The Rehabilitation of an Old Emotion: A New Science of Nostalgia

Scientific American ^ | July 10, 2013 | Clay Routledge

[a fool in paradise]

It comes as no surprise for all who have found themselves trapped in an obamanation to become nostalgic for America, formerly known as the land of the free and the home of the brave.

"If you don’t, this program I promise you, will pass just as surely as the sun will come up tomorrow and behind it will come other federal programs that will invade every area of freedom as we have known it in this country until one day as Normal Thomas said we will wake to find that we have socialism, and if you don’t do this and I don’t do this, one of these days we are going to spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children, what it once was like in America when men were free." - Ronald Reagan (from Ronald Reagan Speaks Out Against Socialized Medicine)

[Revolting cat!]

“I don’t miss nostalgia”, is my contribution to the encyclopedia of misattributed quotes (Yogi Berra, who d’ya think?!)

[a fool in paradise]

I think Mark Twain said it best, “Twitter, what’s that?”

[Revolting cat!]

Fascinating. Note that the author comes from the flyover country.

I’ve known people who spent their youth under Communism and are nostalgic for those days (I don’t know if they were privileged there and then, I don’t think so.) Others, with similar backgrounds, are like those refugees from WWII you read about, who will never talk about it. One guy I know on Fakebook is so nostalgic that he posts there links to videos of rock groups from the early sixties like the Animals, and follows that with his lists of the greatest rock songs ever with “A Hard Day’s Night” at the very top.

The worst, perhaps, is nostalgia for past mediocrity, for example the Iron Butterfly or John Denver, Rod McKuen, and bad John Wayne films and James Michener books. (I’ve got my bulletproof vest ready!)

Wait till you grow old yourself and start missing Barry Manilow, Kenny G, JK Rowling, and Hillary Clinton.

Me, as I said earlier, quoting Yogi Berra, I don’t miss nostalgia.

[a fool in paradise]

My white bucks must've given me away.