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America, 1926: A forgotten 100-year-old report

derekthompson.org

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Re: America, 1926: A forgotten 100-year-old report

#111

Post by achenet »

pfdietz wrote: post #43
UncleOxidant wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To both of your points: the beer hall demagogue wouldn't have gotten to Chancellor if the German elites hadn't decided that he really couldn't do that much damage and we may as well let him be chancellor to quiet down his followers. Even after the putsch, he got a very light sentence because the judge was sympathetic with his right-wing cause. You're both right to some extent. A huge amount of damage was done by one…

All events have multiple causes. But history turned on what he did, and would have been very different otherwise.

> what he did

Obviously, calling out for violence and building organizations that commit atrocious acts of violence is a bad thing.

However, it is really hard to do without the help of others.

If you start arguing that your country should invade your neighbors and mass murder various types of people, the people listening have a choice in how they react - do they politely remind you that we're generally happier and richer if we're nice to each other and "treat others like we'd like others to treat us", or shout "JAWOHL MEIN FURHER" and go invade neighbors and mass murdering undesirables?

The problem isn't always the guy shouting hate, it's the crowd listening and implementing hate.

Re: America, 1926: A forgotten 100-year-old report

#112

Post by fluidcruft »

axpy906 wrote: post #95
artisinal wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Natural parks. Tasty drinkable water from the tap in nearly the entire country. Being able to flush toilet paper. Free toilets almost everywhere. Being a country for 250 years is also quite an achievement. I’m European and have witnessed many wars on my continent in my lifetime. A childhood friend was shot down with a Russian surface to air missile.

I don’t know. There are other countries that have those properties. I am envious of Western Europe’s healthcare, social safety net, healthier food and holidays that you don’t work on. The comment came about from the last charts show religion, patriotism, etc down while money rose. It clicked.

What food does Europe have that the US does not?

Re: America, 1926: A forgotten 100-year-old report

#113

Post by achenet »

miranaproarrow wrote: post #67

no one is talking about the alcohol part?

yeah, that is honestly a good win, going from awful side effects of prohibition to intelligent legalization. Even cannabis has been largely legalized, although there is the opiate epidemic to worry about now.

Still, overall, I feel like drug policy now beats 100 years ago :)

Re: America, 1926: A forgotten 100-year-old report

#114

Post by WalterBright »

bryanlarsen wrote: post #101
WalterBright wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Perhaps due to those experiences, you will be the only generation that votes more left as you age. I doubt it. My dad lived through the Great Depression, and fought desperate battles in WW2 and Korea. As a young man, he was a socialist. His experience in fighting for American freedoms changed all that. Before he passed, he told me he regretted leaving me in a country that was significantly less free than when he wa…

In 1994, the Greatest Generation voted D+7, higher than any other generational cohort. https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2015/04/30/a-different-...

Your link doesn't seem to cover the Greatest Generation.

Also, the Democrat party has steadily moved leftwards over time.

I don't have statistics, but combat veterans voice very negative opinions on Jane Fonda and her support for N Vietnam.

Re: America, 1926: A forgotten 100-year-old report

#115

Post by jmyeet »

Spooky23 wrote: post #50
jmyeet wrote: post #14

I an a completely unabashed leftist who has been "radicalized" (if you call free school lunches "radical", which apparently it is in modern America) by seeing the rapidly accelerating wealth and income inequality since 2008. I mean it really kciked off in the 1970s but the effects post-2008 became impossible to ignore. In the spirit of all models are wroong but some models are useful and that generational politics is…

Personally, I think GenX are the lost. (I'm a late GenX) Our colleages took the brunt of the global war on terror, and because we entered the workforce at the peak boomer pivot away from the pre-Internet era of business those of us that were in the corporate/government workforce were basically stuck waiting for people to die to move up. We're the people who got computers and internet in a way that neither our elders…

Fellow GenXer here and no, the millenials have it way worse. We paid a pittance for college and had to buy literally any house in the 1990s and we're fine. Now if you didn't buy a house in the 1990s, yes, you're screwed.

We have our own problems, namely that we were raised by boomers who went from Flower Power in the 1960s to voting for Reagan in the 1980s. We were the last free range generation but that wasn't freedom. It was neglect. Many of us also grew up with things like ADHD and Type 1 Autism long before anyone knew what those things were so that, too, was fun for us.

