this post was submitted on 15 Jul 2025
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[–] ininewcrow@lemmy.ca 120 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Are you kidding? .... it was the great old days for Straight White Christian Men ... they were free to be completely racist aholes, treat women like slaves, have as many children as they wanted and not take care of any of them, have the world at their feet, make a ton of money just for being who they were and they were accountable to no one.

The reason why the past was so great for a small segment of society was that it was so shitty for 99% of rest of the world

[–] chiliedogg@lemmy.world 51 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

I'm a white Christian man, and that sounds awful.

I don't understand how people can want to live in that world.

[–] Xoriff@lemmy.world 53 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

It's easy if you don't know how shitty the other 90% have it. That's the thing about privilege. The folks who have it assume that everybody has it like they do (i.e. that privilege isn't really a thing, everybody has equal opportunity, racism is dead, etc).

[–] Signtist@bookwyr.me 28 points 2 weeks ago

I dunno, I grew up with the "there are kids starving in Africa" spiel and other such lectures. For my family, it was more like the idea that "lesser" parts of the world had problems because they were "lesser," and if anyone is suffering in America it's because they brought that "lesser" mindset with them from elsewhere.

[–] Soup@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago

Different guy here but I get it. That sounds truly heinous. There have plenty of “socially accepted” things that I just cannot get behind because it’s obviously wrong. Like, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that maybe enslaving human beings, even when your society doesn’t fully count them as such, or hitting your wife is bad.

[–] teamevil@lemmy.world 15 points 2 weeks ago

They're terrible people and racist....

[–] Lucky_777@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago

Look what MAGA did, they pushed the narrative that the white man is getting pushed out of society. Even though the United States is mostly White Christians. They just believed what these bitches told them, didn't bother to look at facts.

That's the real crime.

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[–] BuboScandiacus@mander.xyz 8 points 2 weeks ago (7 children)

Straight White Christian Men

Straight White "Christian" Men*

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[–] gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de 61 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

The rise in gay people since then reminds me of this diagram:

[–] merc@sh.itjust.works 10 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Is there some sinister reason why the low point was 1905 or so?

[–] gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

christians thought that left-handedness was "sinister" and associated to the devil, so they made it illegal.

Edit: i know it sounds like a joke, but it is not. this is not the onion. that's the actual reason.

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[–] TwoBeeSan@lemmy.world 49 points 2 weeks ago

"I sent a postcard to my gram gram from the lynching I went to this weekend"

[–] Agent641@lemmy.world 44 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

And the whole world smells like cigarettes and leaded gasoline

[–] bytesonbike@discuss.online 9 points 2 weeks ago

Back in my day, we could drink gasoline right out of the pump. If you were feeling ill, you just head over to the nearby asbestos wall and give it a good lick.

Then you go out and yell racist shit and put women in their place.

[–] danc4498@lemmy.world 40 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

I’ve never seen a more spot on meme. Though the “can’t get through the day without a shit ton of drugs” one has probably never changed.

[–] Hideakikarate@sh.itjust.works 26 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

Who knows, maybe polio will have a resurgence. It'll go nicely with the measles surge.

[–] Little8Lost@lemmy.world 12 points 2 weeks ago

and the usa got a deadly plague death (last one was 2007)

[–] InternetCitizen2@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago

One of the few things becoming great again in america these days.

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[–] Soup@lemmy.world 16 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

That’s the modern adult’s coffee addiction. “Don’t talk to me until I’ve had my stimulant” should be getting us to ask why our work hours force so many of us to need get jacked up on caffeine just survive the morning.

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[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 33 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (8 children)
  • Boomer: I miss being young

  • GenX: I miss being young

  • Millennial: I miss being young

  • GenZ / Alpha: I was told young people had more money 20 years ago and I wish I had more money

[–] latenightnoir@lemmy.blahaj.zone 21 points 2 weeks ago

As a Millenial, I can 100% say that I do not miss being young. Granted, the busted lumbar region and cranky guts aren't fun, but the familiarity with my own body and the gained cognitive complexity are worth a helluva lot more to me.

I do miss those contexts and how they made me feel, I miss seeing my friends carefree and jovial, and I miss drum and bass and punk gigs. But I was a moron back then, and the shit I did to myself, I wouldn't wish on anyone else.

No, there is one thing: I miss not needing as much sleep as I do now.

