What was the best decade of the 20th century?

[progressive85]

However you define "best" --  could be in terms of how happy people were, the economy, the well-being of families, the contribution in arts and culture, the passion of the times...

I'm going to say 1950s.  Yeah its really cliche and things sucked in the 50s for a lot of people, particularly African-Americans and of course gays, but based on what my grandmother told me about that time, it just seemed like a pretty nice time to be alive.

[Skill and Chance]

It's a close call between the '50's and the '60's with the '90's clearly in 3rd place.

Worst: 1. 1930's 2. 1910's 3. 1940's (in the US, they would be the worst worldwide of course)

[Blue3]

1990s


then the 1950s, but it loses out due to not yet having Civil Rights (or women really being treated more as equals).

Both were times of relative peace, prosperity, and domestic stability.

After the 90s and 50s, probably the 80s or the 20s for the same reason as the 50s (since the Crash only comes at the very end of the 20s)

Then the 1900's (the first decade), probably.

In the middle:
1970s (stagflation, Watergate, Vietnam, lack of strong good leadership, just a grim time)
1960s (great for Civil Rights and Space Race and Great Society... but VERY unstable, the assassinations, the riots, Vietnam, etc.)

At the bottom:
8. 1910s (World War)
9. 1940s (World War)
10. 1930s (Great Depression)

[Skill and Chance]

1990s


then the 1950s, but it loses out due to not yet having Civil Rights (or women really being treated more as equals).

Both were times of relative peace, prosperity, and domestic stability.

After the 90s and 50s, probably the 80s or the 20s for the same reason as the 50s (since the Crash only comes at the very end of the 20s)

Then the 1900's (the first decade), probably.

In the middle:
1970s (stagflation, Watergate, Vietnam, lack of strong good leadership, just a grim time)
1960s (great for Civil Rights and Space Race and Great Society... but VERY unstable, the assassinations, the riots, Vietnam, etc.)

At the bottom:
8. 1910s (World War)
9. 1940s (World War)
10. 1930s (Great Depression)

This was true in the worst offender states and municipalities, but there was substantial progress and activism from pretty much the day after WWII ended in the Upper South and even in Deep South cities like New Orleans and Atlanta.  Ike also pushed hard for a civil rights bills during his 2nd term.  The 1950's get too much flak on social issues when you look closely at what was going on in the background, while the 1910's weirdly get a pass and always get presented as an uber-progressive decade.

[Del Tachi]

1960s