Post New Article

Longing for Home

Original Article

Posted By: Judy W., 2/24/2022 9:39:38 AM

As I expected, I got a bit of flak for my last article from people who do not want to believe that American life in the 1950s was far more vibrantly social than it is now, and that the basis of that sociality was the strength of the family. I was not saying that the 1950s were ideal—no time is. (Snip) Nevertheless, you can tell a lot about a people by looking at what they take for granted—things that are “by the way”—their pastimes, their folkways, their songs, their humor, where they go when they have nothing to do, how they greet their neighbors, and so forth.

Comments:

He has a Life Magazine article from the 1943 about the small town of Warner, New Hampshire, from which 10 percent of its population were young men serving in the military. Tony Esolen happens to live in that town now. (It's also the year I was born.) The contrast with now is heartbreaking.

Post Reply

Reply 1 - Posted by: franq 2/24/2022 9:52:30 AM (No. 1081324)
The good old days. Yes, people were still sinners, but today's technology makes sinning easier and more rampant.
10 people like this.

Reply 2 - Posted by: PChristopher 2/24/2022 9:54:43 AM (No. 1081330)
I totally agree with the article and OP. The small Maryland city I grew up in in the 60's and 70's is less than a shadow of what it was thanks, in no small part to creeping progressiveism and technological isolation. I weep for this country.
17 people like this.

Reply 3 - Posted by: MDConservative 2/24/2022 9:56:55 AM (No. 1081333)
In 1943 there was a war raging that provided our communities common purpose. I would suppose that Warner, New Hampshire, was a fairly homogenous community with a stable population where everyone knew the other. Maybe a church or two. And no distractions from daily life. Nice place, I'm sure. Then came things like mobility and the GI Bill, and those young men left Warner to study, then for jobs that didn't exist in place like Warner but did in Boston or New York. Same happened to the sons farmers, the sons of box makers and crutch makers, and others with larger ambitions now that opportunity arose for them that Warner could never offer. It's still happening today. Mobility is what destroys community cohesion. I left home when I was 23, moving across this country for a job. I've moved eight more times in the past 45 years since, domestic and international. It's not easy to lay down deep roots in short "growing seasons". And that's typical. My neighborhood now is a prime example of modern suburban America. It is largely people from somewhere else, "carpetbaggers" is the pejorative used around here. The folks are from Iran, India, Vietnam, Nigeria and the USA, to name a few places. Tough to start a bowling or softball league. Cricket anyone?
9 people like this.

Reply 4 - Posted by: Trump'sCousin 2/24/2022 10:22:07 AM (No. 1081366)
I woke up this morning and my first thought was.... The Georgia Guide Stones need to come down. Soros, the eliets, the democrats, the the NWO and the WEF spent billions during the summer of 2020 in America. Burning and looting our cities, ripping down our statues and monuments. I don't care who does it or how they do it. That thing is an affront to God Almighty. Blow it up, pull it down. It matters not and it needs to happen as soon as possible. It's a tribute to evil. Take it down it does not belong on American soil.
16 people like this.

Reply 5 - Posted by: JimBob 2/24/2022 10:55:25 AM (No. 1081401)
Large percentages of the people moving for jobs is part of the story. With people moving fairly often, many people do not know their neighbors. They did not go to school together, and what bonds people do form are broken when one or the other moves to a new place and has to start over. I had a University classmate who rented a townhouse -not close to the university, and not primarily student housing- for 4 years while earning his degree. By the time he graduated and was ready to move away, he had lived in his neighborhood longer than anyone else on the immediate 'block'. Everyone 'on the block' lived among a group of strangers. But I saw three more strong negative influences..... TV, air conditioning, and Federal welfare laws. I remember riding my bike for mile after mile on beautiful summer evenings in Virginia. No one was outside. Everyone was inside, and there was the shifting blue glow from the TV visible in nearly every home's front window as I rode past. What people saw as 'normal' was no longer what was happening every day, every evening in their neighborhood. They never saw their neighborhood, except when driving through it to go somewhere else, or when returning home. What people saw as 'normal' was what they saw on TV, evening after evening..... and their view of 'normal' was now a plaything in the hands of the people running the TV networks. A child growing up before TV might see or hear of an occasional fistfight between people, but a child growing up with TV saw hundreds of Murders on TV news, and the many 'crime' or 'detective' shows. Guns were no longer for hunting, but were used for crime. Another strong negative influence was the Federal welfare laws. Before these laws were passed, blacks had a higher rate of married couples than whites, and, although less wealthy, were increasing their wealth at a faster rate than whites. Then Lyndon Johnson and the Democ'RATS passed the 1965 'Great Society' welfare laws. These laws did -as I think still do- provide cash payments for single females with children, but Nothing if there is a man in the house. This resulted in the breakup, particularly of black families, on an Industrial scale. Without the firm hand of a Father to guide them, many young, headstrong black boys grew up to be, not productive citizens, but Thugs. Once a certain percentage of people in an area became Thugs, regular American culture was displaced by what we see in many urban areas today.... Urban Thug Culture.
14 people like this.