[–] Bunbury@feddit.nl 5 points 2 weeks ago

Millennial here. I don’t miss being young at all. Sure my body is aging, but it doesn’t make up for how much better I’m doing mentally and emotionally. Also I’m grateful every day that I’m personally sort of financially ok, unlike a lot of our generation and the ones after. Helps being childfree though, because having children would be extremely expensive.

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[–] LordWiggle@lemmy.world 33 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I can't get through my day without a shit ton of drugs

This is still relevant.

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[–] DarkFuture@lemmy.world 29 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Yeah, but we did tax the everloving fuck out of the grotesquely wealthy, which made for a stronger middle class.

That was before they realized they could just pay our traitorous politicians pocket change to lower their tax rate.

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[–] ShimmeringKoi@hexbear.net 18 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Tfw you were born too late to get blown up in Korea

kitty-cri-texas

[–] Etterra@discuss.online 17 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Wine and Valium were a housewife's best friends back then.

[–] Karjalan@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Don't forget the face massager

[–] Lucky_777@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago
[–] merc@sh.itjust.works 17 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

On the other hand:

  • Many of the pro-worker policies from the New Deal are still in place, and my union is strong
  • The owner of that factory over there is in the 90% tax bracket, isn't it great how he's paying society back for his good fortune?
  • Every other major economic power in the world was just absolutely flattened in a war, and our country wasn't touched
  • Because our country was relatively safe during the war, the best and brightest migrated here, and we're now benefiting from their ideas and inventions
[–] Sandouq_Dyatha@lemmy.ml 11 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

On the other other hand: segregation was still a thing

[–] merc@sh.itjust.works 5 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Yup, the 1950s was only better for white people, but there's a reason that white people look back on it with fondness.

But, I'd guess that even for black people it was better than the 1930s. When the economy shinks, they're the first to lose jobs. When it grows they're the last to get them. In the 1950s things were booming so my guess is that black unemployment was low. Still, for working class white males the 1950s may have been a peak, for most other people things have just been getting better every year since then.

Imagine how good it could be if everyone got some of the things working class whites got in the 1950s: strong unions, good labour protections, high tax rates on the ultra rich, etc.

[–] Palacegalleryratio@hexbear.net 15 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

I mean alot of male conservatives would unironically like these things back. (well maybe except the polio and the drugs I guess?)

[–] TheWolfOfSouthEnd@lemmygrad.ml 17 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

I would say the drugs is a class thing…drugs are classy if youre rich, trashy if you’re poor.

I’m not USAian, but still.

[–] ouRKaoS 7 points 2 weeks ago

Poor people are "crack heads", "junkies", and "drunks".

Rich people "have fun at parties", "Suffer from opioid abuse disorder", or are a "lush"...

Same shit, different tax bracket.

[–] jollyrogue@lemmy.ml 7 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

This true. Drugs are another tool to oppress people. The more money someone makes, the few drug tests they take.

It’s been well over a decade since I had to take a drug test for a job.

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[–] MTK@lemmy.world 12 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

Except polio this seems pretty modern

[–] Revan343@lemmy.ca 5 points 2 weeks ago

Lol, it's coming

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[–] DancingBear@midwest.social 12 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

When you get older, pretty sure you’re going to say the same thing….

“Man, the 2020’s were so nice, such a simpler time…. Back when genocide was in vogue and child molesters controlled the world.”

[–] minkymunkey_7_7@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago

When was there ever a time in human history since civilization started when this wasn't true?

[–] hobata@lemmy.ml 10 points 2 weeks ago

the good old time, I miss it very much

[–] stefenauris@pawb.social 9 points 2 weeks ago

Half of this shit hasn't even really changed

[–] frenchfryenjoyer@lemmings.world 9 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

fr I'm sick of people portraying the 50s as this majestic golden age. people pretended everything was fine

[–] NostraDavid@programming.dev 17 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

A full family (of white people) could still survive off a single person working, though. That bit was nice. Not the white people bit, obviously.

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[–] BarneyPiccolo 8 points 2 weeks ago

Make America Great Again!

[–] Faydaikin@beehaw.org 5 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

I dunno, man... Cocain in soft-drinks and being able to support a family with house and car on a single income?

And it's not like we're rid of drug addicts, wife beaters or anything else nowadays...

A tough choice for sure.

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[–] DelgadoSlims@hexbear.net 5 points 2 weeks ago

So we're already back?

My picture from the 50s is mom pregnant with No.5 (me), while dad is not in the photo because he ran off to parts unknown with the neighbor. Good times.

[–] Kurious84@eviltoast.org 5 points 2 weeks ago

Expose the pervert rich and powerful and let's clean up the billionaires after that.

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