I remember an America

[Occulus]

I'm nearly 32 years old. I grew up in the '80s, when we were all so very proud that we weren't living in the USSR, where people couldn't speak freely, or assemble freely, etc., and etc. I remember being told I was lucky. Lucky to have been born in The Greatest Nation on Earth(tm).

I remember an America where people were given compassion for having a deadly disease, an America where people could feed the hungry and get a pat on the back instead of jail time. I grew up in a country where we prided ourselves on having the best military training on the planet- or at least more training than what amounts to a combat "seminar".

I remember an America where people could flee from a disaster without being shot at by "public servants". I remember an America where we all, all, would be left utterly horrified by anything else.

What has happened to the America I grew up in? Amazingly enough, you'll find people actually having the unmitigated gall to defend the 180-degree-opposite of those things- and this, on a (supposedly) progressive discussion board.

Not that I'm shocked by that; my ignore list grows daily. I'm not complaining about DU- truly, I'm not. But those threads (with the exception of the one about the lack of training for our fodder "surge") serve well to highlight my overarching question:

What happened to the America I remember?

(That's mostly a rhetorical question, but... well, what were you "lucky for", growing up, that you were born or moved here instead of there? And how has that changed? Are we still "lucky for this" or "lucky for that"... or is it all one vast, colossal swindle any more?)

[NightWatcher]

1. I'm there with ya on that one...31 years old myself

what happened to the great America that we grew up in? Was it bought out, or did it really exist?

[Occulus]

2. I'm starting to think it never existed in the first place

And we've been lied to- pretty much all our lives.

Is there no truth, in the same sense as "there is no spoon"?

[charlyvi]

3. To be fair, I am 56.

Born in 1951, so my growing up years were the fifties, sixties, and young adulthood in the 70's and 80's. I remember segregation, the horrible riots in Watts, Chicago, New York City. The assasination of JFK, RFK, MLK jr. The bigotry of all the George Wallace's in the nation, and probably the most bitter memory is that of Vietnam. My point is, the past was never as good as the memories of it. The seeds of today were all there; waiting to grow while we thought our struggles against inequality, (racial, civil, gender, and economic) were for the most part succeeding. At least I thought that. I was very wrong.

[mnhtnbb]

9. Just turned 56 myself. The 60's-70's were turbulent years.

[charlyvi]

13. Yes, they were.

I think my post was a bit too depressing, though. There were also many great memories. The moon walk, the comraderie, the music, the sense of freedom, the movies (70's movies are the true "golden age" of movies to me), true separation of church and state, etc., etc., etc. I wouldn't change my age for anything.

[blues90]

17. I don't feel your post was depressing .

It was true , but every generation I feel has their good and bad memories , what else have we got if we don't try to hang onto the good ones . We never forget , we did not keep our eyes open but you know what , it was just not you or me . You do the best you can , things were not right out there as they are now with the interent . If we had this tool then perhaps we could have done more . However , as the worlds view changes and the surroundings change you lose track .

We did have great music and great spirit for the times we went through and I would not want to trade those times for anything , at 57 all I want to do is get through this hell , if tomarrow is my last day well then it is .

[sinkingfeeling]

4. You poor thing! You grew up in an America under Ronnie and Bush I!

If you have this very good, pure memory of better things, but you should try being someone who grew up immediately following WWII. We truly were the 'hope of the world' and the guys in the white hats.

[Warpy]

5. This troubles me:

"Amazingly enough, you'll find people actually having the unmitigated gall to defend the 180-degree-opposite of those things- and this, on a (supposedly) progressive discussion board. "

Oddly enough, I haven't seen any of this stuff except among the soon to be tombstoned. Perhaps you've been reading the wrong board and have gotten confused as to which one to blame.

This board is an island of sanity.

I'm the oldest person to post so far, old enough to know that no age was perfect. However, think of what this country could be like had we retained the New Deal along with all the civil rights for all of us that we managed to get recognized in the 60s.

