4 ms·

>High paying jobs. A house with a white picket fence. A new car every few years. Everyone lives in a small town and knows their neighbors. Kids go fishing with

by flubert 10y ago

>High paying jobs. A house with a white picket fence. A new car every few years. Everyone lives in a small town and knows their neighbors. Kids go fishing with grandpa. it's a fantasy ...can you tell us a little bit more about how you see the fantasy part? Is that something you think is unobtainable for most people? And the reason is automation, or globalism, or climate change, or X. (I'm just curious to get another/urban/foreign perspective, since my kids just got back from two weeks of fishing with Grandpa, but we don't have a picket fence).

jfoutz 10y ago
When my mother was a little girl, she traveled with her grandmother across the country, probably 1958 or so. They stopped at a gas station. My mother went in the "wrong" bathroom. It created an awkward situation. The post ww2 boom had some wonderful effects. There were, and still are some ugly aspects to that time that are easy to gloss over. IIRC, it wasn't legally possible to rape a spouse. The Cuyahoga River was so polluted it would catch on fire, the largest in 1952. There were some very ugly parts to that time. if you weren't a white man with a good job, i think it was pretty rough. The nostalgic view tends to wash away those ugly parts. edit This is probably a harsher reply than was warrented by your question, but... it's easy to be misty eyed about that time. I wasn't around, but i think it sucked for a lot of people.
- flubert 10y ago
  Ah, I misunderstood what you said, and the fantasy part is the overlooking of historical problems. Any thoughts on the white picket fence as an aspiration nowadays?
  - jfoutz 10y ago
    I'd hope people do what they like. You want it, go for it! But if you really want a little apartment with a cat and stacks of books, go for that. I think there's was a pressure to get married, buy a house and start having kids, at least through the 80's. There's nothing wrong with that, and it makes lots of people happy. I could do that, but i don't want the commute.

by flubert 10y ago

jfoutz 10y ago

When my mother was a little girl, she traveled with her grandmother across the country, probably 1958 or so. They stopped at a gas station. My mother went in the "wrong" bathroom. It created an awkward situation. The post ww2 boom had some wonderful effects. There were, and still are some ugly aspects to that time that are easy to gloss over. IIRC, it wasn't legally possible to rape a spouse. The Cuyahoga River was so polluted it would catch on fire, the largest in 1952. There were some very ugly parts to that time. if you weren't a white man with a good job, i think it was pretty rough. The nostalgic view tends to wash away those ugly parts. edit This is probably a harsher reply than was warrented by your question, but... it's easy to be misty eyed about that time. I wasn't around, but i think it sucked for a lot of people.

flubert 10y ago
Ah, I misunderstood what you said, and the fantasy part is the overlooking of historical problems. Any thoughts on the white picket fence as an aspiration nowadays?
- jfoutz 10y ago
  I'd hope people do what they like. You want it, go for it! But if you really want a little apartment with a cat and stacks of books, go for that. I think there's was a pressure to get married, buy a house and start having kids, at least through the 80's. There's nothing wrong with that, and it makes lots of people happy. I could do that, but i don't want the commute.