I'm currently enjoying No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II. It's a nice, light read about those who lived in the White House during the Roosevelt administration and how they affected the president and public policy. The anecdotes I'm learning from the book are numerous, but one in particular struck me, especially in its comparison to our political climate today.
During World War II, in order to ensure the supply of cotton needed for more than 64 million flannel shirts and other supplies needed for the Army, President Roosevelt introduced regulations that rationed certain consumer goods and dictated what manufacturers could produce for the private sector. Men could wear short sleeved shirts and cuffless pants. Women were mandated to take several inches off their skirts and one piece bathing suits were no longer permitted - the bikini was invented. It wasn't until the government tried to take away the girdle did the American public become outraged. In fact, I'm sure most American men really liked the new changes in female attire.
This leads to the discussion of how America has changed. We complain about our national debt and the cost of war, but aren't willing to sacrifice anything for it. We're spoiled brats. Don't take away my iPod, iPhone, Computer, much less tell me what I can wear. Some even complain if the president wants to TALK to their kids via televised speeches. The reaction to this type of regulation might lead to armed rebellion these days.
Do conservatives, those that complain about taxes the most and are willing to sacrifice the least for the greater good, understand how ridiculous they look when you look at the big picture of American history? They want the federal government to protect them by throwing all of our resources at the wars, but at the same time want lower taxes and don't want to give up or contribute anything. Now, liberals for sure wouldn't want to give anything up, either - but they'll at least listen to the reasoning behind a higher tax or new regulation or rule.
I'm kind of thinking out loud here, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. Legal, Societal, Trivial..all of them.
We have become a nation of "instant gratification" and extremely short attention spans. I mean, how many of us have stood at the microwave and said, "hurry hurry" while waiting for our lunch to be nuked in 4 minutes?
Bush had the perfect opportunity in 2001 to ask the American people to step up to the plate and sacrifice a bit of time, a bit of comfort, a bit of money, a bit of convenience, after 9/11. I am willing to bet that the majority of the nation would have agreed.
Instead we were told to "go shopping".
Sometimes I wonder if we have the fortitude to endure some hardships as our parents and grandparents did during the Depression and WW II. How many of us could grow our own vegetables, can them, sew our own clothes, knit, do without or make do? I know my grandma could; I am not sure I could.
In the meantime, God Bless our veterans, both those still here and those departed.
"Senior moment". Of course I meant "Goldwater".
Lots of good comments here. Hard to know where to start. Of course the tricky thing here at TDH is that so many of us are smart so we agree on a lot of things. But it's still interesting to read the different perspedtives.
The fact is we have grown to be a country of "special interest" groups. Everybody is for ME, nobody is for US. Toleration...certainly NOT evident in the conservative camp. They can't even agree AMONGST THEMSELVES.
The question.....where is it all gonna lead us?
FBI says crime is down. Ask the victims of crime. Methinks they disagree. Poverty is up. I think we all agee on that. We NEVER had people begging on the street when I was a kid. Now I get hit by beggars twice on the way home in left turn lanes, once at the Walgreens and once yesteray at Taco Bell.
I think lomamonster blamed Reagan and his "followers" for much of our current dilema. I'm good with that.
I'm a child of WWII, and the Roosevelt era. We lived in D.C. during the start of the war. We had a Victory Garden in the back yard. We went through the rationing of Sugar, rubber tires, gasoline, Meatless Tuesdays, and coffee. My mom, and her sisters (my aunts) drew lines up the backs of their lower legs, to look like the nylon stockings they couldn't get. We had black shades over all our windows, and frequently had air raid blackouts. My mom taught a bunch of us girls to knit.. and we made afghan squares, which she then sewed into blankets ... which were donated to the Red Cross. I still do that today... knit..for a project that sends afghans to military hospitals, here and abroad -- some 3,000+ and counting.
I still have my rationing book for something (I don't know what.) It came to Texas, from D.C., with us, in a 1941 Studebaker.... During the war. In 1943, so I suspect it was for gasoline.
Social Security was enacted a year after I was born. My parents lived through the depression.. but thanks to FDR... got the safety net.
Thanks to LBJ, we also have that... with Medicare.
Today is Veterans Day. My Navy Pilot uncle, the last surviving WWII veteran in our family, passed on a few years back.
Today I honor him, and all the rest of the service members of my own family, as well as every one who served in that war, and all the wars that came after that one.
As I watched the Memorial Service from Ft. Hood yesterday, I was fine.. (somewhat sad... but not too emotional) until "roll call". That's when I lost it. What a totally senseless loss of good and decent people.
(I admire your reading choices AGK.)
To any and all who are veterans, who read and support this site:
Thank you for your service.
Great writeup and good point about sacrifice. Part of the difference between then and now, I think, is our current lack of a common enemy. In WWII it was the Axis powers; afterward the Soviets. Opposing both causes were something the majority could unite behind.
The collapse of the USSR took with it the last bogeyman that everyone could agree upon. Terrorists? Old hat when you think about it. The embassy hostages in Tehran ('79), hostage taking in Lebanon ('82-'90), the Achille Lauro hijacking, the hijacking of TWA 847 (w/ murder of a Navy diver), the arms-for-hostages deal with Iran, etc. Perhaps we've become so inured and jaded with the topic that it's no longer a unifying force for us. The issue being, why sacrifice for a cause you might not really believe in?
