Very much the opposite. The US in the 1950s was a product of two things: 1) 20 consecutive years of Democratic presidents (Roosevelt from 1932 to 1945, then Truman til 1952), and 2) WW2, which put the whole country to work on war production, including large numbers of women who previously hadn’t been part of the workforce. Eisenhower (Republican) was president from 1952 to 1960 but other than revving up the cold war, he didn’t change stuff so much, it seems to me, though it was before my time.

Roosevelt in turn was sort of an antimatter version of Donald Trump (he clobbered the 1% for the benefit of the 99% instead of the other way around). He’d be considered extreme left by today’s standards. He was re-elected 3 times before dying in office on his way to his 5th, 6th, 7th etc terms. Republicans HATED him. After his death they passed a Constitutional amendment limiting presidents to 2 terms (Dems were ok with the amendment because they feared a similarly popular Republican staying in office forever, as might have happened with Ronald Reagan, and now Trump wants a 3rd term).

Ever since the Eisenhower era but accelerating enormously under Reagan, Republicans have been trying to reverse Roosevelt policies that persisted through the rest of the 20th century and are partly still around despite those efforts.

So I would say they goai is more like the pre-Roosevelt era, like the 1920s. The Great Depression started in 1928 and resulted in near-revolution and Roosevelt getting elected by an overwhelming margin in 1932. But before the depression was the so-called Gilded Age where super rich people could do pretty much whatever they wanted, and that if anything is the current Republican dream.

Roosevelt went by his initials FDR, which was kind of an unusual thing but whatever, people went along with it even if they thought it was a little bit weird. Truman was Roosevelt’s last VP so he became president through FDR’s death rather than campaigning for it directly (he was re-elected in 1948). The next two Dem presidents, Kennedy and Johnson, used their initials (JFK and LBJ) the way FDR did, not because it was anything like a normal thing to do, but because they wanted to remind people of FDR, who was still very popular despite being long dead. There is a good book about post-WW2 US political history called “In The Shadow of FDR” by Walter Leuchtenberg that explains this. I see it’s now been expanded to go through 2010 (Obama) but I had to read it in history class some time before that. Anyway it’s good.

There was once a joke about a family at its breakfast table in the 1930s. Dad asks the 6yo kid what he wants to be when he grows up. The kid answers “I want to be president of the US!”. The dad angrily responds “Why? What’s wrong with Roosevelt?”.

Anyway, returning to an era shaped by Roosevelt is the absolute last thing the GOP wants or ever wanted.

Edit: oops, the Gilded Age was “officially” 1870s-1890s, so some nuances should change in the above, but you get the idea.

I think they latch onto the 50s because if you say 60s, you’re thinking hippies and drugs. 70s? Having to admit how badly we’d fucked up in Vietnam and drugs. 80s? Drugs and drugs. Anything later than that is too young for conservatives unless they’re trying to rape it.

Any of them who are old enough to really remember the 50s are too old to remember the 50s. Geriatric mush-brain and everything. It’s just a way to say “back before black people, gays, and women had rights” while preserving the option to backpedal if they took the mask off (or, more fittingly, put the hood on) too early. Also probably would use terms other than black people, gays, and women if speaking freely.

Yes but also, the 1950s here were a time of social backlash. In the 1940s women were wearing bold red lipstick (because Hitler vocally didn’t like it) and engaging heavily in the economy even in male dominated fields because so many men were in the military that we couldn’t keep the country going otherwise. Meanwhile the men were fighting side by side in desegregated units.

So war ends, and a decent portion of the returning soldiers think things are going to return to normal. But the women got a taste of the freedom of economic independence and black men got a taste of being treated less awfully. The white men feel emasculated. But the benefits of the new deal are here and so a single man can support a family and even move to the all white suburbs on his income thanks to his union job, veteran benefits, and government assistance meant to prevent another period of mass poverty. And this is ignoring the whole deal of how LGBT issues were impacted by the war and its end. Also the second red scare and lavender scare (McCarthyism) happened in the late 40s-early 50s.

And so yeah while you have some counterculture movements in the 50s like beatnicks, biker and leather clubs, the mattachine society, and greasers as well as fighting for black civil rights, the 50s were largely defined by the reactionary forces as the discontent built. The 60s didn’t spring up out of nowhere.

Too many Americans are just fundamentally hateful, stupid people and those in power use this fact to further establish themselves. They’re already extremely selfish and amoral so, while I don’t doubt they’re also xenophobic, misogynistic and shortsighted, why would they care if they say X, Y and Z as long as it allows them to keep the grift going? Those who are drinking the Kool Aid are probably fewer in number than those who just think “fuck it, I’m getting the bag” (it all goes back to basic moral relativism, greed and hedonism, as always).

They’re fascists. Literally.

They want to oppress in order to gain total control. Because that’s what fascists do.

So no, the 50s don’t really fit the bill for what they’re being clear they want. In the 50s the middle class was strong because we taxed the everloving fuck out of the wealthy. That’s not what they’re going for here.

1850’s? Yes.

No. They absolutely do not want to go back to the 50s. If anything they’re trying to go back to the Gilded Age. They don’t want any part of the 50s.

They want something closer to what Pinochet or Franco had going on

No utopias there, just rednecks doing whatever they want with no consequences. Or, that’s what they think as the consequences build up until they’re all dead.

This isn’t rebirth, it’s fire. They’re setting the place on fire, because they want to see people burn as they die. They think it’s funny. Their fictional god told them it’s OK!

They’re going back to the Germany of the 1930’s.

Edit: Except with Epstein files.

From an outside perspective republicans seems like a bunch of one issue voters (pro gun, anti abortion, etc) coming together and voting against the democrats.

The voters were probably thinking about the nostalgia they had as a result of the progressive eras, because they’d get all the benefits, while also not having do deal with racism since they’re white.

The want the racist, sexist social aspects of the 50s, but not the economic ones. LBJ’s New Deal allowed a thriving middle class to actually exist at the expense of wealthy people having as much money in their hoard. Can’t have that!

The 1350’s specifically.

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