Remember the 50s?
in yet another of my futile attempts to lure would-be simpson bloggers out of the e-closet i present the offspring of Charles Randolph and Helen Brown Simpson, circa 1958, the year the Everly Brothers recorded "All I Have To Do is Dream," Gunsmoke was the most watched show on TV, Dr. Zhivago the best selling book, the average cost of a house twelve grand, two bits for a gallon of gas, Ike was Prez, Elvis joined the Army, a teacher made around 2500 per annum, and Mao began systemically killing his countrymen.*
*most folks, if quizzed, think a. hitler the major killer of the 20th century, but he was, in fact, a laggard, slaughtering only in the neighborhood of 12 mil. his neighbor, j. stalin, offed in excess of 20 mil. but the all-time leader, by a mile, was mr. mao, whose numbers range between 50 and 75 mil.
yin and yang.
have a beautiful day.
posted by Bill Simpson at 2/12/2011 11:05:00 AM
2 Comments:
One of my most vivid memories of the 50's was Castro's 1959 overthrow of the Batista regime in Cuba and the subsequent revolution. I was in 7th grade and the media narrative (poor and destitute throw out rich oppressors, move to govern selves) was inspiring and gave me my first inkling of a social consciousness. (I think we were all watching Robin Hood with Richard Green at the same time: bad noblemen, good peasants, justifiable civil disobedience.) I think I identified with the common man's attempt to self-actualize. In some ways the Cuban rebellion planted a seed (one of several) that led to the counter culture ideas that blossomed in the 60's.
very interesting.
a little over a decade later, when i was a young teen recuperating in bed one entire summer from a nasty bout of mononucleosis, i watched the watergate hearings unfold on TV. seeing what nixon and his thugs--erlichman, haldeman, liddy, hunt, etc.--did to undermine the basic tenets of democracy left me cynical and suspicious of our elected officials. this cynicism lingered deep into adulthood. but eventually, after many years of studying america's history, i concluded my cynicism was mostly misplaced. sure, dick was, in some ways, a very paranoid guy, but the system identified him and drove him out of town. we had an entirely peaceful transfer of power whereas in many nations the toppling of a government could easily lead to riots in the streets and even civil war. our system ain't perfect and for certain the corporations have to a large extent purchased our elected representatives, but as much as any people on earth the citizens of the US get to do and say exactly as we please.
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