Was life better before the war and in the 50's?

originally posted by: BubbaJoe
Even as a white guy, I would have to say that Malcolm X was a pretty smart dude, yeah I have read the book.

He's one of my the historical figures that I admire the most, particularly after he rejected racism, left the Nation of Islam, and tried to link our Civil Rights Movement to the decolonization movements in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Unfortunately, I think that's also what got him killed.

I truly believe the only reason Farrakhan's still alive is because he went full nutcase, to the point that thinking people abandoned him (and b/c he took big money from the Saudis to keep quiet about their treatment of "black" people, but we're not supposed to talk about that). So he's kind of like the caricature of a 60s civil rights leader mixed with a modern shock jock.

a reply to: enlightenedservant

And yet people were clamoring to enter even then...it appears that things were still best at the time.

originally posted by: ParasuvO
a reply to: enlightenedservant

And yet people were clamoring to enter even then...it appears that things were still best at the time.

Excellent point. Because their own Countries were twenty times worse than America, and many still are.

a reply to: Annee

Now that the reverse is true...and the entire nation is full of brokenness more than ever..
What should go now??

We have all manner of things that need removing...things that are "normal" now like blaming straight white men for everything...and trying to say everything left is great...imagine how nice things can be once these are removed as well.

a reply to: seagull

No need to apologize. It's a well written post that highlights a lot of what's going on. I'm realizing that a lot of people simply may not know this stuff. It's not taught in most of our schools and the ones who speak about it usually get ostracized. It's like a similar Malcolm X quote to the one you posted: "If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”

I like to look at major sports teams and events as an example of how much things have changed. Just think, major football powerhouses like Florida State didn't even allow black students until 1962, with its first black football player enrolling in 1968 or 1969. It's hard to imagine sports events like the Superbowl, World Series, and NBA Finals if we were still segregated.

That's why it's so weird to me. We have people longing for the "good old days", yet they like the foods, entertainers, and athletes that were literally separated from them by law in those days. And the tax rates were preposterous by today's standards, so I doubt they really want to go back to that either. Technology sucked back then, medical care & medical technology sucked back then, and toxic things like radiation, asbestos and lead were everywhere.

Then there were the good old military drafts for wars like the Korean and Vietnam Wars. And the beginning of the many decades long Cold War and its constant threats of nuclear annihilation. Yay? The federal interstate system was just being built, so it's not like most people could do any real travel either. But I guess it's nice to long for the good things in our past.

Though I'm always dreaming of the future and the numerous advances we'll have by then. I'm waiting for things like 3D printed foods. Not the weak versions we see today, but ones where you put in a cartridges of goop made from base elements (like "primordial soup") and the 3D printer smashes together those elements into the appropriate molecules to create the correct carbs, proteins, etc in the foods we like.

So for example, let's say you see a jackfruit smoothie from Thailand that looks amazing. Instead of having to buy the correct ingredients and find the recipe to try it yourself, you just download the 3d printing recipe. Then your food printer starts some modern day alchemy and creates the smoothie literally from scratch. Then I could try all of the world's desserts from the comfort of my own home!

a reply to: ParasuvO

Now that the reverse is true...and the entire nation is full of brokenness more than ever.. What should go now??

Virtually all economic indicators show that we're doing incredibly well. And the markets are at all time highs. Things can always get better, but saying the entire nation is "full of brokeness" is simply false. Unless this is your way of saying our nation should "share the wealth" more?

We have all manner of things that need removing...things that are "normal" now like blaming straight white men for everything...and trying to say everything left is great...imagine how nice things can be once these are removed as well.

You mean like purges? Hmmm...

a reply to: ParasuvO

LOL I'm guessing you don't know much about immigration into America before the "Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965", huh? You might want to look up things like the "National Origins Formula" which placed ridiculous quotas on how many immigrants could come from each nation. For example, by 1946 a whopping 100 Indian Americans and Filipinos were finally allowed to enter the US each year!

