America Knocked down - part II

 America knocked down (again) 

Oh My - an expanded analysis

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/covid-19-end-of-american-era-wade-davis-1038206/

I read this last week (the main topic was “Anthropologist Wade Davis on how COVID-19 signals the end of the American era”)

But, I really didn’t look at the whole article critically enough!!

Let’s bring in some thoughts from the article:

First, the author goes into the history of how the United States became a superpower:

“When the Japanese within six weeks of Pearl Harbor took control of 90 percent of the world’s rubber supply, the U.S. dropped the speed limit to 35 mph to protect tires, and then, in three years, invented from scratch a synthetic-rubber industry that allowed Allied armies to roll over the Nazis.”

“At its peak, Henry Ford’s Willow Run Plant produced a B-24 Liberator every two hours, around the clock. Shipyards in Long Beach and Sausalito spat out Liberty ships at a rate of two a day for four years; the record was a ship built in four days, 15 hours and 29 minutes. A single American factory, Chrysler’s Detroit Arsenal, built more tanks than the whole of the Third Reich.”

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Dr. Davis suggests a certain “Can Do” attitude took us from a so-so country (my terms) to a Superpower because of World War II.  No rubber for tires?  Make what our tires last longer (drive slower), and then create synthetic rubber for tires!!

And, build a bomber every two hours - build two ships a day - build more tanks than Germany.  We (that is the United States) DID IT!!!  We gathered together and made it happen.

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Davis writes the following - GREED / INDIVIDUALISM

“More than any other country, the United States in the post-war era lionized the individual at the expense of community and family. It was the sociological equivalent of splitting the atom. What was gained in terms of mobility and personal freedom came at the expense of a common purpose. In wide swaths of America, the family as an institution lost its grounding. By the 1960s, 40 percent of marriages were ending in divorce. Only six percent of American homes had grandparents living beneath the same roof as grandchildren; elders were abandoned to retirement homes."

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Yup - the individual at the expense of community and family.  (Or as he says: “the sociological equivalent of splitting the atom” - which created the atom bomb(

The years of depression, followed by World War II and the heavy industrialization of American for the war effort was noble.  He suggests we did things that “couldn’t be done” - because we had to (like make rubber, build airplanes, build tanks).  

The 1950s as I remember them (as a child) were idyllic - peaceful  - that is until the cold war threatened us - and had to have fallout shelters and air-raid drills.  

The family was still king (at least to me) in the 1950s.  And, in most cases, children grew up close to their parents and grandparents.  My grandparents (on my mother’s side) lived about a mile from our house and I could walk or ride my bike there.  There weren’t any big nursing homes or retirement homes.  After my grandfather died, my grandmother stayed in the same house (and I came to mow and shovel the snow).  I think if “push came to shove”, that my parents would have created a bedroom for my grandmother if she couldn’t get around.  

My children grew up in different cities from either set of grandparents.  It was about jobs for me (yes, I’m guilty). I moved to Keokuk Iowa for a job, to Winona Minnesota for a job, to Portland Oregon for a job, to Madison South Dakota for a job, and then to Hamden Connecticut for a job.  Meanwhile, my wife’s family was in Minnesota and my parents were still in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  

WORK - and MONEY - became more important than family and values.  “Keeping up with the Jones” was a statement I haven’t heard recently, but it meant when our neighbors got a new car, we needed to get a new car, when our neighbors moved to a bigger house, we needed to move to a bigger house.

And, we did it “because everybody else was doing it”.  In my current circle of friends, very few are native Texans - and those that are from Texas weren’t necessarily from the Austin area.  

We created ‘latch-key-kids’.  Kids that came home to an empty house and let themselves in - to make a snack, watch TV, maybe play with the neighbors.  In the current generation of ‘latch-key-kids, they get on their Playstation, or some other gaming device for hours.  Mom and Dad were working!!  And, both parents “NEEDED” to work to have the income to keep up with the Jones!!!

Oh my - more on this article tomorrow - is there hope?

Hugs - LOVE WINS!!!

Karen