Reply 6 - Posted by: red1066 2/24/2022 12:07:09 PM (No. 1081496)
The people who would question what life was like in the 50's are people who weren't born yet. Anyone who wants to question what the 50's were like, I have about 25 hours of home movies they could watch to prove them wrong.
6 people like this.

Reply 7 - Posted by: lftrn97 2/24/2022 2:09:25 PM (No. 1081655)
Grew up in the '50s. If you didn't you have no idea what you're talking about.
8 people like this.

Below, you will find ...
Most Recent Articles posted by "Judy W."
and
Most Active Articles (last 48 hours)
Most Recent Articles posted by Judy W."
Trump talks about Putin, mocking Merkel
and more at Mar-a-Lago
15 replies
Posted by Judy W. 2/25/2022 12:20:58 PM Post Reply
PALM BEACH, Florida — It was Presidents’ Day and Donald Trump looked especially relaxed. (Snip) A softball opener — did he think Joe Biden’s presidency would be as bad as it is? — was met with a pause, and then this: “If you took the worst five presidencies together, it would not be equal to what’s happening to this country.” After ticking off a litany of America’s woes, from the open border to inflation to mounting energy prices, Trump added: “I never thought anything like this could happen to us.” He remains especially troubled by the deadly and chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, asking, “Can you imagine taking the military out first?
Yes, Tucker, There Is a US Security Interest
in Ukraine
24 replies
Posted by Judy W. 2/25/2022 8:25:43 AM Post Reply
In an ideal world, maybe we could ignore what's happening in Ukraine but we have to see the world as it is, not how we want it to be: Russia is calling and wants its Ukraine back. I generally appreciate Tucker Carlson, but every time he discusses Ukraine and Russia, I bristle — especially when he contends that America has no interest in Ukraine. I know some of you might agree with Carlson, but you can be a solid conservative who is just as war-weary as the next guy and still see a security interest in Ukraine without being a neocon.
Longing for Home 7 replies
Posted by Judy W. 2/24/2022 9:39:38 AM Post Reply
As I expected, I got a bit of flak for my last article from people who do not want to believe that American life in the 1950s was far more vibrantly social than it is now, and that the basis of that sociality was the strength of the family. I was not saying that the 1950s were ideal—no time is. (Snip) Nevertheless, you can tell a lot about a people by looking at what they take for granted—things that are “by the way”—their pastimes, their folkways, their songs, their humor, where they go when they have nothing to do, how they greet their neighbors, and so forth.
At this year's CPAC, the anti-establishment
is the establishment
9 replies
Posted by Judy W. 2/24/2022 8:05:34 AM Post Reply
In December 2019, Tulsi Gabbard was a Democratic presidential candidate who called then-President Donald Trump "unfit" to serve as commander in chief. Nikki Haley, meanwhile, was considered a (very) early favorite for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, beloved by Trump supporters and establishment Republicans alike. Fast-forward to February 2022, and Gabbard is speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), where Trump will headline the annual gathering of conservative activists and many of the most prominent Republican figures in the country. Haley won't be attending. (Snip) Gabbard's "not a traditional conservative by any means, but she's expressing views that people care about," said Saul Anuzis,
The Air Force Went Woke, Its Planes Won’t Fly 19 replies
Posted by Judy W. 2/23/2022 8:53:40 AM Post Reply
Chief of Staff Charles Brown and Chief Master Sergeant Kaleth Wright have made diversity and wokeness into the core of the Air Force's mission. Meanwhile the planes won't fly. Brown has spent the past few years unleashing worthless diversity reviews to try and blame the Air Force for a supposed lack of diversity, even though it now has a black chief of staff and a black top enlisted leader. The military justification for their divisive shenanigans was that diversity equated somehow to military readiness. How is the Air Force’s readiness? (Snip) Deploying fighters with the readiness rate of a coin flip won’t impress Communist China.
The Fall of Canada, The Danger in the
US: Understanding Martial Law
16 replies
Posted by Judy W. 2/22/2022 6:52:40 AM Post Reply
The world has watched, in pain, as images of police violence from Ottawa, and of a bid for Canadian tyranny (that I would ever write those words!) are flashed around the world. As usual, I hate to be Cassandra; but the chessboard ahead is all too clear. On Feb 12, 2022, I warned, during an appearance on Steve Bannon’s WarRoom, that we all must all now brace for a period during which the powers that now clearly seek to enslave our planet, and subdue our human species, will be broadcasting scenes of civil society mayhem, and of shocking violence against protesters.
