The Good Old Days

I hate the phrase "in the good old days..." Now that we are gearing up for election season, politicians will cart out that phrase, or one strikingly similiar, like kids with candy at Halloween. As if just by saying it, they will magically become the one we all vote for.
I am not a historian, and I don't play one on tv. But I have a general history degree, and I have read A LOT of books on the stuff. Let me provide a brief overview of the good old days in the United States.
Violence: Anybody ever heard of the Ol' Wild West? It didn't get the moniker "wild" because they sat around darning socks. Although tv always distorts the truth, the gunslinger shows were accurate in that violence was an everyday part of life. These outposts of civilazations almost always had a saloon and I don't care who you are, fire water can make anyone crazy if they drink enough. The American Revolution wasn't a war of words, and I am sure the slaves who were beaten didn't feel loved. For that matter, I don't think the Native Tribes killed/or forced onto reservations felt they had a choice either. Prohibition sparked the Al Capone's of the world, and the reason they called it the St. Valentimes Day Massacre was because people died, by violence. I have no statistics-they are easily manipulated. But I don't think we are more or less violent today.
Health Care: Okay, this is a tricky one because I think health care INSURANCE companies are riping us off. And, there is some validity to the old ways. Cinnamon may help with high blood pressure, and gin soaked raisins seem to help with arthiritis, among other things. But really, the phrase "an apple a day, keeps the doctor away" was health insurance for a very long time! Seriously, in the early years, being a surgeon was an par with cutting hair and no good doctor would lower himself to either profession. Food related diseases, like ricketts and food poisoning, were not uncommon into the 1900's. And it was very common for a parent to bury at least two or three kids, often young children. Plagues like yellow or scarlet fever, dysentery, and typhoid fever would rip through a community or tenement building like wildfire. Health care today can use some fixing. But as the slogan goes, we have come along way baby. (Ironic that that is from cigarettes!)
Immigration: Hello, if any issue is an old one, this is it. The Statue of Liberty wasn't placed there to welcome the navy. We are a nation of immigrants and if you can find them, read books by Jane Adaams to get a perspective on what these people faced in the late 1880's/early 1900's. It sounds eerily similiar to today. Leaving behind all you know to go to a place where you don't speak the language and don't know what social services, if any, are available to you is stressful. Come on, immigrants are leaving their home. I barely function in another town let another country. And the reality is, the current population, whether it was 1692, 1892, or 1992, has never been receptive to new comers. Every major ethnic group in the last 400 years has faced discrimination when they set foot on this country. And Ellis Island had doctors that could send you back for poor health while the social service team was required to make sure you either had a sponsor or a job waiting. I won't debate immigration here. But I hate the sound bites of today that regulate this issue to three sentences. It is complicated. It is intense. And people's feelings are involved. But it is an issue we have been dealing with for hundreds of years. We should be able to get it right eventually.
Kids: If you read this blog regularly, you saw my blog on magazines and my new parenting style. It seems politicians use the phrase "family friendly" every time they sneeze. Kids today are generally safer, healthier, and have a happier existence than ever before. Yet every time I open up a magazine, newspaper, or see a blurb on tv, they are fat, broke, and commiting suicide at alarming rates. There are children out there suffering. It breaks my heart. Who should be their biggest ally, is their own worst enemy-their parents. But the reality is, for a lot of kids, things are pretty good. Deaths by illness is down, death by farm implements is way down, and most have access to some education (although that is a good debate too.) One story that brought it all home to me: My senior year in high school, I was whispering to a friend, so my mom wouldn't hear me, about the number of girls in our class who had possible abortions. I AM NOT DEBATING ABORTION-DON"T GET SIDETRACKED. My friend and I came up with 11. My mom leaned over and said "that is about how many girls in my senior year had abortions." Okay, lesson to myself, I can't whisper worth a shit. But it definitely pointed out to me that maybe things hadn't changed all that much.
Obviously, I love history. And there are some great moments, and lessons, that I wish everyone were aware of. But history isn't pretty. People are human beings who can be petty, mean, unkind, unfair, and downright rude (think Dr. Laura). But there are also humans who are unfailing kind, hopeful, and work for us all to a better way (think Jane Adaams again). In every generation there are the moments that make us cry, cheer, and wish some of our brethren were better behaved. It was like that 400 years ago, and it will be like that in the future as well. So just put "the good old days" in perspective.