What exactly do they mean when they say, "We want our America back"?

[dupersuper]

Outside of race, a lot of them want the world to be however it was when they were children...or at least however it appeared to them when they were children.

"Little House on the Prairie, oh, that's a fine, wholesome show. It's about blind children out West, and every week there's a fire or someone gets an incurable disease." - Lucille Tarlek, WKRP in Cincinnati

I less than 3 you so much right now...

[kmeyers]

The funny part is that this is the cycle that IS America. Those dirty irish micks were minorities back before "The Good Ol' Days." Now Bill O'Reiley is pissed about these new up and coming whippersnappers.

Oh, the circle of life...

[thehod]

...a world that has only existed in Jack Chick tracts, the Left Behind series and Bibleman?

I could handle living in a Jack Chick world, where most of the population have never heard about God, Jesus or the church.

[Mormel]

Kind of a side note here, but in the Netherlands, there are some people who wish for 'the Holland of the good old days', when everyone was polite, the cities weren't flooded with immigrants, religious tolerance was absolute and freedom of speech was unlimited, and the country as a whole was a peaceful, happy place, filled with contentedly smiling milk maids and herring fishermen.

So, basically, a time that never existed.

So yeah, like kmeyers illustrated. 'Something changed. I think it sucks. I wanna go back to the way it was when I was young and full of promise. Betch-betch-betch.'

[Paradox]

thehod forgets our origins:

I could handle living in a Jack Chick world, where most of the population have never heard about God, Jesus or the church.

And those that do believe in God have SUPER-POWERS!

[Wjowski]

And those that do believe in God have SUPER-POWERS!

And so do people that play DnD!

[carabas]

And those that do believe in God have SUPER-POWERS!

And fantasy roleplayers can do real magic!

[Paradox]

**asks Jack to stop bogarting that joint**

[Iangould]

But the women in Jack Chick world are all fucking ugly.

[the4thpip]

Kind of a side note here, but in the Netherlands, there are some people who wish for 'the Holland of the good old days', when everyone was polite, the cities weren't flooded with immigrants, religious tolerance was absolute and freedom of speech was unlimited, and the country as a whole was a peaceful, happy place, filled with contentedly smiling milk maids and herring fishermen.

So, basically, a time that never existed.

So yeah, like kmeyers illustrated. 'Something changed. I think it sucks. I wanna go back to the way it was when I was young and full of promise. Betch-betch-betch.'

See, we don't have much of that in Germany. Soon as somebody says they miss the good old days, people usually look at them with an expression of horror on their faces.

Correction: There are some destitute people in Eastern Germany who seem nostalgic for the days with less freedom and more job security. Kinda sad.

[jesse_custer]

I think the answer goes pretty deep. They want a simpler time - the country is moving forward too quickly for them in any number of ways (you'd have to ask each person to identify these ways). Really, the whole thing goes back to fear.

[Winslow]

I think the answer goes pretty deep. They want a simpler time - the country is moving forward too quickly for them in any number of ways (you'd have to ask each person to identify these ways). Really, the whole thing goes back to fear.

Yup. There are a lot of people afraid of gay marriage and legalized marijuana. They are also afraid of the fact that white men are no longer in control. The results of last weeks election scare them. So there were multiple fronts of change revealed last week.

[jesse_custer]

True, but I will say that some of those changes don't scare some of these people, while these same changes might scare others, and of course, some people are afraid of anything that doesn't fit a white traditional America.

I know a lot of Mississippians who would love marijuana to be legalized, but some of those same people hate the idea of marriage not involving a man and a woman. What we perceive as small changes can look monstrous to others.

[JDogindy]

It's quite simple; they want Eisenhower's America back.

Basically, the whole point of this stems more of the fact that they are deathly afraid of all of the stuff that has happened in the past couple of decades with minorities, Gays, and women getting more and more rights. I can understand some aspects of social degregation, but these are the people who are alright with excessive violence on TV and movies.

Although the general aspect differs from person to person, the general synapse is similar as jesse_custer pointed out; it all goes back to fear.

[Vibranium]

And of course, it's important for the women, blacks, queers and Mexicans to 'know their place'.
Plus, of course, transforming the country into a nominally Christian Theocracy*.

__________________________________________________ _________________________
* - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominionism

indeed...I can not tell you how that phrase infuriates me...more so than any racial slur out there