It Gets Better

I like the country I live in better than the one I was born in. It's the same country, 55 years later. In 1957 there was no Civil Rights Act of 1964 or Voting Rights Act of 1965. Displays of contempt for our flag were punishable by law. In most states you needed to prove adultery or abandonment to get a divorce. Your employer could discriminate against you because you were pregnant. Cigarettes were sold without warning labels. Young men could be conscripted. The Interstate Commerce Commission enforced cartels in railroads and trucking. The top marginal federal income tax rate was 91%. The government had greater power to restrict free speech. And domestic violence was a sitcom punchline. Neither The Democratic nor the Republican party of today, for the most part, wants to go back to that. No matter who wins in November, it could be worse, and once was.