And then there's this (en.wikipedia.org...):

In 1932 President Hoover and the State Department essentially shut down immigration during the Great Depression as immigration went from 236,000 in 1929 to 23,000 in 1933. This was accompanied by voluntary repatriation to Europe and Mexico, and coerced repatriation and deportation of between 500,000 and 2 million Mexican Americans, mostly citizens, in the Mexican Repatriation. Total immigration in the decade of 1931 to 1940 was 528,000 averaging less than 53,000 a year.

So what exactly are you talking about? Or did you mean for your post to simply be a vague statement with no facts?

originally posted by: ParasuvO
a reply to: Annee

Now that the reverse is true...and the entire nation is full of brokenness more than ever..
What should go now??

We have all manner of things that need removing...things that are "normal" now like blaming straight white men for everything...and trying to say everything left is great...imagine how nice things can be once these are removed as well.

Shove everyone that doesn't fit the "norm" back in the closet?

Seems to me that, after staring down the barrel of a gun; every grass looks greener, every day's sky is bluer, and every smile is genuine. Collective sighs of relief were shared and multiplied. Otherwise, history continues and repeats, as it always has. Nostalgic memory makes lovely stories, but naught else. What did your grandfather prescribe for you to do, to find his supposed same level of peace and happiness that he and his supposedly had back then?

originally posted by: ixc77
Seems to me that, after staring down the barrel of a gun; every grass looks greener, every day's sky is bluer, and every smile is genuine. Collective sighs of relief were shared and multiplied. Otherwise, history continues and repeats, as it always has. Nostalgic memory makes lovely stories, but naught else. What did your grandfather prescribe for you to do, to find his supposed same level of peace and happiness that he and his supposedly had back then?

His advice believe it or not was to speak with you neighbours, invite them over! Talk to people!

Like they used to in the old days

a reply to: fusiondoe

It's amazing how well that works, then and now!!

Your granddad is to be applauded.

originally posted by: seagull
a reply to: fusiondoe

It's amazing how well that works, then and now!!

Your granddad is to be applauded.

I agree with this wholeheartedly.

a reply to: enlightenedservant

and coerced repatriation and deportation of between 500,000 and 2 million Mexican Americans, mostly citizens, in the Mexican Repatriation.

Yeah, one of the more "forgotten" dark spots in American history. Or ignored. How quick we are to forget the lessons, though I'm not sure what, if anything, has been learned here, from the past mistakes--since we seem bound and determined to repeat 'em.

originally posted by: seagull
a reply to: fusiondoe

It's amazing how well that works, then and now!!

Your granddad is to be applauded.

Thanks buddy!

So many people try to make it about about race and sexuality, however that wasn't the basis of our conversation!

The basis was that all them years ago people shared with each other, doors were left unlocked at night, families all lived on the same street!

At least this was the case in London, UK. I can't speak for USA as I don't know what it was like then!

a reply to: fusiondoe

Much the same in many places. My grands left their doors unlocked then, and later in their lives. My parents, however, did not. My grands were very rural. My folks, not so much. I don't. Don't dare, really--and I wish that weren't the case.

America is different from England, good in some ways, less so in others.

There really is nothing wrong in remembering a time when it seemed like everything, most everything, was golden. Because there are enough folks like me around to rain on any parade.

I don't think this thread ended up going where you wanted it to go, and for that I owe an apology to you. I have a bad habit of this, and vice versa when someone is going on a rant about how bad things are...

So you have it. Sorry.

originally posted by: seagull
a reply to: fusiondoe

Much the same in many places. My grands left their doors unlocked then, and later in their lives. My parents, however, did not. My grands were very rural. My folks, not so much. I don't. Don't dare, really--and I wish that weren't the case.

America is different from England, good in some ways, less so in others.

There really is nothing wrong in remembering a time when it seemed like everything, most everything, was golden. Because there are enough folks like me around to rain on any parade.

I don't think this thread ended up going where you wanted it to go, and for that I owe an apology to you. I have a bad habit of this, and vice versa when someone is going on a rant about how bad things are...

So you have it. Sorry.

