The Oil Drum | DrumBeat: June 24, 2006

168 comments on DrumBeat: June 24, 2006

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avalon on June 24, 2006 - 10:23am

This from a posting on another blog. Just 100 years.

"Here are some of the U.S. statistics for the Year 1906 :
The average life expectancy in the U.S. was 47 years.

Only 14 percent of the homes in the U.S. had a bathtub.

Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone. A three-minute call from Denver to New York City cost $11.

There were only 8,000 automobiles in the U.S., and only 144 miles of paved roads.The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.

Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee were each more heavily populated than California.With a mere 1.4 million people, California was only the 21st
most populous state in the Union.

The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower.

The average wage in the U.S. was 22 cents per hour. The average U.S. worker made between $200 and $400 per year. A competent accountant could expect to earn $2,000 per year,
a dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year. More than 95 percent of all births in the U.S. took place at home. Ninety percent of all U.S. doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION! Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press and the government as "substandard."

Sugar cost four cents a pound. Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen. Coffee was fifteen cents a pound. Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo. Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from entering into their country for any reason. The five leading causes of death in the U.S. were:

Pneumonia and influenza
Tuberculosis
Diarrhea
Heart disease
Stroke

The American flag had 45 stars. Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Alaska hadn't yet been admitted to the Union. The population of Las Vegas, Nevada, was only 30.

Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and ice tea hadn't been invented yet. There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day. Two out of every 10 U.S. adults couldn't read or write.

Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school. Eighteen percent of households in the U.S. had at least one full-time servant or domestic help.

For the year, there were about 230 reported murders in the entire country."

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tstreet on June 24, 2006 - 11:20am

Thanks for putting things in perspective. I am not trying to say that things were better back then, but we should keep in mind that our happiness level hasn't kept pace with our affluence level. I do like the part about 10 mph speed limit, though.

We should also keep in mind that the marginal income tax rate for the rich during the Eisenhower years was 91%. We have a long way to go before we are "overtaxed".

The boomers were and are supporting their parents and supported their children. I would hate to think they will be jettisoned when times get a bit tough. We will all sink or swim together.

It is mostly our greed,materialism, need for comfort and "convenience" that has gotten us into this mess. The only way we can get out of this mess is to relearn the lessons of frugality. It also wouldn't hurt if we cut back on our population. If the new college graduates choose not to have children, I say great. Thus far, I have just one grandchild and I would be happy to keep it that way.

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joule on June 24, 2006 - 4:32pm

avalon -

Yes, it is indeed interesting to contemplate all the things that weren't here 100 years ago.

To put a bit of political and societal spin on this exercise, here are a few of my own, in no particular order:

No Department of Homeland Security
No FBI
No CIA
No War on Drugs
No police SWAT teams
No for-profit prisons
No surveillance cameras in public places
No IRS ( no income tax)
No War on Terrorism
No (almost) Federal involvement in local law enforcement
No government data bases on private citizens
No wire tapping, data mining
No Total Information Awareness program
No AIDS
No military-industrial complex and no massive 'defense' budget
No powerful Israeli lobby unduly influencing US foreign policy (no Israel)
No imported oil and all the problems thereof
No SUVs, cell phones, iPods, rap music, etc

I could go on and on, but I think you see my point -
we have gained much but we have also lost much.

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Pogo on June 24, 2006 - 6:20pm

You overlooked population.There was 200 million
fewer of us a hundred years ago.

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Oilrig medic on June 24, 2006 - 11:15pm

No civil rights existed then either. Women and minorities were second class in many regions. You give up your philosopy easily. All the negatives you state above pale in comparison to a lynch mob ing a black man in the deep south or the child who dies of polio.

No Department of Homeland Security
Do we not need this?
No FBI
100 years ago a er could flee unpursued across state lines

No CIA
We had spies since the revolutionary war
No War on
see above
No police SWAT teams
Special Weapons and Tactics to deal with heavily armed criminals.
No for-profit prisons
Everything id profit don't kid yourself.
No surveillance cameras in public places
Why is this bad? If you are not commiting a crime what does it matter? Integrity is doing the right thing when nobody is looking. Since so many have none this insures someone is looking.
No IRS ( no income tax)
I don't like taxes either.
No War on ism
Chicken or egg?
No (almost) Federal involvement in local law enforcement
As southern sherrifs turned blind eyes and attended clan meetings
No government data bases on private citizens
No computers
No wire tapping, data mining
""
No Total Information Awareness program
""
No AIDS
No aliens in roswell either
No military-industrial complex and no massive 'defense' budget

No powerful Israeli lobby unduly influencing US foreign policy (no Israel)

No imported oil and all the problems thereof

No SUVs, cell phones, iPods, rap music

I blame rap

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colorado on June 24, 2006 - 6:26pm

At least one statistic of that blog posting is innacurate. There were 1310 homicides in that year, not 230 (Source: Historical Statistics of the United States). The rate, of course, was still much lower than today's.

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