New Nostalgia-Really Want A Throwback To Fifties-Pros and Cons-Podcast 710

Lots of talk these days about the fifties. The 1950’s that is. A time when we made stuff. When men were men and, you know. Was it so great? We’ll talk about it in New Nostalgia-Really Want A Throwback To Fifties-Pros and Cons-Podcast 710.

A Podcast Subscriber Suggestion

One of my subscribers recently suggested I take a moment or a time in history and talk about it. As it relates to the president, part of the populist political theme these days is getting back to a simpler time when America Was Great.

Back In The Day We Were Happy and America was Great

During the time of poodle skirts and Buddy Holly, Marilyn Monroe and amber fields of grain, lots of people worked in manufacturing. Americans ‘made stuff’. Prices were low compared to today. People were happy. Families were important. Sundays was for church. Cars were big and cool. It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.

Seeing Life Through The Gauze of Nostalgia

Nostalgia. A sentimental longing a past. Going back to a place or time with happy personal associations. Surprisingly people are sometimes nostalgic for the time just before they were born, or going back to when they were children. We see nostalgia for the 1980’s from millennials who weren’t even born until the 90’s or 2000’s. We’ll talk about it in New Nostalgia-Really Want A Throwback To Fifties-Pros and Cons-Podcast 710.

Politicians Want Your Vote So They Love The 1950s Too

Especially relevant are politicians who evoke these halcyon times. Movers and shakers who want to associate their name and image with a time that is thought to be idyllically peaceful and happy. While we all would love to experience such a time, by some measurements the 1950’s in the United States wasn’t necessarily the jazz age.

Things Were Simpler In Part Because Populations Were Smaller

In New Nostalgia-Really Want A Throwback To Fifties-Pros and Cons-Podcast 710 we’ll take a close look at the 1950‘s including some memories and stories about the early days of the suburbs and the vast differences in the size and makeup of cities and towns.

How Do You Build A Better Future Dreaming Of The Past?

In conclusion if we are always thinking about a time in the distant past that really wasn’t how we remember or think about it, we’re not thinking about the future. Is it so bad people can be themselves these days? What about being able to communicate. Share vast amounts of data easily? Build highly productive factories that make things better, that last longer and do more? Are things better today than in the 1950’s?

You be the judge in New Nostalgia-Really Want A Throwback To Fifties-Pros and Cons-Podcast 710.

Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul and Reliafund

New Nostalgia-Really Want A Throwback To Fifties-Pros and Cons-Podcast 710

Podcast 308

Cars. A prominent British auto collector said recently the driverless car will have a catastrophic impact on the auto industry, sooner than you think. Recently a few stories about the twentieth century romance with the automobile may have caught your eye. The son of a collector in France, who’s vintage Ferrari’s, Spyder’s, and Maserati’s were forgotten for decades, and an auto dealer in Pierce, Nebraska who saved his unsold inventory, resulting in a stunning collection of hardly driven Chevy cars and trucks from the 1930’s onward. Nothing says twentieth century like the car. From the Model T and Al Capone’s 16 cylinder Cadillac to the muscle cars of the 1960’s and 1970’s. This is not a technical automotive discussion, more a talk about how automotive technology conveyed independence and freedom for the first Model T owners, all the way up to the baby boom generation. For many, the car IS the American Dream. With student loan debt averaging around 8 thousand dollars, credit card debt and rents increasing, today’s young adults struggle to afford a car, and many don’t want one anyway. What conveys freedom today? The smart phone and the technology and communication it brings. While many are nostalgic for an easier time – cruising the Dairy Queen or main street on a Friday night – disruptive changes technology brings can be frustrating and frightening … but they can also inspire. Today’s new technology actually does convey independence and freedom in ways Henry Ford couldn’t imagine. Today’s industrialists in Silicon Valley and Seattle, worry about artificial intelligence; smart machines some believe threaten humanity. Meanwhile, Bill Gates and those following in his footsteps are rushing to create autonomous software and machines that can do everything from pick fruit to work as medical orderlies. There is a new world coming, and its coming fast. Many of our social institutions were created for the twentieth century world, which will soon be left in the dust, and it doesn’t seem like we’re ready to accommodate new ideas like the Driverless Car, autonomous machines, robotics and many other innovations. What happened to the romance of the open road, and the Plymouth Road Runner? It got stepped on by an iPhone. Now what? (Editor’s Note: I like this podcast because it also includes a lot of memories from my childhood, and some great car songs.) Sponsored by My Complete Basement Systems, and Depotstar