[ LONG ] What "Make America Great Again" Really Means.

Post Reply New Topic

What it Means to "Make America Great Again"

American culture of 1957 is considered 'ideal' by many of those who want to "Make America Great Again", mainly because:

• In 1957 America, any white child could (theoretically) expect to be born into a financially stable family that would practically guarantee all of its health, happiness, safety, education, security, comfort, and future opportunities for its lifetime.

• In 1957 America, any white child in elementary school could expect to receive an education that depicted other white people accomplishing great feats in art, science, industry, business, and armed conflict. Such a child would be surrounded by other white classmates whose ancestors came from continental Northern Europe, Ireland, and Great Britain.

• In 1957 America, any 16-year old white male could drop out of school and still get a well-paying retail job. Any 17-year old white male could drop out of school and still get a well-paying manufacturing job and join a labor union. Any 18-year old white male still in school could graduate and (theoretically) go on to college. Any 22-year old white male with a college degree could expect to obtain a well-paying office job. Any white male could expect to be married, have 2 to 4 children, and paying the mortgage on his own suburban home by the age of 25.

• In 1957 America, any white female could expect to graduate high school without having to endure the rigors of advanced mathematics or any of the vocational shop classes. Foreign languages were the toughest courses that any female was expected to take in high school. College courses for women focused on languages and the liberal arts; women were discouraged from taking science, technology, engineering, and mathematics courses in college because those course were deemed too "unfeminine" for women.

• In 1957 America, any white woman could expect to marry the father of her child before that child was born. Her only legal reproductive choices were "Give birth" and "Don't get pregnant". Any woman who became pregnant "out of wedlock" was expected to marry the child's father; and if he was unavailable (i.e., already married, missing, in prison, et cetera), and she had enough money, she was expected to "go away", give birth, put the child up for adoption, forget about the child, and then return home as if nothing had happened. However, if her new 'shotgun' husband was old enough, he could join the Army and send his pay home to her and the kids. Otherwise, she could expect to give birth to 2 to 4 children by the age of 25.

• In 1957 America, any black male could expect to be hired last and fired first. He could expect to work without union protection, and at the most minimum wage possible. If he got hurt on the job, he either kept working (if he could) or lost his job.

• In 1957 America, any black woman could expect employment as "domestic help" for white people. Cooking, cleaning, and providing day care for white children were the best she could hope for.

• In 1957 America, any husband/father could abuse his wife and children in the privacy of his own home, and not risk being arrested for his actions. This abuse could include humiliation, insult, threat, and physical violence. Spanking a child in public was normal, and not considered detrimental to the child's health or spirit.

In other words, 1957 was the peak year of the "White Man's World". The middle-class white man of 1957 enjoyed the privilege of gainful employment ahead of non-whites and women. He enjoyed the privilege of a decent education, also ahead of non-whites and women. He enjoyed the privilege of home-ownership in a neighborhood full of other white families, where non-white people were usually present only for their "day jobs" - manual labor or domestic help. A middle-class white man of 1957 enjoyed the privilege of not being asked for his ID, whether in a gun store or liquor store by the store-owner, or on the street by a cop. He enjoyed the privilege of expecting to speak to another white male when he asked to speak to "the person in charge".

The middle-class white woman of 1957 could expect her husband to bring home a paycheck that was large enough to pay the mortgage, buy healthy food and warm clothing, and provide basic medical care for her and the kids.

The middle-class white woman of 1957 could expect to not have to earn a paycheck -- at least, not until the kids were old enough to be in school all day; in which case, her employment was likely to be part-time. In other words, a middle-class white woman of 1957 could expect to stay at home, cook the meals, care for the kids, do the laundry, and keep the house clean (unless she hired a maid).

The ideal man was the provider, protector, and absolute ruler of his home and family.

The ideal woman deferred to her husband, cooked and cared for her family, and kept herself busy by joining the local PTA and other community organizations. She entertained guests in her home and worked out to keep a size 12 figure.

The ideal child obeyed authority, controlled his or her emotional outbursts, conformed to his parents' wishes, didn't make waves, and didn't even THINK about sex.