Don't worry! All forgiven and forgotten! It wouldn't be ATS if it went the right way would it?

It's quite sad in some ways that those times are gone! Only for the fact that it seemed so much safer then....

I have two young daughters and I fear everytime my eldest plays outside in the front garden/yard... we keep our eyes on her but it's scary.

My granddad used to cycle 10-20 miles away from home on his bike as a young teenager and was always safe!

But hey ho that's life i guess

originally posted by: fusiondoe

originally posted by: seagull
a reply to: fusiondoe

Much the same in many places. My grands left their doors unlocked then, and later in their lives. My parents, however, did not. My grands were very rural. My folks, not so much. I don't. Don't dare, really--and I wish that weren't the case.

America is different from England, good in some ways, less so in others.

There really is nothing wrong in remembering a time when it seemed like everything, most everything, was golden. Because there are enough folks like me around to rain on any parade.

I don't think this thread ended up going where you wanted it to go, and for that I owe an apology to you. I have a bad habit of this, and vice versa when someone is going on a rant about how bad things are...

So you have it. Sorry.

I have two young daughters and I fear everytime my eldest plays outside in the front garden/yard... we keep our eyes on her but it's scary

Our city councilman molested young teen girls in my neighborhood (I was too young).

The kindergarten teacher was arrested for drugs.

A neighbors wife used to chase him with a butcher knife.

But, yeah I lived in one of those safe, all white Christian neighborhoods where the only rule was go home when the streetlights came on.

Stuff did happen, but as another poster stated "things were kept private". You didn't air your dirty laundry.

I'd say it was a very "homogenized" time. Everyone believed the same thing. Everyone raised their kids the same way. Everyone read the same local paper. Every mother was your mother, every father was your father. If you misbehaved you'd be disciplined by which ever parent was there, then they'd call your parents and you'd get it again from them when you got home.

On the surface it seems idealistic.

originally posted by: fusiondoe

originally posted by: seagull
a reply to: fusiondoe

Much the same in many places. My grands left their doors unlocked then, and later in their lives. My parents, however, did not. My grands were very rural. My folks, not so much. I don't. Don't dare, really--and I wish that weren't the case.

America is different from England, good in some ways, less so in others.

There really is nothing wrong in remembering a time when it seemed like everything, most everything, was golden. Because there are enough folks like me around to rain on any parade.

I don't think this thread ended up going where you wanted it to go, and for that I owe an apology to you. I have a bad habit of this, and vice versa when someone is going on a rant about how bad things are...

So you have it. Sorry.

Don't worry! All forgiven and forgotten! It wouldn't be ATS if it went the right way would it?

It's quite sad in some ways that those times are gone! Only for the fact that it seemed so much safer then....

I have two young daughters and I fear everytime my eldest plays outside in the front garden/yard... we keep our eyes on her but it's scary.

My granddad used to cycle 10-20 miles away from home on his bike as a young teenager and was always safe!

But hey ho that's life i guess

I used to ride my bike to school, roughly a mile or so away. Through alley ways and streets and industrial lots. At 9 and ten years old. Would I ever allow that with my kids? No. In fact my kids would have to do that in the town I live in because our school doesn't provide bussing within two miles of their location. Regardless of that, now, My kids go to a charter school and they're driven there each day by their mother. I am sure they would be safe to go on their own, to the more local public school, in fact I am regretful that they don't have that opportunity as I did. But I'm not convinced that they can't safely do so now, as though things are so different as they supposedly were in my own youth. Everything boils down,I think, to your own community.

a reply to: Vector99

You might not be alone in consumerism,but lets look at the facts.
Your country for instance has 5percent of the worlds population and yet you consume 25 percent of the world's resources!!.
That's not consumerism,That's plain out GREED!!!

originally posted by: cancerslug
a reply to: fusiondoe
remember it was also a time of white only drinking fountains and etcetera.

Remember that was a time before medicare,medicaid,gun control act of 1968, and $20 bucks would have todays value of $200 bucks.

data.bls.gov...