Liberal revisionism: "the evil, corrupt society" of the fifties and sixties.

"In 1950’s and 60’s, Existentialism was in full swing against the evil, corrupt society."

One of my liberal colleagues, in a lecture on Existentialism, said this quote several years ago. I am reworking this lecture for my own class, and, again, I am working out of my speciality. I am doing fine on the Existentialist part, but this one comment caught my eye this time around.

I was a bit young in the late fifties to remember much on my own, and I do remember the rebellion, riots and assasinations of the 1960s. I imagine the threat of nuclear war in the fifties might be part of this.

But I was interested in FReepers reaction to that comment about "the evil, corrupt society" of the fifties and sixties. What is your take on those decades and how the liberals are twisting them in revisionism? Wasn't the fifties the happy decades of "Leave it to Beaver" and "Father Knows Best?"

I went to school in the 50s. I went to public school. We started each day the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag and recited the Lord's Prayer. When we were able to read, we read several verses from the Bible. Again, this was in public school.

If someone wanted to disrupt the class, that was ok as they would be escorted to the principal's office and would sit out the day there. If they made a habit of this type of behavior, they would be suspended. For the most part, we behaved in school since we knew the "board of education" would be applied to our bottoms. Even worse, a note would be sent home to our parents and we would have that subject reinforced. The teachers did not waste a lot of time trying to identify the student that was misbehaving. Identification of the group was sufficient. "If you are innocent this time, then this for the times we did not catch you!"

My mother stayed at home and raised 5 children. None of them got in trouble with the authorities. We would leave our bikes outside knowing they would be there when we wanted them. Boys were boys and played with toy guns and sports. We played cowboys and indians. Sometimes we made up the games. They did not try to make them into girls. Girls did their own thing and boys did not get really interested in them until puberty.

We didn't have a lot of money. Pop worked two, sometimes three, jobs so Mom could stay home with the kids. We had home cooked meals and Mom was there when we got home from school. Our clothing may have been faded and out of style, but they were clean and pressed. Mom would make dresses for the girls out of chicken feed bags.

We didn't watch a lot of TV. We spent our free time outdoors with the other kids in the neighborhood. The flag was respected by almost everyone. We all went to Sunday School and Church on Sundays. We did a lot as a family.

A lot of words had different meanings then. Being gay was pretty good then as it meant you were happy. You said what you wanted to say and did not worry whether it offended someone. If it was true, you were ok.

We studied math, english, history and geography. When we reached the higher grades we were separated in "tracks". There was the Academic track for those planning to go to college. The business track was for those planning a business career. We also had had the different "vocational" tracks. These were the machine shops, carpenter shop, automotive shop and electrical shop. For those that did not fit in any of the tracks, we had the general courses. Each track challenged the students. We did not worry about hurting someone's feelings. We were more interested in preparing for the future.

We did not have day care for the students. If a girl got pregnant she would drop out of school and marry the father. While there may have been abortions, they were not condoned by society. They were also illegal!

We were not given the newest and greatest car. If we had a car, it was an old car that we bought with our own money. My parents could not afford to buy cars for their children.

Christmas was Christmas. Schools had Christmas concerts and pageants. The towns put up Christmas decorations, including Nativity scenes. We celebrated Thanksgiving and gave thanks to God. We went to Thanksgiving breakfasts sponsored by the churches. We even, Heaven forbid, celebrated Easter. Sure we had the Easter bunny, but we also went to church and celebrated the true meaning of Easter.

I could go on, but you get the idea.

Beartooth

Wasn't the fifties the happy decades of "Leave it to Beaver" and "Father Knows Best?"

That is what liberals think was corrupt. The 50's with their high standards and promotion of family values was actaully repressive and was nothing but a cloak for sexism, racism, and McCarthyims. Of This notion by liberals, however, does not stand up to the test of history.

This reminds of a story told be Stephen Ambrose on how he was in college at the time and was encouraged to read and expound on books like "The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit" or the "The Organization Man". However, Ambrose came to the conclusion that here was a generation that grew up tough during the Great Depression, then fought across the globe in WWII, and then had to fight the communists in Korea. Most of them wanted some "normalcy" back in their lives because their lives had been anything but normal.

Go see the movie "Pleasantville".

Even in NYC we were free to run around after school; take subways and busses, etc....

Same in Pittsburgh in the 50s. As a 10 year-old, I could tell Mom I was going to the zoo, the museum, swimming, the ball game or whatever, and she would just say "be home for dinner." A kid could go most anywhere in the city then with not much concern. You could walk, take a street car or bus and you didn't have to worry about perverts. You also behaved yourself because most any adult would step in and discipline you if your parents were not around.

I wish I could have raised my kids that way, but the "liberating" 60s happened instead. By necessity, raising kids now is about sheltering them instead of allowing them to explore and learn their world.

Hi LR. There is no question that if JFK held the same basic positions today that he held as President -- lowering taxes, strong on national defense (although not always following through, as in the Bay of Pigs) and of course no indication of supporting the weird social agenda that was about to burst upon the scene -- he would indeed be a Republican. I think JFK was more in the mold of a Scoop Jackson or George Meany or Zell Miller Democrat -- we might have disagreements with him on particular issues, like unions, but these were all within the realm of normal political give and take. I am aware of no indication that Kennedy favored the more radical aspects of the Rat agenda, even in his own time. I do think it was possible for him to be led around by more leftist academic types, like Galbraith or Schlesinger or for that matter McNamara, and that was a weakness. I think his basic political instincts were okay -- leaving his personal amorous escapades out of the picture -- that part seems to be genetic with the family.

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