But most of all, those who want to "Make America Great Again" want to return to a time when any white male could speak his mind without concern for being labelled "politically incorrect", "sexist", or even "racist"; when any white woman who married right did not have to work outside the home to support her family; when any white person could discriminate against any non-white person and not risk being brought to trial for violating anyone's civil rights; when whites and non-whites were segregated by laws in their use of bathrooms, restaurants, schools, buses, parks, and even drinking fountains; when any infraction of racial segregation laws would be met with arrest and violence; when lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transsexuals, and 'queers' stayed closeted; when non-white people "knew their place" and were deferential to white people; when abuse, bullying, and intimidation were acceptable measures of 'manliness'; and when any white man could get married (to a white woman, of course), get a job, own a home, raise a family, and send his kids to a school where he knew that they would be taught that White American Males lead the world in every way.

THAT is the America that the "Make America Great, Again" crowd wants to return to -- an America wherein "A woman's place is in the home", "Children are seen and not heard", and "Coloreds Need Not Apply" (their words, not mine - Fnord).

This is the long version of "basket of deplorables".

White men didn't have people like me in the workplace who are more experienced and better educated. I easily do the stuff that requires an excellent STEM background. I'm also in better health than the white men I work with.

Whole Truth Behind Dream '50s

Forced to Give Up Their Babies

Of course you could!

"Now, you don't need to bother your pretty head over your little project ... I'll run the results up the flagpole and see which guys upstairs salute it. Now go and check if there's a fresh pot of coffee. I'll take mine black. that's a good girl..."



Next thing you know, your supervisor is getting a raise and promotion for "his" new idea.

Yeah, disgusting, ain't it? And this is what the MAGA fans want to go back to.

My guess is that “Make America Great Again”, for most of Trump’s supporters, mostly meant reversing everything Obama did.

This notion falls apart when you see non-whites and women wearing the hats. And there are plenty of them. So what does MAGA mean to them?

Plenty of women prefer traditional gender roles. I can't explain the minorities, but a few people voting against their best interests doesn't invalidate the premise.

Stupid is as stupid does.

Simple.

They're sucking up.

It happens everywhere there is a strongly charismatic leader, his loyal followers, and people whose own greatest efforts lead them only to mediocrity. You see it in schools, where average students support the class bully; in the workplace, where average workers support the micro-managing boss; in history, where collaborators support the conquering dictator; and in politics, where ordinary people support the egotistical tyrant.

Those people seem to feel more secure as a group under the grace and favor of a reprehensible narcissist than they do as individuals under the marginal rewards of their own merit. When the man in charge (and his loyal followers) see them as 'good' women and 'good' minorities, he can essentially ignore them and go after the "Enemies of The State" .. the media ... the intellectuals ... the foreigners... the homosexuals ... the disabled ... the Jews ...

By sucking up to Mr. Trump and turning their backs on their own kinds, these people may assure their own futures, but only as long as Mr. Trump (or someone like him in the big white house) remains in power. Once he leaves office, they will have to find another leader to suck up to.

It's just that simple.

One has to be over age 70 to remember the 1950s.

Most people tend remember only the good parts of their youth not the bad. I am age 61. People my age tend to reminisce about the great music, not being tethered to technology, freedom we were allowed from lack of fear and relaxed parenting, political correctness etc. We do not talk about and put out of our minds the higher crime rates and political violence of the 1960s and 70s, families not on speaking terms due to divisions over the Vietnam war, lives ruined and deaths because of drugs, the combination of recession an inflation sprinkled with gas lines in the 70s.

Younger people hear this nostalgia from older people about the good old days, “period pieces” that sanitize the era the show or movie is about. Go to a youtube video of a music group that was popular back in the day, 90 percent of the comments are todays music sucks, music was better and more authentic then. A lot of these comments are from people too young to remember when these bands were current saying they wish they grew up then.

People vote against their self interest for a variety of reasons. If a candidate promised to cure autism a significant percentage of autistics would vote for that candidate.

So I guess the a lot of MAGA hat wearing people of all genders and races are supporting going back to a sanitzed and mythologized America of the past that at best partially existed.

Last edited by ASPartOfMe on 06 Feb 2019, 10:17 am, edited 6 times in total.

I just don't see it. Unlike your examples where they're stuck with that person, they get a choice with Trump. They don't have to vote for him. They don't have to buy his merch either.

But this surely also means the good parts are what they want to keep, not the whole package. Take the good of both past and present and bring them together.

Good for whom? I already listed what was "good" for American white males back in the 1950s. As long as everyone else gave deference to American white males, that was considered "good" for all.