1950s America: A Utopia?

[Bottle]

But atheists and transsexuals? Please.

This is the same decade in which "Under God" was added to money and the PoA because the Soviets were considered the godless commies. Atheists are still discriminated against in some states, but far less so than back in the 50's.

There was no advanced sex change operations back then.

Uh, yes? That's kind of my point. That and transphobia was far larger back then than it is now. Did you just defeat your own point?

Silly Div. Don't you know that as long as a population is in the closet, that means they don't exist?

[Katganistan]

Here's the thing about Utopias:

THEY DON'T EXIST.

[Yes Im Biop]

50's were great as long as
1: You were male
2: White
3: Strait
4: Christian
5: Didn't look, smell, act, think, ect like a "Godless Commie"
6: Didn't get drafted.
...
The 50's fucking sucked

[Valcouria]

Ah, the 50s; When men were men, women were women, America was great, there was an obvious enemy to be hated, and society was good and decent. Looking back, I do long for a return to such a society...

[Saiwania]

Uh, yes? That's kind of my point. That and transphobia was far larger back then than it is now. Did you just defeat your own point?

My point was more along the lines that, most people back then probably didn't care about atheists or transsexuals one way or another. They were simply out of sight and out of mind being that they were less visible. That is different than the majority proactively oppressing those groups like what was done with native Americans for example.

[The Serbian Empire]

It wasn't particularly favorable to people who weren't socially conservative white males. Simply said, I would be called an anarchist to many of them.

[Bottle]

Here's the thing about Utopias:

THEY DON'T EXIST.

As an American, I have learned that Utopia always exists precisely 2 generations in the past.

[Divair]

My point was more along the lines that, most people back then probably didn't care about atheists or transsexuals one way or another. They were simply out of sight and out of mind being that they were less visible.

Then you're wrong. Go try being an atheist or transsexual back then. You'd be called a commie or the Devil.

That is different than the majority proactively oppressing those groups like what was done with native Americans for example.

Oppression doesn't only mean mass murder.

[Immoren]

Here's the thing about Utopias:

THEY DON'T EXIST.

As an American, I have learned that Utopia always exists precisely 2 generations in the past.

Doesn't that apply to all (most?) societies?

[Saiwania]

Then you're wrong. Go try being an atheist or transsexual back then. You'd be called a commie or the Devil.

No you see, it was precisely because most people didn't care about them that they were easier targets for prejudice or discrimination by the people that did hate them in that era. Nowadays, atheists and transsexuals have exposure and community support that just didn't exist before the internet and social media.

[Grenartia]

Half the country was women. Add atheists. Add blacks. Add transsexuals. Add homosexuals.
We're well above 50% now. See why claiming the US was a utopia is complete bullshit?

Women, Blacks, native Americans, and homosexuals, I'd accept as being examples of marginalized groups back then. But atheists and transsexuals? Please. There was no advanced sex change operations back then.

The 1950's weren't perfect, but it is far from the worst decade that some people might like to paint it as.

Atheists were around back then, and Christine Jorgensen would like to have a word or two with you.

Ah, the 50s; When men were men, women were women, America was great, there was an obvious enemy to be hated, and society was good and decent. Looking back, I do long for a return to such a society...

And if you weren't straight, white, rich, and a cisgendered Christian man, life was shitty.

And your shitty opinions and bad logic are so abhorrent to basic American ideals that they are self-defeating. They are so self-evidently bad that more and more, people are realizing how shitty the opinions and the "facts" "backing" them are that they simply refuse to defend and accept them.

Uh, yes? That's kind of my point. That and transphobia was far larger back then than it is now. Did you just defeat your own point?

My point was more along the lines that, most people back then probably didn't care about atheists or transsexuals one way or another. They were simply out of sight and out of mind being that they were less visible. That is different than the majority proactively oppressing those groups like
what was done with native Americans for example.

Just because you're relatively "out of sight, out of mind" doesn't mean you can't be discriminated against and treated like shit.

[Divair]

Then you're wrong. Go try being an atheist or transsexual back then. You'd be called a commie or the Devil.

No you see, it was precisely because most people didn't care about them that they were easier targets for prejudice or discrimination by the people that did hate them in that era. Nowadays, atheists and transsexuals have exposure and community support that just didn't exist before the internet and social media.

So you admit that for a majority of people, it wasn't a utopia, but rather utter shit.


We're done here.

[Saiwania]

So you admit that for a majority of people, it wasn't a utopia, but rather utter shit. We're done here.

Since when have I ever said that transsexuals or atheists are the majority of people? They certainly weren't back then. Hence, why they were the oppressed rather than the ones doing the oppressing.

The only point I have conceded was that the 1950's were perfect, asides from that- I think it was a good decade relatively speaking. Of course, I don't have the benefit of living back then. But I've seen plenty of 1950's movies and have an elementary grasp of the technology differences between then and now.

[Quintium]

At the moment, the world isn't doing well. The global economy is volatile and dented, violence has been getting closer and closer to home, and people are living in uncertainty. There's a type of cynicism playing in both the United States and Western Europe. The idea that this is as good as it's going to get, the idea that we'll only get poorer and less safe.

That's why more and more people respect the late 1940s, the 1950s and the early 1960s. In those days, there was the genuine idea - despite the Red Threat - that things were getting better For most people, those days weren't everything, but at least they were on the up. There was optimism, just like in the 1920s - another time that's idolized by many.

