form of discipline is taboo in many American circles, but it’s still legal in most jurisdictions.

We don’t like to talk about the fact that it’s within the law to hit or otherwise physically discipline children for misbehaving, and few parents would admit to resorting to that style of punishment.

That said, a 2019 study revealed that almost half (49%) of children ages 0-9 were spanked by their parents.

Americans may not want to talk about it, but spanking still happens in mass.

15: Having an Affair

As the old adage goes, “All’s fair in love and war.” Except, that’s not exactly true.

Having an affair is taboo, even if something as deep as love is at stake. And the majority of Americans disapprove of the practice.

Still, over 20% of men and 19% of women admit to being philanderers.

Getting Less Taboo

Some American taboos are becoming more acceptable. According to Gallop, young Americans (age 18- 29) find fewer topics to be socially unacceptable than their older counterparts.

Topics that younger Americans said weren’t taboo included suicide, polygamy, and cloning.

However, many young Americans still said extra-marital affairs were morally unacceptable.

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From eerie lights in the sky to full-blown alien abductions, there’s no lack of reports that extraterrestrials not only exist but have visited our planet.

While many so-called sightings are easy to write off or explain, some leave even the most skeptical scratching their heads. 

The truth is that several reported alien sightings defy standard explanations. In some cases, there are hundreds of witnesses, and in others, the witnesses are exceptionally credible, often bearing military credentials. 

While that doesn’t mean aliens are real, it certainly makes these sightings more intriguing.

As these 17 events show—three of which California residents might recognize—we’re far from explaining everything that happens in our universe. 

1: The Basel Broadsheet 

Alien sightings aren’t limited to modern history. There are several reports from the ancient world of bizarre astronomical events, and even after humans gained a basic understanding of science and the stars, strange occurrences persisted. 

In 1566, people observed dozens of black and white objects floating in the sky over Basel, Switzerland.

One witness recorded the event in picture form on a document known as “The Basel Broadsheet.” 

2: Mystery Airships

The first publicized UFO sighting in the United States occurred in 1896, according to American Heritage.

Between 6 and 7 PM, hundreds of people in Sacramento, California, reported seeing “an electric arc lamp propelled by some mysterious force.” The next day, it was seen in San Francisco. 

Planes had not yet been invented, and witnesses noted the strange ship traveled into the wind, which meant it could not be a balloon. The San Francisco Chronicle reported the event, initially claiming it was the work of a local, wealthy inventor.

However, the “inventor” later recanted his story, and the Chronicle issued a revised report that left the origin of the mystery ship a mystery. 

3: Betty and Barney Hill 

One of the most well-known and strangest UFO stories is that of Betty and Barney Hill.

The Hills were driving on a dark road in New Hampshire in 1961 when they claimed a bright light began to follow them. 

The Hills claimed they were abducted and are unsure of what happened that night. The next thing they remember, it was daylight, their clothes were torn, and their watches had stopped working. 

4: The Lizard Man

In a Vanity Fair report, psychotherapist Barbara Lamb detailed seeing a reptilian being. Lamb was an avid crop circle researcher who often traveled to England for her studies.

However, the lizard man didn’t appear to her in an English field; it was in her living room in Claremont, California.

She described the creature as being tall with yellow eyes. And, though she admitted she was not typically fond of lizards or snakes, she felt oddly unafraid.

She reached out to touch the reptile man’s hand, and he swiftly disappeared. 

5: The First Flying Saucers

No one can say what private pilot Kenneth Arnold saw as he flew past Mt. Rainier in 1947. Still, his description of the events changed the world’s vocabulary.

It’s thanks to his alien sighting that we have the term “flying saucers.” 

On a pleasant June afternoon, the experienced pilot was searching for a crashed Marine transport plane when he saw a bright flash.

At first, he thought the flash was from the downed plane, but then, as more flashes appeared, Arnold realized it was coming from multiple objects in the air. 

He said he watched as a formation of nine objects, flying faster than any plane was capable at the time, passed Mt. Rainier.

Though he denied ever calling the odd-shaped ships flying saucers, reporters used the term when covering the story.  

6: Zimbabwe School Children 

In 1994, 60 schoolchildren in Zimbabwe reported seeing UFOs near the playground. The odd flying crafts reportedly landed, and children interacted with the aliens inside. 

Though many have dismissed this event as a case of mass hysteria, strange lights were sighted throughout the country at the same time.

Some even reported seeing ships in the air as far away as South Africa. 

7: Britain’s Roswell

Many refer to the Rendlesham Forest Incident as “Britain’s Roswell.”

While some consider it a legend, on par with stories of King Arthur and the Loch Ness Monster, many believe there must be some truth in the tale, especially given the witnesses in question. 

In December of 1980, several U.S. military personnel stationed in the forest reported seeing strange lights. They went to investigate.

