# How Can We REGAIN The Optimism of the 1950's? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 2, 2003, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-regain-the-optimism-of-the-1950s/199230 "2003-09-02T23:25:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2003, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-regain-the-optimism-of-the-1950s/199230/1 "2003-09-02T23:25:58Z")
Everybody I meet seems so pessemistic…contrast this attitude with the optimism of the 1950’s! Back then, America could do anything! Now, we are confronted with economic recssion, a war and occupation in Iraq, and countless other troubles. Why do the 1950’s seem like such a golden age to us now? Were things really better then? Or was the country more optimistic about the future. Some things I’ve considered: -atomic power was felt to be safe and chaep back then -the USA wasn’rt involved in any foreign wars -we didn’t have all those protest marches -the country was more homogeneous So, does anybody feel the way I do? Can we recover the innocence of the 1950’s (and cheap gas, malt shops and bobbysox)?😕 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2003, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-regain-the-optimism-of-the-1950s/199230/2 "2003-09-02T23:56:51Z")
…and women were expected to be subservient to men …it was okay to supress minorities …anyone who acted suspicious was automatically a communist Yeah, I want some of that. :rolleyes: You can’t take good without the bad. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-regain-the-optimism-of-the-1950s/199230/3 "2003-09-03T00:06:09Z")
[list=1] [li]Atomic power was neither safe nor cheap in the 50’s, any more than it is today. The government was simply more willing to lie about it, and Americans were simply too gullible to doubt them[/li][li]What about Korea?!? Or South America?[/li][li]Because the citizen never questioned, & FBI harassment supressed dissent.[/li][li]The non-homogenous elements–other races & religions–were kept quiet or in their own little ghettos.[/li][/list=1] All you need to get “the innocence of the 50’s” back is to pawn your brains, and never, ever doubt that Big Business and Big Government and Old Time Religion are your friends, can run your life better than you can, never make mistakes or become corrupt, and have a license to kill anybody who doesn’t accept the views of the majority, as defined by The People In Charge. :dubious: NUTS! You can have it! ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-regain-the-optimism-of-the-1950s/199230/4 "2003-09-03T00:10:49Z")
'scuse me, heard of the Korean War? Kids being taught how to hide under their desks in case the Communists threw a nuke at us (not that it would have done any good)? Fallout shelters? The country was NOT more homogeneous; minorities were simply ignored, or worse. “Happy Days” doesn’t tell you about lynchings, or about housing and job discrimination. Juvenile delinquency was a big issue. It only seems more optimistic through the rose-colored glasses of nostalgia. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-regain-the-optimism-of-the-1950s/199230/5 "2003-09-03T00:10:59Z")
Well, you could start by building a bomb shelter, since they were all the rage back then. (Donald Fagan did a song about it.) ---
**Author:** ![bagkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ab992/32.png) [@bagkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bagkitty)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-regain-the-optimism-of-the-1950s/199230/6 "2003-09-03T00:41:54Z")
and don’t forget Lynchin’… damn, those were the days, no minorities making the majority population feel even a twinge of guilt… ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-regain-the-optimism-of-the-1950s/199230/7 "2003-09-03T00:49:45Z")
The concept of buying on credit was coming into flower in the postwar 50’s. The idea of being cheerfully in debt up to one’s eyeballs quickly became acceptable and popular. The credit bureau industry (credit reporting, and the inevitable bill collecting) grew from nothing to a big deal. My dad dived into it, and that’s how he made his modest fortune. Sometimes I wonder if he was a cynical, hard-nosed, nasty jerk _before_ he became a bill collector. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-regain-the-optimism-of-the-1950s/199230/8 "2003-09-03T01:02:30Z")
Xenophobia. We need much more xenophobia. ---
**Author:** ![sickboy51](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@sickboy51](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sickboy51)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-regain-the-optimism-of-the-1950s/199230/9 "2003-09-03T01:13:40Z")
I want Marilyn Monroe back, for starters. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-regain-the-optimism-of-the-1950s/199230/10 "2003-09-03T01:28:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sickboy51 \* > \*\*I want Marilyn Monroe back, for starters. \*\* You want a decaying, 40-odd year old corpse? OK. Here’s a shovel, get grave robbin, ye wee pervy lad! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-regain-the-optimism-of-the-1950s/199230/11 "2003-09-03T01:52:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bagkitty \* > \*\*and don’t forget Lynchin’… damn, those were the days, no minorities making the majority population feel even a twinge of guilt… \*\* Yeah, we should go back to keepin’ down darkie. That’ll solve our problems, or at least give us a better scapegoat. Actually, in all seriousness, that’s something we lack nowadays: plausible scapegoats. We used to blame “reefer” on the “Negro,” for example, and we could blame the Commies for everything else. But now, in this age of moral relativism, we’re too smart to look where our leaders are pointing fingers. Terrorism seemed like it was going to work pretty well, and it’s still got potential, but the current administration is messing it up. The Pat Buchanan crowd still blames a lot of our social ills on Mexican border-jumpers, but nobody takes ol’ Pat seriously any more. We need a good collective enemy. Bring on the buggers! ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-regain-the-optimism-of-the-1950s/199230/12 "2003-09-03T02:03:18Z")
