Today, I’m getting philosophical    I’ve been trying to understand how the American society has gotten to where it is right now (in my opinion, not a high point).  Here’s my take on things, although I would love to hear other opinions….

My belief is that it started in the civil war.  Hear me out, there’s more to this than you think.  From a technological standpoint, the civil war changed everything.  Ocean warfare changed drastically in this time.  Trench warfare was implemented for the first time during the Civil War.  Up until this point in American history, war had always been glorified (it was considered a glorious & honorable thing to take part in).  The Civil War was so brutal and bloody that it changed that perspective.  As W. T. Sherman (a Civil War general) said, “War is hell.”  The Civil War also changed things socially.  Not just in the salve/free category.  But now is the time where you really start to see each state creating its own subculture.  I’m sure the subcultures were there before, but not as pronounced.  Each state had a blatant accent & way of life, and acknowledging those various ways of life was a big step.  As well as the little known fact that the civil war was, in essence, the beginning of women’s lib.  Women spied for both sides (and were extremely efficient & successful at it, in fact, they often made better spies & informants than males), as well as disguising themselves as men and actually fighting in the war (we’ll get back to this point in a minute), nursing the soldiers, cooking for the soldiers, and more “traditional female roles” for that era.  There is a rumor that over 400 women disguised themselves as men & fought in the war, this cannot be proved or disproved.  We know women did fight (one of the women who was discovered was the one who came up with that number), one even asked for pension after the war!  So, we do know that women soldiers existed, we just do not know how many.  The fact that women did this, were discovered & the one blatantly asked for money is a HUGE ordeal for those days.  It shows women taking initiative, and working side by side with men, and it was not a negative atmosphere.  When a woman was found out, it was shocking, she was discharged, what have you…But there were no penalties or any real ramifications socially for this “odd behavior.”  That is a huge step towards today’s society.  The American culture was very changed, in multiple ways, post-Civil War.

Jump ahead a few years…The 1920′s.  This was a HUGE revolution for women.  It was considered sexy for women to wear their hair short, like men.  Women were dancing…Socially the tradition role of the woman pretty much faded away at this point.  Do I even need to mention the right to vote?  Women were living it up & it was socially acceptable.  Jazz, traditionally considered a black (African-heritage) form of music, was the most popular type of music for this era & paved the way for music like bing band swing.  For the American society to truly embrace women & blacks in this time, is a sign of the forward thinking & movement.

The ’30′s brought a depression that hurt this country in ways it had never been hurt before.  Everyone, no matter class, race, etc…..EVERYONE was affected economically, as well as socially.  It was a dark time for all, not just one race or gender.

The 1940′s brought World War II.  This was another HUGE leap in American society.  ALL men were out there, fighting…Again, race was not a factor.  Women were working in factories & mills.  My own grandmother working for Boeing!  Everyone had a role to play, and it was socially accepted, and even celebrated (Think Rosie the Riveter).  The war also brough much needed economic prosperity.

1950′s….Donna Reed    I don’t know much about this time, and I am unaware of any major events that changed us politically/socially.  If I am not mistaken, African-Americans gained the right to vote in the ’60′s.

the 1960′s were one hell of a decade.  Riots, anti-war protests, hippies, the Beatles.  I don’t think ANY country has seen as much change in such a short period of time as we did in the 1960′s.  From the bit that I have studied of this era, I can only say it was an extremely turbulent time….Our society changed vastly.  I cannot put my finger on how it happened or why it happened the way it did, but the 1960′s were an unbelievable time in US history.

The 1970′s and 1980′s (in my opinion) were the decades for the hippies to grow up & become parents.  (Although, I think Nixon’s resignation had a HUGE impact on us socially….We have never viewed a president like we did prior to Nixon.  Coincidence?  I think not).  Now, here is where we see people (hippies) who are all about free love & happiness, connecting with the Earth, etc, turn into responsible parents.  I, personally, grew up in a rather restrictive home….We were only allowed to watch certain shows, say certain things, etc.  I cannot speak for everyone, so I won’t, but from my experience, those very free hippies didn’t let their kids grow up very free.  There is supposedly a lot of anger in my generation, and again, from my experience, I ‘d have to agree with that.  I am not an angry person, but I do listen to angry music (Rammstein, Linkin Park, and Eminem <Wincing as I admit to that one…I don’t linke him as a person, but musically, I think he’s very good>).  My anger stems from my abusive childhood.  Well, that makes sense.  But I don’t blame the world for my father’s actions.  Ok, so my generation is kinda fucked up…Anger, a lot of learning disabilities (Can we say connection to mom & dad’s drug use?!) and other mental instabilities, and so on.  Now, we’re starting to get up there.  Many of us are procreating….And what the hell have we done to our children?  Because our parents were so strict, we’re trying to do the opposite?  Freedom is one thing, but dressing a 5 year old like Britney Spears, or considering a TV in the car good parenting are a horse of a totally different color.  This is another place I get confdused.  Again, the “anger” of generation-x I can understand.  But where did all this lucid, sexual, mind-less, superficial thinking come from?  What are we teaching our children?  My generation had to grow up pretty fast (well, I did, anyway), but dressing kids up in next to nothing?!  They don’t need to grow up THAT fast.  I don’t understand where that came from & I do not like it at all.  We are reversing the strides made in the late 19th, early 20th centuries for women.  I don’t get it…Weomen are more viewed as objects or pieces of meat than ever before.  What?!  Why?!  I am all for freedom, openness, acceptance of new cultures & lifestyles…but there is no culture in dressing your daughter like a hussy!  We are in a downward spiral & something needs to change.  Granted, some of the events I mentioned earlier through our society for a loop, and there were often violent dues paid for some of those changes, and I think that was the beginning of this end.  The lack of tolerance, for say, the black community, was huge & created a LOT of issues that have surfaced numerous times throughout our country’s history.  Yes, violence is common nowadays, too.  How did we go from fighting for social rights to just fighting?  That is what I do not understand.  But, I want to change it.  I want the sex & violence to go.  I want to see our children grow up in a warm, loving environment that teaches them that sex is special, not just watching some girl grind up against a pole, or just watching someone walk down the street in next to nothing & they’re your dentist!  I want children to understand that violence is not the way to solve problems.  So many people struggled & fought for so long, and even if they did get the rights they deserve, was it really worth LIVES?  We are EXTREMELY fortunate to live in the country we do….We really want for nothing.  Comparitive to so many people in so many countries out there….Our poorest is still richer than most in say, Ethiopia.  We need to appreciate what we have & to appreciate each other as well.  America is often (or at least it used to be) viewed as a role model….innumerable countries use or products, say our catch-phrases, follow our lead.  So, why not give other countries something to aspire to?  Why not show them the Utopia America was meant to be (I know Utopia is unobtainable, but you know what I mean here)?  These are just my thoughts & opinions…Sorry to have ranted like that    I hope you all have a wonderful evening & remember how fortunate you really are.  Take care & blessed be.