And in a time like this, people like looking back to the past. For the generation most common on this website, that's the era from the mid-1990s up to 2001. Apart from the normal childhood memories, there is - at least in people I know - a sense that things were good back then, even though formally, they were much worse. For the generation before that one, it's the late 1960s through to the late 1970s. And for the generation born before the Second World War, that's the 1950s and early 1960s. And the stories they tell - well, the good bits - get turned into more and more entertainment. As many of those who lived in the era die, we tend to romanticize the era. If we face another situation like this thirty years down the line, we'll be looking at the 1970s or the 1990s as a time of plenty. My elderly relatives - in their 70s, 80s and 90s now - are talking about the 1945-1968 era with a longing far beyond what you could expect in elderly people.

[Dyakovo]

So NSG, I got to do some of that dangerous late-night thinking, and I thought about what it would be like to live in the 1950s, a time portrayed as somewhat of a Golden Age in American history. The time of sock hops and pink carnations, the 1950s economically and somewhat socially a prosperous time for America, after victories over Nazism and Imperial Japan, emerging out of the Great Depression as a world superpower.

The 1950s are generally portrayed as peaceful, carefree, and wonderful time in the media, when most everyone lived by the same ethics and standards. I personally do not think of the 1950s America as a Utopia, going by exact definition, given the social policies of the US and the looming threat of a nuclear war, but I'm curious to see NSG's opinion.

So, what is it? A Utopia, or just a period of prosperity in American history?

This \/

1950 in America was great...as long as you were white, male, christian and you were middle class or higher.

It pretty much sucked for everyone else.

[Scholencia]

Or a woman.
Or gay.
Or transsexual.
Or atheist.

Or a Rusky, or intellectual.

Indeed the list goes on and on.

Russian were discriminated in the 1950s?

[Quintium]

Russian were discriminated in the 1950s?

Oh, probably. Guilt by association, as the idea was going around that the Soviet Union was dropping spies in an industrial-scale operation - and even before that, Slavs were distrusted.

[Saint Kitten]

I think 1950's are more flawed than America today.

[Valcouria]

Ah, the 50s; When men were men, women were women, America was great, there was an obvious enemy to be hated, and society was good and decent. Looking back, I do long for a return to such a society...

And if you weren't straight, white, rich, and a cisgendered Christian man, life was shitty.

And your shitty opinions and bad logic are so abhorrent to basic American ideals that they are self-defeating. They are so self-evidently bad that more and more, people are realizing how shitty the opinions and the "facts" "backing" them are that they simply refuse to defend and accept them.

Good thing I am those, then, isn't it?

And, to quote one of my signatures, I take pride in supporting that what is good, moral, and decent while enraging the immoral modern society, forcing them to attack it to support their deviant, perverted ways.

[Vicswampia]

Russian were discriminated in the 1950s?

As much as any non-Anglo Saxon/Germanic White was, which is a lot.

The Russians had extra points because of the Soviet Union.

[Maryginia]

Actually, according to my grandparents, and Yes they and I are Jewish, Life for Jews wasn't too bad, Yes there was exclusion from many private schools, but the others founded were just as good if not better than the other Private schools, and the Jewish Neighborhoods, were pretty well off.

If you don't mind answering, what sect of Judaism were/are your grandparents in?

Conservative.

[Blakk Metal]

The popular depiction of the 1950's actually comes from the early 1960's San Joaquin Bay-in-waiting.

[Indira]

Only if you fit the right mould, ergo not a utopia

[Domenic and friends]

this is the decade that began rock n' roll, the civil rights movement, better family living, advances in technology, Fashion, medical research, other wonderful things this country was not used to seeing or hearing. The 1950's were looked at more as a state of mind or a way of living rather than just another decade or time era in American history. Everything was peaceful now, which looking back on the two world wars and the great depression this country was not used to at all. Nobody worried about war, nobody worried about how they were going to feed their children and keep a roof over their heads because everyone had jobs and the economy was doing great. Teenagers were having more fun than ever too. Rock n' roll was introduced to them and they all seemed at the time to know what they wanted out of life, to go to school, graduate, get a job, get married, and have children all in that order just as their parents had. The 1950's were the most influential decade in American history because the civil rights act began, fashion was completely new and trendy, there were much advancement in entertainment and medicine, and suburban life was much more "functional" than any other decade in American history.


We can all talk about if your "white and christian" Bs but i would love the 1950s and im from Southern italian descent and i have very dark skin. Also if you knew your history outside of the US deep south Black people had perfect rights. And things were only getting better for them with Doctor King and his allies gaining influence and before you know it all black people have rights! But anyways as for the Christian thing thats also bs because so what there was more religious people. In the 1950s you wouldnt show up to your job and be forced to pray. And if you were darker skinned or of a different religion you wouldnt be killed. because back then we had more rights! no big brother government and frankly a better life. Trust me when i say big brother government im from South africa and i know the horrors of the ANC and of being chased away and killed by your countryman for the color of your skin. Let me tell you this that wouldnt happen in the 1950s

[Scholencia]

Russian were discriminated in the 1950s?

As much as any non-Anglo Saxon/Germanic White was, which is a lot.

The Russians had extra points because of the Soviet Union.

Russian were discriminated in the 1950s?

Oh, probably. Guilt by association, as the idea was going around that the Soviet Union was dropping spies in an industrial-scale operation - and even before that, Slavs were distrusted.

That is possibly, the Germans and Japanese were also discriminated during World War II. though I never personally heard of such examples. In fact, there is quite the opposite examples like with Ayn Rand, who was a Russian.