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!

I gave up on trying to understand because its all just racist, sexist, xenophobic bullshit with no substance of thought behind it. It’s all the loudest, dumbest people taking control of the government while ultra-wealthy, straight-up evil oligarchs try to steer the idiots to their benefit. I stopped trying to convince MAGA-folks of anything because they are incapable of listening and thinking for themselves, and instead I’m working on my pistol aim and developing a mutual aide community.

Try 1830s

More like 1850s laws where they could own people they deemed lesser, with a 1950s Leave it to Beaver Coat of paint slapped on top… Where women couldn’t get divorced without specific cause or have their own bank accounts, and everyone was pretending to be Christian due to the red scare

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!

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.

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.

1850’s? Yes.

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.

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 going back to the Germany of the 1930’s.

Edit: Except with Epstein files.

I don’t think that’s the goal. I think a return to “better” times is little more than marketing. They use it to strengthen support and give blame. The goal is money and control.

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 1350’s specifically.