You know, you'd think we'd look back and see what worked in the past.

[ThomWV]

I just think bold new plans are wonderful and I wouldn't stand in the way of change for anything, but one has to have at least an iota of respect for history, or at least the lessons to be learned. When was our nation at its best, what was it about that time that made it so? Is there any similarity between what ever time that 'best' was and now and if so can we use whatever it was that worked 'then' to improve our lot now?

I'd put the time of our greatest prosperity during those years after 'The greatest generation' came home from their war. A grateful Government educated those men and women, strong trade unions gave them a middle class to move into. They paid the taxes that built the infrastructure that we use to this day. They began the real work of ending slavery.

So, what did it take last time? Government financed education on a mass scale, enactment and enforcement of workplace law that favored individual's and collective bargaining rights over an employer's attempts to treat workers life serfs; enactment and enforcement of environmental law.

Can we bring back any of the good old days? Would we want to?

I certainly hope so.

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. If the worst to the economy happens

they won;t have any choice but to dust off Keynes or watch the economy sink and the pitchforks and tar will come out

[The_Casual_Observer]

2. Prosperity ended with the oil shocks of the 70's.

Ever since it has been a race for the bottom, except for the brief period of low oil prices during the late Reagan & most of the Clinton years.

[Virginia Dare]

3. You're going to think I'm a complete nut...

and you probably already do..

but I think the 1930's were some of the best years this country has seen.

[melody]

4. My grandparents, who lived through it, had PTSD till they died from it

I can't see that another Great Depression would do us a world of good.

[Virginia Dare]

6. If we can get through this as well as they did..

then we'll be better for it. Somehow I don't think we will.

[melody]

7. They suffered in terror of not saving everything all their lives

My grandparents certainly didn't get through it well ... and they lived on a farm with plenty of food.

[Warpy]

5. I'd like to bring back the best of the good old days

meaning the best deal American workers ever had, the one that produced a large and stable middle class and record college education of the young.

I don't want to bring back the racism, sexism, and social regimentation. I don't want the class segregation. I don't want the health insurance racket we have now that got started back then.

At this point, we history buffs pretty much know what worked and what didn't. I would hope there will be a few real historians among the new President's advisory team.

[Mike03]

8. Yes, your post is right on, but what disgusts me is that

I can't even learn from the mistakes of others: I have to keep making them myself, again and again. Could it be something about human nature?

And if I am so flawed, how can I every advise or dictate to future history now it should behave?

I know what is right, but I don't always do what is right--and that is what horrifies me as a human being.

[angrycarpenter]

9. I think people were just less selfish then

A modest house and a dependable car was enough for most. This is what consumerism has done to us. There is no such thing as too much anymore. People were also much more social. Now most people do not even know who lives next door, or if they do they hate them.

We have been divided and conquered by greedheads who want us to spend every last penny we can borrow on useless excess.

I don't know any way back. When a person believes with all of their heart that "more is better" there is no way to make then see any different.

[dawniedarling]

10. entropy

We MUST look forward and MAKE things happen.

Reminising is sweet but unproductive except to plan

[angrycarpenter]

11. We need to remember the past

in order to remember who we are supposed to be. Revolutionary zeal must be tempered with reflection otherwise one can become a very bitter person. There must be some peace in your heart to offset the outrage.

[blues90]

12. I do remember better times

It was before everyone had a TV set . Once it was the focal point of almost every home then the family until began to break down . The industry was quick to exploit this and along came TV dinners and TV trays .

We didn't have a TV until I was 10 and it was not much in the way of programs they were on only a few hours a day .

You had to focus on family and friends and invent your own entertainment .

I do realize that this sounds insane to people now days .

Most people owned one car and a reasonable sized home there were not apartments everywhere but there were flats in the city of Chicago where people rented a floor and everyone knew their neighbors .

To be honest if I were a child today i would not make it . Everyone had a bicycle to get around on or they walked .

It is progress that ruins things , someone is always looking for more ways to squeeze more into less time and make more money off expanding an idea until it becomes crap .

This is not to say things were ever perfect as the saying goes , but compared to today they were closer to becoming better if we would have focused more on the human element and not the machine of progress as is has been done .

People used commuter trains to get to work and many lived close to where they worked not like now where it is so up side down and spread out . I much prefered riding a train and talking or reading than sitting on a freeway alone with a radio .

[angrycarpenter]

13. Kids today HATE the outdoors.

Look at them, they are pasty, fat, and unhealthy looking. We are raising a generation of empty headed shut-ins.

In the summer I would go out the door in the morning and mom would say "Be back by dark". Being made to stay in the house was a punishment to me.

[blues90]

14. man does be back before dark ring a bell

And not being allowed outside was like a sentence in prison . You are grounded .

[defendandprotect]

15. Unions and Education --- !!! Fantastic ---

We also had people in government we could trust and rely on to do what they were supposed to do!

But there were strong, dark undercurrents which have brought us to where we are today...
MIC, atomic weapons, CIA ...

and many programs in the works we didn't know about --
Operation Glado to keep liberal governments out of office in post-war Europe -- in Japan, etal
Later MKULTRA, MOCKINGBIRD, COINTEL --

None of this has happened without a lot of pre-planning by the thugs in control now --
and a lot of political violence ---