Reality Honks Back 9 replies
Posted by Judy W. 2/20/2022 1:59:08 PM Post Reply
Like many, I have spent the last couple of weeks a bit entranced by the trucker protests happening in Canada. (Snip) To simplify, let’s first identify and categorize two classes of people in society, who we could say tend to navigate and interact with the world in fundamentally different ways. The first is a class that has been a part of human civilization for a really long time. These are the people who work primarily in the real, physical world. The second class is different. It is, relatively speaking, a new civilizational innovation. They don’t interact much with the physical world directly; they are handlers of knowledge.
The Reason for the Police Violence in
Ottawa is Not What You Think
21 replies
Posted by Judy W. 2/20/2022 8:24:41 AM Post Reply
“So we’re dealing with cornered feral humans who are terrified. Arguably the entire thing from the lockdowns till now is their knowing what’s coming (They see polls you don’t see. (Snip) The black clad army of mercenaries and police brutalizing a peaceful protest in Ottawa this weekend has been planned for years. It is overkill for a reason. It is theatre. It is an othering, a willful flagrant statement on the future of the working class everywhere. It instructs them: you will die. If not now, then sometime in the next ten years. Your towns will be gutted, your jobs will evaporate,
Seven of Canada’s 10 provinces now oppose
Trudeau’s Emergencies Act declaration
7 replies
Posted by Judy W. 2/18/2022 10:00:23 AM Post Reply
OTTAWA – Seven Canadian provinces now oppose an Emergencies Act declaration made Monday by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who claims it is needed to stop the peaceful Freedom Convoy protesters in Ottawa. (Snip) No less than six provinces, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba,  Ontario, Quebec, and Newfoundland and Labrador have already or will be soon dropping most COVID rules, with more saying they will do so as well. Two Canadian premiers and 16 U.S. state governors in a letter recently demanded that Trudeau and U.S. President Joe Biden allow un-jabbed truckers to cross the border. Despite the new threats from Trudeau, organizers for the Freedom Convoy said Tuesday that they would “hold the line.”
What This Reporter in Canada With Truckers
Is Seeing
3 replies
Posted by Judy W. 2/17/2022 8:37:25 AM Post Reply
Nate Hochman is on the ground in Canada reporting on the unfolding situation with the “Freedom Convoy” protests. (Snip) And it’s amazing, these people are, I think, patriots in the most authentic sense of the term. They’re weathering not just insane cold temperatures and sleeping in their trucks to fight for their freedoms, but also now a full-on frontal assault from their federal and provincial governments. So I have nothing but respect for these guys. They’re some of the kindest people that I’ve ever met. And I don’t say that just because of my ideological priors. I went into this supporting the cause, but thinking that maybe
Conservative Groups Flooded By Fake Event Registrations 14 replies
Posted by Judy W. 2/15/2022 7:27:46 AM Post Reply
Multiple events hosted by conservative groups have been flooded with fake registrations across the country, including one at an Ivy League school hosted by a prominent student organization that engages in activism for conservative causes. (Snip) However, for some conservative groups, a tsunami of spam registrations made accomplishing that difficult, and the difficulty was compounded by slow or non-existent responses from the company. In addition, the Daily Caller News Foundation found that it was easy to make a fake registration for events on Eventbrite, even if the email address was already linked to an Eventbrite account. The targeted events included a Turning Point USA (TPUSA) event in New Hampshire
Maryland Legislature Considers Creating
‘Advisory Council’ to Collect Data
on Homeschoolers
16 replies
Posted by Judy W. 2/14/2022 8:07:20 AM Post Reply
If we have learned anything about left-wing cultural revolutionaries over the past few years and decades, it’s that they insist that all conform to their view of “diversity.” (Snip) That’s why it’s so troubling to see government authorities rope in, and attempt to control, people attempting to maintain their independence. Maryland Delegate Sheila Ruth, a Baltimore County Democrat, recently proposed legislation in the Maryland House of Delegates that would create a deeply worrisome “advisory council” to watch over and gather data on homeschool families. The 16-seat council would be staffed by four political appointees, four government officials, and eight members of the homeschool community. It would “gather information