What they found may have been an alien spaceship covered in strange hieroglyphs, or it could have all been a prank by the British military.  

8: The Real Roswell

In 1947, the U.S. Army sent out a press release that shook the nation. In it, they said they had recovered a “flying disc” from a ranch near Roswell, New Mexico. 

Reports are conflicted about what really happened in the small New Mexico town, but some things are confirmed. We know a rancher found wreckage on his property, which was brought to the attention of the U.S. Army.

We also know the Army quickly retracted its initial report about finding a flying disc and said, instead, that they’d recovered a weather balloon. 

Many remain skeptical of the Army’s changed report. Theories about what they really found range from a Soviet spy device to actual alien lifeforms. 

9: O’Hare’s Flying Saucer 

The FAA called it a weather phenomenon, but the twelve airline employees who spotted a flying craft over O’Hare International Airport aren’t so sure.

On November 7, 2006, just before a United Airlines flight was set to take off, employees said they saw a metallic shape hovering over the gate. 

They all reported that the shape hung in the air for several minutes before shooting up into the clouds at an unimaginable speed. Oddly, the event did not register on the airport’s radar. 

10: The Melbourne 350 

It was the largest mass sighting of a UFO in Australia, but many still remain skeptical of witness claims.

In the incident known as the Melbourne 350, 350 witnesses at Westall High School, including both students and staff, watched as five planes tried to corral and capture a UFO. 

The planes surrounded the UFO for a few moments before it reportedly fled at breakneck speeds.

Students and teachers claim they were instructed never to speak about the incident. 

11: Broad Haven Primary School

The village of Broad Haven in Wales is sometimes described as the “Bermuda Triangle,” of alien sightings. There are more than 450 reports of extraterrestrial encounters in the small, remote town. 

In 1977, a group of playing school children claimed to see alien lifeforms. Teachers were skeptical of the claims, so they separated the kids and asked each of them to draw what they saw.

All of the children drew the same picture of a flying saucer. 

12: Valentich Vanishes

“That strange aircraft is hovering on top of me again. It is hovering, and it’s not an aircraft.” Those were the last known words of twenty-year-old pilot Frederick Valentich.

Valentich was flying his plane off the coast of Cape Otway in October 1978 when he sent the final transmission to air traffic control.

After those chilling last words, Valentich and his plane disappeared and have never been found. 

13: The Real Men in Black 

It’s said that what happened to Fred Crisman and Harold Dahl inspired The Men in Black movies.

As the story goes, Dahl was with his son and dog on the waters of Puget Sound when they spotted six strange aircraft overhead. Metal debris then fell from the sky, killing Dahl’s dog and injuring his son. 

After Dahl told his work supervisor, Fred Crisman, what happened, men in black suits appeared.

They told them never to speak of the incident again. 

14: Aliens Over the Pentagon

In 1952, seven UFOs appeared in secured airspace over the Pentagon. The event was captured on film, and the crafts registered on radar. 

The U.S. government quickly sent jets to investigate, but as they approached, the unknown aircraft disappeared from the radar.

When the jets were grounded, the UFOs reappeared.  

15: The Exeter UFO

Norman Muscarello was just a scared 18-year-old when he went to the police in Exeter, New Hampshire, to report a UFO. He had been hitchhiking along the highway when eerie red lights came flying towards him.

Muscarello said he jumped into a ditch to avoid being hit. 

When police went to investigate, they surely believed they would uncover a logical explanation. However, they were met with the same red lights traveling at top speeds.

The event became so famous that the town continues to hold a renowned UFO festival each year. 

16: French’s Drowned UFOs

Lieutenant Colonel Richard French was tasked with explaining away the UFO phenomena that so many reported in the 1950s. Unfortunately for him, he went on to witness alien aircraft. 

At a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure in 2013, French revealed he witnessed two downed UFOs in the waters off St. John.

He claimed to see aliens fixing the downed vessels and then flying off. 

17: Commander Fravor’s Tic-Tacs

Retired Navy Commander David Fravor reported seeing “tic-tac-like” flying objects floating in the sky off the coast of Southern California in 2004.

Fravor said advanced ship radar had picked up aerial objects descending at over 80,000 miles per hour, and they had taken to the air to investigate. 

Fravor later testified to the sighting in a hearing with White House lawmakers.

He also spoke about the event in numerous interviews, including 60 Minutes.  

Are There Really Aliens?

Alien sightings have become a part of U.S. culture and now hold a place in modern folklore.

However, their existence is hotly contested. While some believe the evidence of their previous visits is overwhelming, others believe there are more likely explanations. 

According to the Pentagon, there is “no evidence” of UFOs.

In a recent report covering sightings from 1945 to 2022, Pentagon researchers said they “found no evidence that any U.S. government investigation, academic-sponsored research, or official review panel has confirmed that any sighting of a UAP represented extraterrestrial technology.” 

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