Baby boomers as a whole seem terrified of dying. So they don't retire but also they don't leave anything for their children. Tehy can't take it with them but by God they're going to spend it before they go. Or it'll just get eaten up on end-of-life care.

I can barely contain my rage at the baby boomer generation who took the fruits of prosperity from FDR in the post-war era and pissed it all away voting for Reagan while bringing people into the world then making sure to pass absolutely nothing onto them in a world they can scarcely afford.

Given all that I still say millenials got shafted way worse.

Re: America, 1926: A forgotten 100-year-old report

#116

Post by axpy906 »

fluidcruft wrote: post #112
axpy906 wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t know. There are other countries that have those properties. I am envious of Western Europe’s healthcare, social safety net, healthier food and holidays that you don’t work on. The comment came about from the last charts show religion, patriotism, etc down while money rose. It clicked.

What food does Europe have that the US does not?

Its what’s not in the food like additives, preservatives, pesticides, gmos and growth hormone. EU has stricter regulations.

Re: America, 1926: A forgotten 100-year-old report

#117

Post by bryanlarsen »

jandrewrogers wrote: post #108
bryanlarsen wrote: post #7

You're a 26 year old in 1926. You're part of what history would later call the Greatest Generation. You will suffer through both the Great Depression and World War II. Perhaps due to those experiences, you will be the only generation that votes more left as you age.

You are off by a generation. The Greatest Generation was born in the 1920s. This was the generation that produced the Boomers. I knew my great grandparents. Most were born in the last part of the 1800s and lived through the First World War as young adults. They always seemed significantly less scarred by the Great Depression than their children (the Greatest Generation). There was a communist undercurrent to the Grea…

Lost Generation: adults during WW1

Greatest Generation: adults during WW2

Silent Generation: children during WW2

People born in the 20's would be split between Greatest & Silent.

Re: America, 1926: A forgotten 100-year-old report

#118

Post by bryanlarsen »

WalterBright wrote: post #114
bryanlarsen wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In 1994, the Greatest Generation voted D+7, higher than any other generational cohort. https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2015/04/30/a-different-...

Your link doesn't seem to cover the Greatest Generation. Also, the Democrat party has steadily moved leftwards over time. I don't have statistics, but combat veterans voice very negative opinions on Jane Fonda and her support for N Vietnam.

Look at the 1994 graph. They're n/a in the 2014 for obvious reasons.

Re: America, 1926: A forgotten 100-year-old report

#119

Post by throw0101d »

g42gregory wrote: post #61

Is this some sort of a paid advertising piece, to make you feel better about inflation, lack of affordable medical care, lack of affordable housing, lack of jobs for recent graduates, etc...? "Life is much better in 2026. We live healthier, richer, and longer lives, with better medicine and more self-determination." - I can't speak for 1926, but compared to 1980s or 1960s, this is so patently not true. The US populat…

> I can't speak for 1926, but compared to 1980s or 1960s, this is so patently not true. The US population is much sicker and more obese, as one example.

If you're a woman, would you rather live in the 1960s or 2020s? If you were black or any other minority, in the 1960s or 2020s? If you're gay, would you rather live in the 1960/80s or in the 2020s?

Average US life expectancy was in about 70 in the 1960s, and mid-70s in the 1980s, and approaching 80 until COVID hit. Cancer survivorships has improved (not only because better screen and treatment, but also because of less cigarette smoking). The infant mortality rate now is a fifth of what it was in the 1960s.

Of course for all these numbers non-US developed countries are much better.

Generally, to say that life is better now is not to say it's perfect or to deny that improvements can still be made.

> People are not starving, but at the cost of eating "manufactured" foods that will make them sick in 20 - 40 yrs.

Groceries have gone from being 14% of household spending in the 1960s to being less 6% (takeout from 4% to 6%). In 1900 food was 40%:

* https://archive.is/https://www.theatlantic.com/business/arch...

Being able to cook healthy meals for yourself has probably never been easier and less expensive than it is now.

Re: America, 1926: A forgotten 100-year-old report

#120

Post by fluidcruft »

axpy906 wrote: post #116
fluidcruft wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What food does Europe have that the US does not?

Its what’s not in the food like additives, preservatives, pesticides, gmos and growth hormone. EU has stricter regulations.

You can buy the same food here.
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