When America Was Great...

[M3t4tr0n]

According to Mr. Trump America was great at the turn of the 20th century...

"If you look back, it really was, there was a period of time when we were developing at the turn of the century which was a pretty wild time for this country and pretty wild in terms of building that machine, that machine was really based on entrepreneurship,"

...and again in the 40s and 50s.

Trump also pointed to the "late '40s and '50s," a time when, he said, "we were not pushed around, we were respected by everybody, we had just won a war, we were pretty much doing what we had to do."

So what do you guys think? Is this the time in history when America was "great" and if so then for who? Do you guys think it was great for minorities, women, and lgbt peoples?

http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/26/politics/donald-trump-when-america-was-great/index.html

 

[Fatchops]

Massive world wars that destroy other countries infrastructure are a boon to our economy. This is why we need Trump. Once large portions of the ME are destroyed after WW3 we will be great again.

 

[Space]

So what do you guys think? Is this the time in history when America was "great" and if so then for who? Do you guys think it was great for minorities, women, and lgbt peoples?

He means economically, [insert light ad-hominem attack here].

Economically-speaking, the post-war period, for example, was a boom. There's no argument. A guy could work at a gas station and aspire to own a nice car back then. You could afford to raise two kids and pay for the wife to stay at home on a teacher's salary.

To be fair, people weren't paying hundreds of dollars a month back then for stuff like cellphone bills, cable TV, Internet, getting ripped off when eating out, blowing money on as many nice-to-haves, etc. Nor were people turning to credit cards to get something for nothing. It's clear that Americans need to make the country, and themselves, great again, and that means some soul-searching, too.


Post–World War II economic expansion

"During this time, there was high worldwide economic growth; Western European and East Asian countries in particular experienced unusually high and sustained growth, together with full employment. Contrary to early predictions, this high growth also included many countries that had been devastated by the war, such asJapan (Japanese post-war economic miracle), West Germany (Wirtschaftswunder), France (Trente Glorieuses), Italy (Italian economic miracle), and Greece (Greek economic miracle).

Globally, the golden age was a time of unusual financial stability, with crises far less frequent and intense than before or after. Martin Wolf reports that between 1945–71 (27 years) the world saw only 38 financial crises, whereas from 1973–97 (24 years) there were 139.[6]

The period from the end of World War II to the early 1970s was a golden era of American capitalism. $200 billion in war bonds matured, and the G.I. Bill financed a well-educated work force. The middle class swelled, as did GDP and productivity. The US underwent its own golden age of economic growth. This growth was distributed fairly evenly across the economic classes, which some attribute to the strength of labor unions in this period—labor union membership peaked during the 1950s. Much of the growth came from the movement of low-income farm workers into better-paying jobs in the towns and cities—a process largely completed by 1960.[17]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post–World_War_II_economic_expansion

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Econo..._States#Postwar_prosperity:_1945.E2.80.931973

 

[Anung Un Rama]

He's not wrong, but the world was different then.
Like Fatchops said, the rest of the industrialized world was in shambles. Our infrastructure was not only untouched, it was primed from WWII manufacturing to fill in the gaps. Sadly, we took that opportunity and subsequent success for granted and squandered our head start.
Now the playing field has leveled out somewhat and our politics are holding us back.

 

[Ruprecht]

So... Trump's a silver spoon, real estate marketing brand come reality TV star, that fantasises about being a robber baron of the gilded age and a Cold War, neocolonial strongman.
What a hero.

 

[ripskater]

I would say that Trump is right. America was great in the 50's. There is a lot we could learn from that time. The exception of course would be how we treated our black citizens.

 

[therealdope]

He's not wrong, but the world was different then.
Like Fatchops said, the rest of the industrialized world was in shambles.

And literally every place that made anything was destroyed. Unless Trump plans on destroying every place that manufactures anything in the world then I guess he won't be able to return America to "greatness".

And on that topic, I missed the news, when exactly did America stop being great? Bio-pharma, microelectronics, cloud based economy, advanced manufacturing, aerospace, med devices, vast energy resources, green-tech ... if that's losing then I'm sure most of the G20 would lke to enter the realm of losing.

 

[Anung Un Rama]

And literally every place that made anything was destroyed. Unless Trump plans on destroying every place that manufactures anything in the world then I guess he won't be able to return America to "greatness".

And on that topic, I missed the news, when exactly did America stop being great? Bio-pharma, microelectronics, cloud based economy, advanced manufacturing, aerospace, med devices, vast energy resources, green-tech ... if that's losing then I'm sure most of the G20 would lke to enter the realm of losing.

When we elected President Blackenstein.

 

[JudoThrowFiasco]

America is history's greatest leader in innovation and technology - its probably the most competitive first world country to live in and that does involve a separation between have and have nots - but its definitely the greatest in the world today -

Signed, A Canadian.