Imagine a country without Reagan, in other words.

[bleedingheart]

6. Sadly...I am a bit older than you 37...and I don't remember those things

I remember the 80's as the era when the Ayn Rand devotees convinced people that selfishness was a virtue and that "everyone was out for themeselves"...

The Reaganites told us that the poor were poor because they wanted to be that way...and that if they "pulled themselves up by their bootstraps" they would be just as well off as the rest of us.

I am not trying to quarrel with you...but things really haven't changed that much...it was all propaganda...

and we are still paying the price for what happened.

My father was born in a tent while his father was on a mine strike...the company police shot at the tents in the night to scare people...this was back in 1919...when we were supposedly a "great nation"...

My cousin came from Europe with two children....at Ellis Island..one of her children who had a problem with his foot (a birth injury) was not allowed to be admitted to this "great" country.....that child was sent back alone on a boat because the mother had to stay behind to earn money to send to Europe to feed the starving family members back home...

There is no perfect world...and no perfect solutions...what we can do is work to make things better...and fight to make things good for all ....granted....there aren't always good ways to handle certain situations

[ComerPerro]

7. it was being torn apart around you by Republicans as you grew up

[DavidDvorkin]

8. I'm 63, and you're dreaming

[walldude]

11. I gotta agree.. grew up in the Reagan 80's and

remembers "an America where people were given compassion for having a deadly disease, an America where people could feed the hungry and get a pat on the back instead of jail time. I grew up in a country where we prided ourselves on having the best military training on the planet- or at least more training than what amounts to a combat "seminar"." I remember going through the 80's thinking the whole country was going down the toilet. Of course it turned out that things could get worse.. much worse.

[DavidDvorkin]

16. Hah, yeah, and during the Reagan years

I remember thinking that this must be the worst possible and the future could only be an improvement!

[ProgressiveFool]

10. I'm 33 and I remember the 80's and 90's as good times

because I wasn't paying any attention at all. I had the sugar-coated version of American history that I'd learned in the school system, and, while nominally a liberal because of my parents, I was uncritical of what went on around me.

The lynching of Bill Clinton over the Lewinsky scandal is what woke me up.

[treestar]

12. I grew up a decade and a half earlier

I was a young person - 20s - in the eighties.

I do remember then that while Reagan and his right wing economic theory were starting to assert themselves, there were still limits beneath which America would not go - mainly concerning respect for the rule of law.

That era was much more positive and hopeful, and though conservative on economic terms, it was not so war-mongering and just plain hateful.

[JCMach1]

15. The Morass was wide-- became an activist because of the Reagan/Bush policies in Central America

Where there were NO LIMITS or attention paid to the rule of law...

I just turned 40... Those years were horrific and only to be matched by the horror of the past 7.

[kimmerspixelated]

14. As a 51 year old,

my childhood, when I think back on it, seemed like a fairytale, really. I grew up not worrying about terrorism, not worrying about whether my parents would have jobs, not worrying if I would have a job when I left home. It seemed America was the land of plenty. Freedom and constitutional rights were set in stone and just taken for granted.(60's,70's) The first time I voted was for Jimmy Carter. Somehow I lost my way and didn't vote for awhile after that. I didn't like the republican 80's, but wasn't terribly worried that we were under the thumb of something truly evil, I wasn't as involved back then.

Maybe you didn't like the prez, but you didn't think he was bat-shit crazy and dreaming of putting you in a concentration camp. Flash forward: I was Disenchanted when Gore "lost" and when I knew it was stolen, I was really mad and fired up. 9/11 happened and then we were all under this "terror" spell, and behind Bush.( for about 2 minutes) Then the real hell began. When Gore got his wings and did the "How Dare they!" speeches, I began to really get motivated. ...I was pumped and really behind Kerry, and I cried the day he conceded, I mean really cried. I got involved first by checking in with Black Box Voting and then I found DU and I've been there ever since!