Most Active Articles (last 48 hours)
Barack Obama Urges Americans to Unite
Behind Joe Biden and Embrace Economic
Pain for Ukraine
89 replies
Posted by Dreadnought 2/24/2022 9:47:02 PM Post Reply
Former President Barack Obama issued a message of support for President Joe Biden on Thursday, urging Americans to unite behind economic sanctions against Russia. “Every American, regardless of party, should support President Biden’s efforts, in coordination with our closest allies, to impose hard-hitting sanctions on Russia,” Obama said in a statement sent to reporters, defending Biden’s sanctions as a serious attempt to put “a real price on Russia’s autocratic elites.” Obama’s statement of support for Biden follows his own failure to stop Putin from annexing Crimea in 2014 when he was president. The former president also urged Americans to embrace any economic pain that they would suffer
White House deputy press secretary calls
Trump a 'nauseating, fearful pig' who
with Putin is 'rubbing their snouts together
and celebrating as innocent people lose
their lives'
52 replies
Posted by Ribicon 2/24/2022 1:27:16 PM Post Reply
White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates hammered former President Donald Trump for heaping praise for days on Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'Two nauseating, fearful pigs who hate what America stands for and whose every action is driven by their their own weakness and insecurity, rubbing their snouts together and celebrating as innocent people lose their lives,' Bates tweeted from his official government account Thursday morning. Bates shared an article about Trump telling a crowd at Mar-a-Lago Wednesday night—as Putin began his assault on Ukraine—that the Russian leader was 'pretty smart.'(Snip)Later Tuesday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki hit back at Trump.
Kerry: I sure hope Putin remains a partner
for climate change
46 replies
Posted by Garnet 2/24/2022 12:49:41 PM Post Reply
Russian troops have invaded Ukraine from three directions in an all-out war. Ukrainians have had to rush into full civilian mobilization in an attempt to survive it. At stake is the post-Soviet world order that provided for at least some semblance of diplomatic engagement over use of arms between major powers.Those life-and-death issues aren’t the big priority, at least not to former Secretary of State John Kerry. This morning, he expressed hope on BBC Arabic that Putin will remain a partner with the West on … climate change. No, seriously:(Snip for tweet) “Massive emissions consequences” from the war that Kerry only lightly acknowledges in this interview?
Biden to nominate Ketanji Brown Jackson
to Supreme Court
41 replies
Posted by shalimar 2/25/2022 9:27:50 AM Post Reply
President Joe Biden will nominate federal Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on Friday to replace Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, which would make her the first black woman on the high court's bench should she be confirmed by the Senate. Breyer announced his retirement last month after 28 years on the Supreme Court, effective when the current term ends this summer. That paved the way for Biden to fulfill his 2020 campaign promise of nominating a black woman as a Supreme Court justice.
Failing cable news nets CNN and MSNBC
poised for a bidding war over Psaki as
their ratings savior
37 replies
Posted by Magnante 2/24/2022 8:14:20 AM Post Reply
There is a certain symmetry to the notion that the spokesmouth for the failing Biden administration reportedly is being assiduously courted by the two failing cable news networks, CNN and MSNBC, both of which have endured near-catastrophic ratings declines in the era of Biden. More Biden cowbell… yea, that’s the ticket. A scoop report by Dylan Byers, formerly of NBC and now the founding partner at media website Puck, gushes over Psaki and the reported talks she or her agent are having with the two networks. (snip) Paski’s job is to make the Biden administration look good and sell its performance to the American public. Let’s see how she’s been doing
Report: Russia Fails to Reach Objectives
for First Day Amid Brave Ukrainian Defense
35 replies
Posted by Dreadnought 2/24/2022 11:46:35 PM Post Reply
The Russian invasion of Ukraine isn’t going as easily as I think Vladimir Putin thought it would go. As we noted earlier, they are facing some tough fighting from the Ukrainians as well as thousands of protesters in Russia who have come out against the war. That’s quite something, given the oppressive state of Russia and how they would face immediate retribution. Yet, protesters have come out anyway. Ukraine fought back to recapture an airport the Russians had taken. So, Russia isn’t going to be able to do what they wanted because they haven’t met the goals they were trying to meet by now – which was to seize all
