FASCISM'S BAD? WHY?

lolonurse

@wdlindsy
NY City changed quite a bit after 9/11 (imo). The rock solid blue of all the unions began to change as people became suspicious & xenophobic (crazy in NYC, where everyone comes from somewhere). Staten Island, bastion of firefighters, turned bright red. Queens and Long Island went red. And all the smarmy MBAs on Wall St. Anyway... it's sad & stupid.

William Lindsey :toad:

@lolonurse Yes, I've heard interesting conversations at the house of my niece in Connecticut, who moved out of the city during the pandemic (with husband and children), but still has her business there and goes there daily. And at the apartment of my brother in Brooklyn…. My niece describes herself as a "strong Democrat," and my brother would no doubt say the same. But they interact with New Yorkers who, while leaning Democratic, often have surprisingly xenophobic ideas and express them freely.

lolonurse

@wdlindsy
Plus I think that New York has been the repository for the most diverse people, for hundreds of years. They've all had to get used to, and accept, the accents, looks, clothing, foods & smells, religions, holidays and customs of all the people living around them. And being New Yorkers, anything is fair game for a joke or snark. That used to be tolerated, part of the "flavor" of NYC...but now we have come to be more sensitive- & yet, a LOT less tolerant.

William Lindsey :toad:

@lolonurse Yes, that captures the New York I see, and which you know from the inside. It's good to be invited — or forced by proximity and shared space — to rub shoulders with those different from ourselves frequently. This, I think, is the big challenge for too many of us in the heartland: we can't imagine a bigger world because we seldom encounter anyone very different from ourselves culturally, religiously, in terms of thought patterns and background.

lolonurse

@wdlindsy
We were doubly lucky bc my dad was involved with the designing and/or renovation of so many NYC landmarks, from the UN building to the Guggenheim to Lincoln Center to the Museum of Natural History/Haydn Planetarium. His folks were engineers, architects & designers from all over the world, so we were totally used to being surrounded by folks from literally everywhere. I like it that way. Where I am now, the primary diversity is lgbtqia++ against a sea of Falun Gong & MAGA.

William Lindsey :toad:

@lolonurse As ever, when you tell me about your family background and upbringing, I have to say how very fortunate you were.

lolonurse

@wdlindsy
As with anything and anybody, there are aspects about which I could definitely argue... but overall, I have to agree. And I'm especially thankful that I grew up in the 50's/60's, before any sort of electronic distractions (& when TV was not on 24 hours a day, & kids were allowed 1/2 hour or 1 hour per day, IF they did their homework & chores, read a required amount, and practiced piano (or whatever). Oh, and "got some fresh air."

William Lindsey :toad:

@lolonurse I, too, remember the pre-t.v. days. I remember when my family first got a t.v. around the mid-1950s. Not much about it interested me, and so I developed early on the habit of reading instead of turning to the t.v. screen to amuse me. With my youngest brother, I noticed how much television engrossed him because he was that much younger and grew up taking its presence for granted.

lolonurse

@wdlindsy
My dad got a kit in 1952, and built our first tv. You probably remember how tiny the screens were. But there were a couple of shows I loved. One, Winky Dink, must have been local, because almost no-one else remembers it. A cartoon star - and you got a plastic sheet to put on the screen, & a special crayon, and drew along with him, on the tv. 🤩

William Lindsey :toad:

@lolonurse Winky Dink is new to me. I think you're right, must have been local. My earliest memories of seeing t.v. were watching some Shakespeare play — possibly Midsummer Night's Dream — performed in black and white. It was incomprehensible. Then there was the Mickey Mouse Club, where Annette Funicello enchanted me. I also loved watching Kate Smith belt out "God Bless America," while my brother was fascinated by Tennessee Ernie Ford singing "Sixteen Tons" in that gravelly deep smoker's voice.

lolonurse

@wdlindsy
I loved Burl Ives. And Perry Como. And Tennessee Ernie Ford, too. And Gene Autry, Sky King, and Romper Room. LOL! And later on, My Friend Flicka.
And Lassie, of course.

William Lindsey :toad:

@lolonurse Yes, those names bring me back to the days of vinyl records spinning on turntables, the kind of music my parents loved to listen to which drove me up a wall as a teen, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Doris Day, et al. Hank Williams played a big role in my familial music education, too, since it was his songs my mother and her sistes liked to sing as they did housework.

lolonurse

@wdlindsy
My parents had no Sinatra, Martin, no 'pop', no country. Everything was classical, opera, folk/social justice music like Guy Carawan and The Weavers. Do you remember when all records were 78RPM? Then 33's came out - wow!! Eventually 45's. We are dinosaurs!! (Oops - almost forgot musicals!! They loved musicals & Gilbert & Sullivan - we all sang along & danced!)

William Lindsey :toad:

@lolonurse I'm afraid I grew up in a much less high-culture environment. We did get treated to a smattering of classical music in church every Sunday — Bach cantatas on the organ, for instance — but that's as far as it went, unless on very rare occasions we went to a symphony performance. For me personally, the music of choice after I reached my teen years was Simon and Garfunkel, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, et al. Yes, I remember the 78RPM days!

lolonurse

@wdlindsy
Yes to all of the great folk singers!! I saw them all except Woodie, & hubby knew & played with Pete Seeger. 🩵
(hubby was a bassman... wish there was a bass clef emoji!)

William Lindsey :toad:

@lolonurse Wonderful that you were able to see all of them in person. I had that opportunity only with Peter, Paul, and Mary. Amazing that your husband played with Pete Seeger. I really loved his work.

lolonurse

@wdlindsy
We live not too far from where the Clearwater was docked. The annual Clearwater Festival was a joyous time. Pete & Toshi were very kind, and generous with their time & energy.

William Lindsey :toad:

@lolonurse You've had a charmed existence!

lolonurse

@wdlindsy
LOL! Well, in some respects, I do agree. But definitely not all. The "charmed" parts are very much fun to remember. Although right now I'm quite sad. Phil Lesh, from the Grateful Dead, has died. Those guys felt almost like extended family. He was 84, had been ill, so not shocking, but I'm not ready to feel old.

William Lindsey :toad:

@lolonurse Well, I know that it's culturally ingrained in you not to agree quickly without finding something that needs to be argued about. My own cultural inclination is so very different, though I realize my culture is far, far from ideal or the only culture in the world.