I would say the sweet spot to have been born is the early 40s. Too young for WWII and too old for Vietnam. You got to live through American dominance throughout the world. You had air travel, best health care in the world (penicillin had been discovered), rock music, two cars in every garage, a roaring economy, low interest rates, great job prospects, one income per family got the job done, the pill, and free love. When you vacationed in Europe, people still respected what our country had done for them versus the Germans. Globalization had not destroyed pensions and early retirement and American manufacturing, you had social security and medicare. We could have used statins and better blood pressure medicine, but a widow maker heart attack was quick and decisive better way to go than most.
Why would you think that? Do you not realize the advances in medicine and technology since then? That alone makes your pick ridiculous. 2 cars in every garage? Um...no. It was VERY common to only have one car all through the 50s and into the 60s. You would have had to live as an adult through the horrible 70s. Bad economy, long lines at gas stations, lead everywhere. Racism even worse than it is today, fewer job opportunities for women.
Entertainment and recreation options are greater today than ever before. Health care is better. Cars are better. Until there is an apocalypse, the best time to be alive in the US anyway is always TODAY, and the best time to be born is TODAY.
Oh, and statins are bad news...POSSIBLE (inconsistent results) links to increased chance of dementia.
If you're talking in terms of comfort and convenience, then the best time is certainly now.
If you're talking in terms of cultural values and morality, probably sometime in the 50's. Of course, the whole horrible racism thing is a giant stain on the whole thing but lets not throw the baby out with the bathwater. I could be wrong but I would like to think that people were happier, had a greater sense of meaning, purpose, belonging and fulfillment than people in today's superficial and degenerate culture.
I was born in the mid-60s. I recall watching Shorter win in Munich. I saw KISS in 76, Fleetwood Mac in 1977, Boston in 1978, and more alternative bands than I can mention.
Rodgers was The Man when I started running, Salazar was when I was good, I was at a peak when civilization was in 1999, and I lived terminal/mainframe to rooted/VPN'd smart phones, driving an electric car, and legal weed.
One thing that should be considered is how moderns culture of convenience has actually made things much more disposable.
In the past, if you wanted to buy a book or an album, you had to invest time to physically go to a store and browse through and choose. Even if you don't love the book or album at first and maybe never, you invested time and effort so you are more likely to finish the book or carefully listen to the entire album.
Now, it's just, flip to the next thing in an ADD way where you just keep skipping to the next thing without even fully looking at anything. This has made art so disposable.
Convenience is a good thing, make no mistake. But it comes with consequences.
If they ever make sex robots, I think many people would give up on even trying to make the effort to make a meaningful connection with other humans and do it the normal way.
Been aware and around since the 60s. Growing up I don't think anyone looked nostalgically about any previous era, save maybe turn of the century. Like no one wanted to go back to WWI, prohibition, Great Depression, WWII, and 50s were a mix (there was a big 50s/60s look ca. Happy Days, American Graffiti era in the mid-70s) but people also remembered the civil rights struggles, and the conveniences by the 70s were much better.
Anyway, I think the last era that was pretty chill--even though there were big problems--was the 1990s. Things really turned south after 2000 and that's when the social and political divides became more intense and entrenched. We argued but at the end of the day were friends. After that, not so much. The US and world are in a worse place than 25 years ago.
If you were a white male, mid 1950s up to the draft for the Vietnam war were about as good as it gets in the US. I remember a longtime anchor at a Cleveland OH TV station retiring in the 1990s. They did a farewell show for him and told his story about how he got on TV. He showed up at the TV station when he was about 18-19 looking to do odd jobs to make some money. They let him sweep up, make sure the supply closet was stocked, etc. They then taught him how to work a camera in the studio and he did that for a few months. One day, the sports guy was sick and they let him do the sports one night. He did a decent job and got to sub whenever someone on the news desk was out. He then went from showing up looking for some pocket money to being a full time news anchor in just over a year. He was the evening news anchor for 30+ years with no college education and nothing more than showing up and learning by watching others do it.
I would say the sweet spot to have been born is the early 40s. Too young for WWII and too old for Vietnam. You got to live through American dominance throughout the world. You had air travel, best health care in the world (penicillin had been discovered), rock music, two cars in every garage, a roaring economy, low interest rates, great job prospects, one income per family got the job done, the pill, and free love. When you vacationed in Europe, people still respected what our country had done for them versus the Germans. Globalization had not destroyed pensions and early retirement and American manufacturing, you had social security and medicare. We could have used statins and better blood pressure medicine, but a widow maker heart attack was quick and decisive better way to go than most.
If you are alive right now then right now unless you are whiney delusional conspiracy theory grasping man child who struggles with reality.