Flat Foot Floey
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:arated:People just wore what was available to them. Styles change. There were no lofty intentions involved.
:arated:People just wore what was available to them. Styles change. There were no lofty intentions involved.
facade--the very Golden Era many here pine for was one of the biggest eras of government in our modern history. FDR, Truman, the New Deal, Fair Deal, ring a bell? Somehow with all of that big government in the 1930s and 1940s, people acted orderly and dressed classy.
Actually, the jeans & t-shirt uniform only became truly mainstream in the late 70s-early 80s...Hmm..when the era of small government first began.
Apparently I misunderstood what you meant by calling us whiners longing for the days when we could oppress women and people of color.
Everything is linked to the Federal government as they have taken control one way or another pretty much every aspect of our lives.
For a system of manners to function there has to be some form of punishment for those who choose not to follow the rules. Individual people and local communities have no way to enforce any code of conduct. Want to ban people wearing the pants around their knees? Sorry the ACLU will sue you using the Federal laws to stop you. Want to try and stop people from swearing and talking about sex in front of your children? Too bad they have "freedom of speech" as invented by the Supreme Court.
People dressed better in the past because their neighbors expected it of them and had the power to enforce local mores. Today local communities have no such power. This is both good and bad. It does help prevent the local oppression of those without power. But it also deines communities the ability to ensure civility.
Most people dress in a slovenly fashion in America today, not just the unemployed. And it was not pride that drove the better dress in days past. People haven't changed. Rather it was the social mores of the times which exist no longer. Ettiquette, manners, proper dress etc. all stem from rules established and maintained by the people of the local community. People dressed better because that was what was expected of them and there were consequences for not playing by the rules. Today the Federal govenrment is the arbiter of everything and as long as you obey their laws no one is allowed to say boo to you about how you dress and act (with few exceptions such as employers) without violating your civil 'rights'. So everyone is free to dress and act as poorly as they care too and those who may long for a more genteel society are powerless to bring such about.
Thus we have an example of societal pressure. I said something that is percieved to question the "American way" someone immediately pops up to brand me a whining racist. The difference being in the past what people were pressured to do was determined locally. Today its determined on a national level by the wealthy and powerful and their tool, the media.
People just wore what was available to them. Styles change. There were no lofty intentions involved.
Sorry, I disagree.
Social mores change. Whether or not an individual finds it for the better or worse is up to the individual. But it's not that etiquette, manners, etc, don't exist anymore. Simply, what society views as proper has changed. This is a continual product of human social evolution. I don't want to get into prohibited topics on this board, but broadly speaking, today's society rejects some of the conventions of yesterday's society, just as yesterday's society rejected some of the conventions of what came before it.
EDIT (after reading Pompidou's edit above): Facade, your comments are based on a dubious premise that such mores that existed in the "golden era" (how "golden" it was is another topic altogether) would have survived without the "interference" of the Federal Gov't, but this is clearly a false premise.
I think they were probably gathering all the dignity they could, given the disastrous economic circumstances. Men caught up without jobs would probably want to be seen to be as normal as possible, and as little like bums as possible, to save self-respect.
I think fashions and mores simply change. When I was a teenager, I wanted my hair done in a ducktail. My father wouldn't allow it. Now that I can have a ducktail if I want it, I don't want it. There was good and bad about the good old days just as there is today.
People just wore what was available to them. Styles change. There were no lofty intentions involved.
Interesting to read the debate caused by my short comment.Hi Feraud, I had to backtrack a LONG darn way in this thread to find the "cause" of all of the consternation.
I've had similar thoughts myself. It's akin to that (perhaps mythical?) Japanese fellow who puts on his suit and tie every weekday and takes the subway to a job that doesn't exist.
I quite consciously present myself as a person to be taken seriously when I visit my physicians, for instance. It's not that I believe they would consciously provide me lesser treatment if I showed up in a more slovenly state, but they're only human themselves, and they have their own prejudices.
I realize that it is, perhaps, comparing apples to oranges, but I find it fascinating that, even in the bread line or unemployment line, gentlemen of the day still dressed like gentlemen. These days, folks who seek social services dress as if they've just rolled out of bed. I think perhaps those of yesteryear had a sense of pride, even in tough times, that people today just don't have.