You know what? If you have chronic pain due to back, cancer, whatever.... feel free to smoke pot. You might get some relief and have a few days of pain free. Who really cares? I don't...
You don't need to outlaw cocaine and heroine - because it's bad for you, the free market will magically find some way to weed it out. If there was unfettered capitalism, there would be no more black markets. They'd just be free markets. About right?
in the batch of old newspapers i have, coca-cola puts out a plea to houston for empty coke bottles because glass is so short in supply they have run out. the ad says "bring in some bottles, leave with extra ration coupons". so they could not even continue the production until the bottles were found and turned in. very strange to read.
During WW II there was a ton of rationing going on. You were strictly limited as to the amount of Gas you could buy. You had a sticker on your windshield with a number on it that indicated your status under the rationing plan. Lots of clothing including some flannel, silk, nylon and all of the other manufactured fabrics. A lot of foodstuffs, auto tires etc were also rationed with strict limits placed on what you could buy. I remember standing in long lines with my Mom when I was 5 or 6 waiting to buy something that "might" be available that day at the store.
Not sure, but I think we baby boomers were stifled by our conservative parents, and turned our own kids into entitled gotta-haves (after some of our own modeling).
Sacrifice? Hell, delayed gratification has disappeared. I think the coming of advanced technology has been one of the biggest factors. That and advertising strategies that have become more mind controlling.
We are swimming upstream if we try to live more simply, or simply slow down.
Oh and - Capitalism, in it's purest form, has ALWAYS been against the law.
Waxing nostalgic always ends up being a slippery slope to intolerance, eh?
Politically, the demise of the Goldwater campaign symbolized the death of the "good" conservatives. Many became disillusioned then and gave in to the resultant morph of the party into what it is today. Many of them reside in jails these days, and spend their time wondering what went wrong.
I agree Carguy. I was raised regular folks. My parents raised me conservative and attended Catholic schools. Very Republican in Philadelphia burbs.. Italian Catholic so we were always for the Republicans. What changed me? Doing research and speaking with aging elders of my family. During the WW, they sacrificed like no others. They came to the US early 1900's, lived through the Depression and WWII. No safety nets, no insurance, no food stamps, etc. I do think we as a society have changed. It's no longer as simple as coming through Ellis Island. We are a country of diverse peoples and we need to respond accordingly. You will be shocked, this day and age, how many people in business are clueless about international business dealings.
gotta agree with "hero's of the past" statement. reaganomics gave us high unemployment, soaring interest rates and for many lower middle class (my young married self included) abject poverty. but he is saint reagan, patron of "limiting government" when in fact he was a warmonger with defense spending to put paris hilton's spending to shame. my dad (75yrs) has always romanticized WW2, with books, movies, music, posters, folklore and memorabilia. he's just the age fox is looking for to frighten & brainwash. a child born in 1934, and a married man with a family and not drafted in the 60's or 70's for vietnam. not an open racist by racist by acceptance and tolerance. no interest in civil, women's, or child rights, married a dutiful wife of irish descent who converted catholic, promptly had the requisite 4 children and of course had no life herself by marrying a full blooded, oldest italian son. a man with utter hero worship for pearl harbor, D-Day, and the andrew sisters who unlike my mom never gained an ounce or aged a day in the movies. to this day my dad will not admit that bombing japan, rounding up japanese americans, vietnam or iraq wars bombing of civilians was morally wrong or is hypocritical to his pro-life agenda. he believes a woman raped or a 12yr old girl victimized by incest is demanded by god and his pope to bear a child. women who find out their pregnant and get diagnosed with breast cancer the same day should "choose life", even if they die leaving 5 children like our next door neighbor did in 1987. WW2 was obviously unavoidable, but "romancing the war" is a myth and i challenge this myth. probably why i'm a recovering catholic and lone liberal in my family.
I've been most amused by the "I don't want my tax dollars to pay for abortions" crowd because so many of them also don't want their tax dollars to go any programs that help low income families.
Carguy - It started when the Edsel came out, and accelerated in it's bedlam when the Corvair was released. We should have recognized the End of Times was upon us! De Lorean tried, but failed to save us from ourselves...
I think I am a lttle older than you and I remember when "conservatives" we "regular people."
Now hold your horses everybody. I know that's a bold statement. But it's true. They were FOR America. They wanted everybody to do well and enjoy "life, liberty etc." They disagreed with big federal federal government, lotsa spending, but they were decent people and content to "agree to disagree". Oh, they stretched the truth in elections. But everybody did. Remmeber the infamous "Goldberg" political ad...KABOOM!!!
I knew many republicans. Even liked some.
Then.....and I don't know WHAT happened. They changed. Slowly but surely they mutated into what we see today....that dick Cheney, Rush, Sarah Pallin, the list goes on and on. The religious right became stronger and stronger. They would lie, cheat and steal to get elected. Nothing was beneath or below them.
Was it Watergate? Was it Carter? Was it Iran-Contra? Maybe it was the "Savings and Loan Fiasco"? Maybe it was sex, and drugs, and rock n roll?
Sorry, I gotta go.
The restocking of guns and God is also one of the most obvious of the barricading techniques employed by the conservatives, and I would venture to say that each family constitutes enough firepower to restock a small platoon of zealots while amusing them with tales of heroes past. None of which has anything to do with the future of this country, of course! When food for thought runs out, they are all gonna starve just the same...