Report: The Chickens Come Home to Roost
for Chris Wallace
30 replies
Posted by Imright 2/25/2022 12:00:12 AM Post Reply
Back in December when longtime broadcast journalist Chris Wallace announced he was leaving Fox News and the coveted anchor perch he had held there for some 18 years, speculation ran high that the “new adventure” he hinted at heading off to involved a stint at CNN, which is Public Enemy Number One as far as Fox News viewers and a growing number of cable news watchers across the country are concerned.Sure enough, not long after Wallace revealed his departure from Fox, a statement was issued noting he would soon be joining CNN+, the paid streaming version of CNN which is expected to debut before the end of March.
Blinken: We Hit Russia ‘Hard’ with
Sanctions, ‘Everything Is in Place’
for Full Invasion I Have Reason to Believe
Will Happen Today
29 replies
Posted by Hazymac 2/24/2022 7:29:35 AM Post Reply
On Wednesday’s broadcast of “NBC Nightly News,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the U.S. has hit Russia “hard” with sanctions, he has reason to believe Russia will be engaging in something similar to a full invasion of Ukraine before the end of the night, and “everything is in place for Russia to move forward.” Host Lester Holt asked, “Do you have reason to believe that, before this night is over, Russian forces will be engaged in something akin to a full invasion of Ukraine?” Blinken answered, “I do. Unfortunately, Russia has positioned its forces at the final point of readiness across Ukraine’s borders, to the north,
Secret Service says it can't find Hunter
Biden travel records for 2010, 2011, or 2013
28 replies
Posted by Skinnydip 2/25/2022 7:35:14 AM Post Reply
The Secret Service is telling Republican investigators that it cannot find communications related to Hunter Biden’s travels for 2010, 2011, or 2013 — when President Joe Biden was the vice president. Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin sent the Secret Service a letter last month seeking unredacted records tied to Hunter Biden’s travels between January 2009 and January 2017. They asked for full travel records and criticized the agency for years of “inappropriate redactions” — especially related to a controversial Kazakhstan trip in 2014. The senators also lamented that three years of documents seemed to be missing entirely.
Sen. Mitt Romney takes swipe at Obama,
Trump in condemning Russia’s invasion
of Ukraine
28 replies
Posted by Ribicon 2/24/2022 10:01:13 AM Post Reply
Sen. Mitt Romney condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in a statement late Wednesday that also took a shot at both of America’s last two presidents, including a famed line thrown at him by Barack Obama. The Utah Republican blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine on a decade and more of U.S. weakness, also alluding to former President Donald Trump’s foreign-policy slogan. “Putin’s impunity predictably follows our tepid response to his previous horrors in Georgia and Crimea, our naive efforts at a one-sided ‘reset’ and the shortsightedness of ‘America First,’” he said. Mr. Romney once was ridiculed by Mr. Obama, when the two men faced off
Democrat Congressman Suggests the Redistribution
of Trucks
28 replies
Posted by Hazymac 2/24/2022 6:57:51 AM Post Reply
In the wake of the Freedom Convoy in Canada, there’s a convoy of American trucks heading to Washington, D.C. in time for next week’s State of the Union address. I guess we’ll get a chance to see if the American left can be as tyrannical and authoritarian as Canada’s ruling Liberal Party has been. The Capitol Police is getting ready to flex its authoritarian muscles already. “Law enforcement agencies across the National Capital Region are aware of plans for a series of truck convoys arriving in Washington, DC around the time of the State of the Union. As with any demonstration, the USCP will facilitate lawful First Amendment activity,” announced a press release
Putin Officially Launches a Full Invasion
of Ukraine, Lodges Disturbing New Threats
Against the West
28 replies
Posted by Dreadnought 2/24/2022 12:57:14 AM Post Reply
As RedState reported earlier, Secretary of State Antony Blinken shared on Wednesday evening that he believed Russia would fully invade Ukraine within hours. That has now been confirmed by none other than Vladimir Putin himself. Per an announcement from the Russian president, his military forces are moving into greater Ukraine, including Kyiv, in order to “demilitarize” and “denazify” the sovereign nation. None of this is hypothetical anymore. Explosions are being heard in multiple Ukrainian cities. It is clear that a major military attack is underway. Putin also levied some disturbing threats against the west, seeming to suggest he would be willing to use nuclear weapons
Post New Article