Life in the 50s better?

RDKirk · Nov 17, 2021

Paidiske said:
Well, that right there assumes a homogeneous "white" culture, which is false for a start.

How so, when I explicitly identified a non-white culture?

But I think that you're kind of agreeing with my point, which is that the culture shared across the demographics of a society isn't necessarily inculcated at home. But to the extent that we all operate in a shared culture, other influences are at play.

I disproved your point. School is an influence, but the bedrock of culture will be laid before that. In the US, native Americans are firmly cultural native Americans before they begin school. Black Americans are firmly black Americans in culture before they begin school.

With contact with other cultures, it becomes a choice of what to adopt of other cultures, what to reject, and what of one's original "mother" culture to retain or drop. But there is indeed a "mother" culture laid down before starting school.

Paidiske · Nov 17, 2021

Quote tags have gone wonky, but... you contrasted a non-white culture with a "white" culture. I'm suggesting that such a white culture is an illusion. In reality there are many white subcultures.

I guess it depends what we're looking at. I'm looking at what is broadly shared across a society (particularly because the original point was about what had similar influence to mass media, before mass media), and saying that doesn't reliably come from home. You seem to be focussing on what is distinct to different groups, and pointing out that home can be one place where that is nurtured.

I'm just not sure I'm convinced that home is so determinative for all of us.

RDKirk · Nov 17, 2021

Paidiske said:
Quote tags have gone wonky, but... you contrasted a non-white culture with a "white" culture. I'm suggesting that such a white culture is an illusion. In reality there are many white subcultures.

I guess it depends what we're looking at. I'm looking at what is broadly shared across a society (particularly because the original point was about what had similar influence to mass media, before mass media), and saying that doesn't reliably come from home. You seem to be focussing on what is distinct to different groups, and pointing out that home can be one place where that is nurtured.

I'm just not sure I'm convinced that home is so determinative for all of us.

That's why I said:

With contact with other cultures, it becomes a choice of what to adopt of other cultures, what to reject, and what of one's original "mother" culture to retain or drop. But there is indeed a "mother" culture laid down before starting school

Paidiske · Nov 18, 2021

I'm really not sure I agree that one has absorbed a culture by the age of four or five. To some degree, maybe, but there is so much that's beyond a child of that age.

LeGato · Nov 18, 2021

keith99 said:
There is a thread in the Christians only version of this forum. I thought it would be interesting to open one where everyone could contribute.

Here is the OP from that thread:

With Trump out of office, Republicans would prefer life in the 1950s, survey shows

"A recent survey released by the Public Policy Research Institute (PPRI) found that only 29 percent of Republicans say that American culture and way of life have changed for the better since the 1950s."

The 50's started mass consumerism amongst the populace. I've also heard from some Old Timers that the 50's were full of domestic violence.

timothyu · Nov 18, 2021

LeGato said:
I've also heard from some Old Timers that the 50's were full of domestic violence.

A product for many vets of two back to back wars along with glorification of alcohol. But it never really goes away.

keith99 · Nov 18, 2021

LeGato said:
The 50's started mass consumerism amongst the populace. I've also heard from some Old Timers that the 50's were full of domestic violence.

I would not say full of. However divorce was still very difficult and a divorced woman was half way to having a scarlet 'A' sown onto all her clothes. That surely led to abused women staying with abusive husbands.

It would be very hard to tell because back then even a serious argument in front of 'the children' ran against at least white middle class culture (and I strongly suspect the same for most others). So IF things well short of violence were usually hidden from the kids violence was well hidden from everyone.

timothyu · Nov 19, 2021

keith99 said:
So IF things well short of violence were usually hidden from the kids

Hey, this was before the age of political correctness and was refreshingly open. To the moon Alice.

cow451 · Nov 19, 2021

timothyu said:
Hey, this was before the age of political correctness and was refreshingly open. To the moon Alice.

What black and white planet do people think was the 50's. Domestic violence was very common and victims rarely had protection because the perpetrator was typically a male. The public may not have been aware but the children in the home were most certainly aware. And child abuse was rarely dealt with by authorities.

Melisha Morganna Gibson (1972-1976) - Find A...

Until the late 1970's, child protection services were virtually nonexistent in most states.

FireDragon76 · Nov 21, 2021

keith99 said:
There is a thread in the Christians only version of this forum. I thought it would be interesting to open one where everyone could contribute.