Going off the Gold Standard and on to the Fiat system / making a deal with the Saudis for the petro dollar - now that made the US more...duplicitous

 

[KONG-D'SNT-TAP]

There sure was less inequality and it wasn't corporations before the middle class mindset either.

 

[Unknown Pleasures]

Ya, the thing is life should theoretically get better as time passes. Perhaps question is when was life getting better for the average person the fastest. Obviously people in the '20s or 50's didn't have the gadgets we have today. But as mentioned, it was a lot easier to raise a family on a single income then. And technology hasn't allowed people to work less hours, but actually allow people to work around the clock via mobile devices etc.

I am not a fan of cultural marxism. I like traditional family values, and people having "class". It is always easy to be nostalgic, but today people generally have succumb to low class attention-whorism and what I call "hyper-individualism" where being male or female just doesn't make people feel special enough any more, there has to be 35 gender categories.

I really don't consider life for women and minorities to today be great. The lower tier masses of the african-american community has shackled itself and largely spends way too much time in jail and is an overall embarrassment. From being unfairly shackled by others, they now really shackle themselves with a ridiculously horrible sub-culture. Women, while symbolically having the right to vote, and spending time in the workplace, as far as I can tell are generally no happier in that role. Higher divorce rates, not getting married, inability to appreciate anything, and anti-depressant guzzling seems to reinforce that.

And as an older Sherbro, I remember when sitcoms were about functioning families. Family Ties, Brady Bunch, Cosby Show. As the family unit dissolved, sitcoms were replaced with Roseanne, and other dysfunctional outrageous families. I do believe it is reflective of society and art imitating life as opposed to life imitating art. Kind of sad really.

 

[therealdope]

I would say that Trump is right. America was great in the 50's. The exception of course would be how we treated our black citizens.

And lack of air-conditioning in just about every building, and smoke filled work places/restaurants/bars, lower life span, lack of plumbing for a huge portion rural areas, lack of upward mobility for the working class, rudimentary health care technologies (can't see it an x-ray, 'cause that's all there was), ... running water for rural places.

 

[ripskater]

And lack of air-conditioning in just about every building, and smoke filled work places/restaurants/bars, lower life span, lack of plumbing for a huge portion rural areas, lack of upward mobility for the working class, rudimentary health care technologies (can't see it an x-ray, 'cause that's all there was), ... running water for rural places.

I bet even though we didn't have as much, our people were more thankful for what things they did have.

 

[JudoThrowFiasco]

And lack of air-conditioning in just about every building, and smoke filled work places/restaurants/bars, lower life span, lack of plumbing for a huge portion rural areas, lack of upward mobility for the working class, rudimentary health care technologies (can't see it an x-ray, 'cause that's all there was), ... running water for rural places.

and convincing people the best way to brace for a thermonuclear attack was to hide under a school desk

 

[Rex Kwon Do]

1776 was a phenomenal year. Yuge stuff was happening, it was tremendous, really.

 

[Unknown Pleasures]

And lack of air-conditioning in just about every building, and smoke filled work places/restaurants/bars, lower life span, lack of plumbing for a huge portion rural areas, lack of upward mobility for the working class, rudimentary health care technologies (can't see it an x-ray, 'cause that's all there was), ... running water for rural places.

LOL, I miss smoke filled restaurants and bars (even as a non-smoker). Last time I got to be in one I think was in Amsterdam. Though the plumes did smell a little odd.

 

[therealdope]

When we elected President Blackenstein.

Queue the 1940s dramatic music from serials. dun-dun-dun-dah!!

 

[Oedad]

And lack of air-conditioning in just about every building, and smoke filled work places/restaurants/bars, lower life span, lack of plumbing for a huge portion rural areas, lack of upward mobility for the working class, rudimentary health care technologies (can't see it an x-ray, 'cause that's all there was), ... running water for rural places.

Wait I thought right now the US has had the least social mobility in its history?

If that is true then the 50s had to have had a greater degree of social mobility by definition.

If its false then bernie is a lying prick and the corporations don't really dominate society all that much.

 

[ripskater]

Wait I thought right now the US has had the least social mobility in its history?

If that is true then the 50s had to have had a greater degree of social mobility by definition.

If its false then bernie is a lying prick and the corporations don't really dominate society all that much.

In the 50's, families stayed together, families went to church together, ate together, dad had a job and could make enough money for mom to stay home with the little kids.

A lot of that is missing now. And it's hurt us.

 

[Sycho Sid]

I bet even though we didn't have as much, our people were more thankful for what things they did have.

Man, you really do think the 50s were just like Leave it to Beaver and the Andy Griffith show, don't you?