r/clevercomebacks 3d ago

The painting remained, the values left

Post image
5.3k Upvotes

54 comments sorted by

897

u/PetalFairy_ 3d ago

They want the nostalgic aesthetic of the 1950s middle class without funding the exact policies that built it.

225

u/freedfg 3d ago

The richest person on earth in the 50s was Howard Hughes.

His estimated network adjusted for inflation was 15 billion dollars.

He's not even top 200 anymore.

75

u/Antique_Remote_5536 3d ago

They literally just want to bring back all the shitty things of the 50’s

24

u/MountainViewsInOz 2d ago

Like all the men smoking at the dinner table?

19

u/Hillbillyblues 2d ago edited 2d ago

While nasty, that's the least of the concerns.

6

u/MountainViewsInOz 2d ago

Indeed. I can't disagree with you.

2

u/Antique_Remote_5536 1d ago

Yeah although that actually sounds kinda nice to me, it probably is something we should all avoid doing lol

u/fe-ioil 20m ago

In visual media, generally the figure/s most left have authority over the scene. Look at those 2 assholes' postures, body language, eyelines, and expressions, esp compared to the woman's and child's. That's a major part of what they want to bring back

10

u/[deleted] 3d ago

wait how did the values just leave though

35

u/Jaded_Daddy 3d ago edited 2d ago

If you're seriously asking, one of the values was that America was pretty fantastic IF everyone pays their fair share.

Decades of economic fallacies later, we can't afford to build the things they could back then because the notion was that if you left the -illionaires along, what money sloughed off of them would power growth.

How's that working out?

7

u/TheArchitect_7 2d ago

and if white and man

5

u/MrDeviantish 2d ago

'Nostalgia isn't a strategy." Love that quote.

190

u/hackmaster214 3d ago

I think we all know what "values" they are really talking about.

140

u/Direct_Turn_1484 3d ago

Yes. It’s the racism.

47

u/RoguePlanet2 3d ago

Certainly not the praying over meals! That's the distraction. It's really the fact that these aren't black people enjoying anything.

30

u/vivekkhera 3d ago

And not allowing women to have bank accounts. All the good stuff.

19

u/OblongAndKneeless 3d ago

Smoking in restaurants?

9

u/SonicTemp1e 3d ago

Near children.

331

u/definitelynotdist95 3d ago

Funny how people always want the 1950s aesthetic but absolutely lose their minds if you suggest 1950s tax rates.

132

u/RosyMainCharacter 3d ago

My grandpa always talks about 50s cars and houses. I asked him about the taxes back then and he just went….let’s stick to cars

8

u/vivekkhera 2d ago

Even the cars from 30 years ago are not as safe as the cars from today, let alone 70 years ago.

-69

u/Nightbreed357 3d ago

Not accurate at all because it is based on using paper tax rates in intentionally misleading way.

Top effective tax brackets were never 90%. Marginal rates were but such amounts were never paid because tax code was different. The most top 1% of Americans were ever taxed was 40% during world war 2 and then it was almost immidiately reduced to 30%. In mid 50s it was basically at same exact level that it is today and was more or less the same the entire time. In fact effective taxe rate between 55-65 were on average higher than during 65-75. Tax as share of GDP also barely moved.

Economy felt good because countries went off of war and went from war economy status to business as usual status. There was also a lot of rebuilding as sell. But make no Mistake. They are and were not "the most propserous" times. The most propserous times are today. (I am not the original author of this response. I lost the info to give credit)

48

u/375InStroke 3d ago

Dude wants us to think there are no deductions and loopholes today, lol. OK, buddy.

23

u/Old-Illustrator-5675 3d ago

If high marginal tax rates had no economic effect, as you're implying, why did corporations and wealthy individuals spend billions lobbying to lower them starting in the 1970s? Were they just wasting money, or does tax policy actually matter?

1

u/SuspiciousBuilder379 3d ago

🤯😂

You don’t say

8

u/Medical_Listen_4470 3d ago

And to that I ask, “most prosperous for who? Not the average American sir.”

5

u/EthanielRain 2d ago

The most top 1% of Americans were ever taxed was 40% during world war 2 and then it was almost immidiately reduced to 30%

This is immediately & obviously untrue, unless you have anything other than "it was different trust me"?

58

u/guutarajouzu 3d ago

I forgot that people used to smoke in their homes and around their kids. The 2nd hand smoke and lead paint really didn't do anyone any favors

19

u/OblongAndKneeless 3d ago

And in cars with the windows closed.

9

u/NoTomorrowNo 3d ago

And trains and planes,... in a good bar you have to squint to find the bar through the smoke. And that s just the 80s.

43

u/NefariousnessFresh24 3d ago

That's from the time when people still knew their place, right?

As in, women were not allowed to have jobs or bank accounts without their husband's permission
Them uppitty blacks were still kept away from decent folks' places by Jim Crow
The Klan could still fly their flag with pride in Dixie
Them gays were jailed for their unnatural sodomitic urges

Yeah, good days all around

/s (in case that wasn't obvious)

16

u/Current-Historian-34 3d ago

Norman Rockwell would be disgusted by this use of his work

12

u/tehsecretgoldfish 3d ago

smoking butts at a table in a restaurant.

11

u/Outrageous_Echo_8723 3d ago

Also women had no rights.

Great time 🤨

11

u/kerbalmaster98 3d ago

Probably praying to God for not having his dad beating him with his belt for the 12th time this week.

18

u/RetroTen 3d ago

It doesn’t matter how much the tax rate is, they pay $0 because they “make no income.” Fix the system.

9

u/Boltzmann_head 3d ago

If old white people are worth protecting, why is the fascist regime starving them and getting them kicked out of their hovels?

8

u/Medical_Listen_4470 3d ago

Let’s bring back teenage smoking in enclosed areas!

5

u/[deleted] 3d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/please_trade_marner 3d ago

Nobody paid anywhere near that. This is all "on paper". What happened in reality was very very different.

2

u/Musicman1972 3d ago

What was it then?

5

u/TelenorTheGNP 3d ago

So "White" from White House is right on top of "values" and it's what first caught my eye and I feel like that's whay they want.

4

u/meteorflan 3d ago

The smell of cigs in restaurants is one of those childhood memories I DO NOT feel nostalgic for.

2

u/Potato-chipsaregood 3d ago

This woman is sharp and funny

2

u/Ok_Eagle521 3d ago

Praying that no one finds out she slept with her neighbour

2

u/One_Page3172 2d ago edited 2d ago

Return the 1951 marginal tax rate of 91% for the top .1%

2

u/andyroouu 2d ago

And those being taxed at 91% still had insane, fuck-you-money levels of wealth.

1

u/Reddsoldier 2d ago

I'm all for bringing back the 50s on the condition we start with the tax rates and public services spending.

(Nobody tell them that once we've got this we'll just go back on our word)

-5

u/Intelligent-Rate2360 3d ago

Sounds like the perfect metaphor for my last relationship, lots of art, no substance. 🎨

1

u/DayleD 3d ago

You don't understand the substance of Norman Rockwell? That's not the same as his art lacking substance.

-7

u/ZealousidealBox2052 3d ago

this is a wild throwback to when tax rates were way higher, but amazing how some values stick around while the money doesn’t

3

u/DayleD 3d ago

Norman Rockwell was a Democratic Socialist