by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
The 1950's in America were simpler times. Television was little more than a curiosity, and people still sat out on their porches in the evenings and visited in each other's homes. Telephones were generally limited to one per household and members of the family took turns with their use. Hippies hadn't appeared yet, though there were a few oddballs in the cities who called themselves "beatniks," and there was not much of a market for illicit drugs because doctors were generous in writing prescriptions for "tranquilizers" to take the edge of of whatever social pressures were making the rounds.
People smoked, and drank - usually in moderation - and went to church on Sundays. Most men brought home a paycheck that could support a family, and occasionally some women would also hold jobs - but usually it wasn't a necessity.
The cars were cool - and affordable. - and most families owned one.
But the 1950's were also a time when people knew "their place:" the back of the bus, specific restrooms and water fountains, away from the lunch counter, and rooms in only certain hotels. Society had strict rules separating the races, some of which were codified into laws and others were simply "understood," and anyone who flaunted the accepted rules of social interaction could suffer serious consequences - sometimes even death.
The 1950's were also times of political backlash against the efforts of FDR's administration to improve the lives of the nation's poor and disadvantaged. For too many years the nation had listened to the ravings of radio demagogues and marginalized Republican politicians as they bemoaned the "socialism" and "communism" of the Roosevelt administration, and, in the 1950's as power began to shift back to the Republicans, they ran with their messages of fear and hate.
People like Senator Joseph McCarthy and Vice-President Richard Nixon turned fear of communists into a political art form. McCarthy eventually imploded, but Nixon managed to remain a prominent national politician for two full decades. The harm that both of these men did to America's character and its image abroad was incalculable.
The 1950's were not all Norman Rockwell and Richie Cunningham. The decade had its dark side. And for those who long to return to those Main Street days of yesteryear, the good news is that they appear to be coming around again - and this time it could be far worse. Dwight Eisenhower, a war hero and respected leader was President then, and "Ike," as America called him, was a smart individual who managed to keep the country on an even keel, despite his saber-rattling of his Vice President and Joe McCarthy.
Today we lack a steadying force like Ike in the White House. Donald Trump, a raging racist who seems to have nothing in the way of a moral compass, is our elected leader, and now Lindsey Graham, a United States Senator from South Carolina, has ripped a page from McCarthy's playbook and is calling certain members of Congress - four women of color whom Trump labeled as un-American - "communists." Senator Graham's own moral compass - John McCain - died last year.
It's starting again - and it will not be pretty. Perhaps a nation must purge its soul every few decades in order to grow wiser, and, if so, this time around is shaping up to be a vomit-palooza.
How sad for us that our nation, once hailed as the greatest on earth, has to again endure this reign of ignorance and hatred. It will get better, we know that, but the path forward will be a long and arduous traipse through territory that is familiar and shameful.
Step carefully because the slime will be everywhere.
Citizen Journalist
The 1950's in America were simpler times. Television was little more than a curiosity, and people still sat out on their porches in the evenings and visited in each other's homes. Telephones were generally limited to one per household and members of the family took turns with their use. Hippies hadn't appeared yet, though there were a few oddballs in the cities who called themselves "beatniks," and there was not much of a market for illicit drugs because doctors were generous in writing prescriptions for "tranquilizers" to take the edge of of whatever social pressures were making the rounds.
People smoked, and drank - usually in moderation - and went to church on Sundays. Most men brought home a paycheck that could support a family, and occasionally some women would also hold jobs - but usually it wasn't a necessity.
The cars were cool - and affordable. - and most families owned one.
But the 1950's were also a time when people knew "their place:" the back of the bus, specific restrooms and water fountains, away from the lunch counter, and rooms in only certain hotels. Society had strict rules separating the races, some of which were codified into laws and others were simply "understood," and anyone who flaunted the accepted rules of social interaction could suffer serious consequences - sometimes even death.
The 1950's were also times of political backlash against the efforts of FDR's administration to improve the lives of the nation's poor and disadvantaged. For too many years the nation had listened to the ravings of radio demagogues and marginalized Republican politicians as they bemoaned the "socialism" and "communism" of the Roosevelt administration, and, in the 1950's as power began to shift back to the Republicans, they ran with their messages of fear and hate.
People like Senator Joseph McCarthy and Vice-President Richard Nixon turned fear of communists into a political art form. McCarthy eventually imploded, but Nixon managed to remain a prominent national politician for two full decades. The harm that both of these men did to America's character and its image abroad was incalculable.
The 1950's were not all Norman Rockwell and Richie Cunningham. The decade had its dark side. And for those who long to return to those Main Street days of yesteryear, the good news is that they appear to be coming around again - and this time it could be far worse. Dwight Eisenhower, a war hero and respected leader was President then, and "Ike," as America called him, was a smart individual who managed to keep the country on an even keel, despite his saber-rattling of his Vice President and Joe McCarthy.
Today we lack a steadying force like Ike in the White House. Donald Trump, a raging racist who seems to have nothing in the way of a moral compass, is our elected leader, and now Lindsey Graham, a United States Senator from South Carolina, has ripped a page from McCarthy's playbook and is calling certain members of Congress - four women of color whom Trump labeled as un-American - "communists." Senator Graham's own moral compass - John McCain - died last year.
It's starting again - and it will not be pretty. Perhaps a nation must purge its soul every few decades in order to grow wiser, and, if so, this time around is shaping up to be a vomit-palooza.
How sad for us that our nation, once hailed as the greatest on earth, has to again endure this reign of ignorance and hatred. It will get better, we know that, but the path forward will be a long and arduous traipse through territory that is familiar and shameful.
Step carefully because the slime will be everywhere.
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