Here is the OP from that thread:

With Trump out of office, Republicans would prefer life in the 1950s, survey shows

"A recent survey released by the Public Policy Research Institute (PPRI) found that only 29 percent of Republicans say that American culture and way of life have changed for the better since the 1950s."

It wasn't better if you weren't a conservative, white, Protestant male. And even if you were, it's still debatable.

The nostalgia for the 1950's is one of the most repugnant aspects of the American right, frankly. The 1950's was a low point in American history, not a high point. It was an era of rampant xenophobia and overt racism, political witchhunts, censorship, and active suppression of critical thought.

FireDragon76 · Nov 21, 2021

Paidiske said:
True... but it makes the migrant trans-cultural experience complex. I grew up in a house where my parents spoke four languages, and English wasn't a first language for either of them. School was where I learned the culture of the country I lived in (and learned to think critically about which parts of it I chose to conform to, or not).

Doesn't that sort of experience lead to appreciation for cultural relativism?

I grew up on opposite sides of the world, in the continental US, the Pacific, and in Europe. I've always taken cultural relativism for granted.

FireDragon76 · Nov 21, 2021

RDKirk said:
I had an uncle who was one of them. He was my first experience with severe PTSD when I visited them as a kid in 1965.

The Chinese have a super-hit movie out right now about that battle: They win big, and Americans suck. It's heading towards being the top-grossing movie in the world of all time based on Chinese ticket sales alone, which shows what they really think of Americans.

Americas would do well to study the Korean war's history. It might put a lid on some of the saber rattling politics with China.

Paidiske · Nov 21, 2021

FireDragon76 said:
Doesn't that sort of experience lead to appreciation for cultural relativism?

I think it can go either way. Either one can take that kind of view, or one can, out of a desire for certainty or security, become more defensive about one particular take on things.

Personally it's led me to think that diversity is a gift and difference is part of God's grace to us, but I could easily have gone the other way (and for a time, I did).

RDKirk · Nov 21, 2021

timothyu said:
Middle class being the key word.

That's why I repeated it so often.

Strathos · Nov 21, 2021

Well some things are certainly better. A few things are certainly worse.

But keep in mind Ecclesiastes 7:10.

RestoreTheJoy · Nov 27, 2021

keith99 said:
There is a thread in the Christians only version of this forum. I thought it would be interesting to open one where everyone could contribute.

Here is the OP from that thread:

With Trump out of office, Republicans would prefer life in the 1950s, survey shows

"A recent survey released by the Public Policy Research Institute (PPRI) found that only 29 percent of Republicans say that American culture and way of life have changed for the better since the 1950s."

Not a Republican but some things were certainly better. The economy was booming. A mailman could support a wife, six kids, and still buy a house on just his salary. The GI Bill sent millions to college who would never have been able to go. People got married and stayed married, for the most part. People weren't on media 24/7. Some things were definitely better.

RestoreTheJoy · Nov 27, 2021

Tinker Grey said:
I think he may have meant the character of the cars.

The cars were definitely amazing. If someone hit you in a 50's car, there might be a dent. Today, the plastic cars will be totaled going at 5 mph if a crash occurs.

timothyu · Nov 27, 2021

RestoreTheJoy said:
The cars were definitely amazing. If someone hit you in a 50's car, there might be a dent. Today, the plastic cars will be totaled going at 5 mph if a crash occurs.

Yes but the 50's car bounced wildly turning occupants to mush. Still, you cant beat the stylings of the 50's and 60's before everything became bland and indistinguishable.

RestoreTheJoy · Nov 27, 2021

timothyu said:
Yes but the 50's car bounced wildly turning occupants to mush. Still, you cant beat the stylings of the 50's and 60's before everything became bland and indistinguishable.

Well, that's true. The ride wasn't as smooth in some of them. But they were tanks. And gorgeous.

Like mid-mod interiors, but I digress.

timothyu · Nov 27, 2021

Brylcreem... the must have of the growing gang mentality of the 50's with their rat tailed combs. Evolved into the greasers of the 60's which beat on the long hair movement. Not everything was worthy of nostalgia. lol

Life in the 50s better?

Alien, Pilgrim, and Sojourner

Clara bonam audax

Alien, Pilgrim, and Sojourner

Clara bonam audax

LCMS/Crypto-Amish

Well-Known Member

sola dosis facit venenum

Well-Known Member

Standing with Ukraine.

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Clara bonam audax

Alien, Pilgrim, and Sojourner

No one important

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Similar threads