In all sincerity to the OP, Mr. Ruby also has fond memories of the 50’s. On more than one occasion he expressed his displeasure at the “ills of today’s society”. I think we have a tendency to remember the good things about our past and not the racially biased hide-your-head-under-the-schooldesk McCarthy-ites. Rather than live in the past, I try to encourage him to find the good things about people today. It’s too easy to focus on the assholes because we don’t ever hear about the good things people do. ---
**Author:** ![Palewriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@Palewriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palewriter)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-regain-the-optimism-of-the-1950s/199230/13 "2003-09-03T02:52:58Z")
Growing up in England in the 50s was anything but rosy. I remember it as a rather nasty, closed-minded, bogus kind of environment. Rationing, scrimping and saving, wondering what the neighbors would think. Not to mention the smog. Give me Texas in the single digits every time. - PW ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-regain-the-optimism-of-the-1950s/199230/14 "2003-09-03T03:20:42Z")
Bring back the educational films shown in the class room about how bad girls from the wrong side of town gave nice,decent boys the clapp. That is just what America needs! ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-regain-the-optimism-of-the-1950s/199230/15 "2003-09-03T03:27:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shirley Ujest \* > \*\*Bring back the educational films shown in the class room about how bad girls from the wrong side of town gave nice,decent boys the clapp. > > That is just what America needs! \*\* Funny, I live on the wrong side of town and I can’t find _any_ bad girls.☹ ---
**Author:** ![Already\_in\_Use](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Already\_in\_Use](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Already_in_Use)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-regain-the-optimism-of-the-1950s/199230/16 "2003-09-03T03:47:13Z")
[Here](http://www.archive.org/movies/prelinger.php) you go, Shirley. ---
**Author:** ![Survivor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/51bf81/32.png) [@Survivor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Survivor)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-regain-the-optimism-of-the-1950s/199230/17 "2003-09-03T03:55:53Z")
Yeah, it was a great time for Gays and Lesbians… Mass arrests in Gay bars… Losing your job when people found out… Having to totally hide who you were… Or getting married to someone of the opposite sex just to keep the rumors quiet… The good old days… NOT… ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-regain-the-optimism-of-the-1950s/199230/18 "2003-09-03T05:20:15Z")
John Lennon was my greatest musical hero. Even though I didn’t share his taste in music. He often (_Lennon Remembers: The Rolling Stone Interviews_) expressed his love and nostalgia for '50s rock-‘n’-roll. I, born in 1959, never really grew up with '50s rock-‘n’-roll. My first idea of rock as a young brat was the Beatles. Yeah, yeah, yeah! When I listened to that '50s stuff it didn’t sound so good to me. In fact, a lot of it sounded like crap compared to the really hot music that came out in the 1960s. Cream. Hendrix. Traffic. Santana. King Crimson. Amazing rock pushing the boundaries of what was thought possible in music. _John Lennon himself_ was the major inventor of this great new music. How on earth could he possibly prefer that '50s crud? Then I got older. And understood. It doesn’t matter what the music actually sounds like. All that matters is that you heard it when you were a teenager, when life began to open up. The music you heard when you began to go out cruising on your own. The music you heard when you cut high school and went to get stoned instead. The music that was playing when you got your first kiss. When you hear those songs again, 10 or 20 years later, it brings back your youth, and the freshness of life in those days comes flooding back like a strong emotion. When I was in the late '90s and revisited the music from my high school and college freshman days, I felt it. Even though during the '70s everybody complained the music was crap, the 70s were crap, to hell with the '70s. In retrospect there was quite a lot of good music in the 70s, though we didn’t know how good we had it. Then I understood Lennon’s attachment to '50s music. He felt the irresistible pull of his youth that we all carry within us for the rest of our lives. You have to get older, get some distance, to be able to experience this. ---
**Author:** ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-regain-the-optimism-of-the-1950s/199230/19 "2003-09-03T05:24:37Z")
Just putting more weight behind the arguement posted by **MLS** ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-regain-the-optimism-of-the-1950s/199230/20 "2003-09-03T05:28:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor \* > \*\*You want a decaying, 40-odd year old corpse? > > OK. > > Here’s a shovel, get grave robbin, ye wee pervy lad! 😃 \*\* Ms Monroe is buried in an above ground vault. What you’ll need is a pry bar. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-regain-the-optimism-of-the-1950s/199230.md?page=2)