Are you ready for the Roaring '20s?

[brooklynite]

CNN

(CNN)There is a section of my closet -- I live in New York City, so by "section" I mean a few hangers bunched together -- packed with tulle and sequins and leather, increasingly over-the-top items that I bought during the pandemic as I dreamt of life after lockdown. The longer lockdown lasted, the more months without family gatherings or travel or nights out, the wilder my closet grew. And I know I'm not alone.

As vaccination rates have soared (even with all the new variants and surges adding some uncertainty to the mix) it's become clear that when the lockdowns finally lift, Americans will be primed for a new Roaring '20s, an exuberance expressed in fashion, art, music -- anywhere we can display the kind of manic joy that comes after a year when the world became very small and quiet.

Our Roaring '20s would arrive a century after the end of the last massive pandemic, which occurred alongside a devastating war. The end of these twin crises unleashed a decade of exuberance and experimentation -- and a decade of growing inequality and deepening conservatism. "The war tore away our spiritual foundations and challenged our faith," Ellen Wells Page wrote, as she explained why she embraced the flapper lifestyle. "We are struggling to regain our equilibrium." As we enter the post-pandemic period, it's worth reflecting on how Americans navigated their reentry in the 1920s, and the ways their newfound vitality fed the era's dramatic cultural and political changes.

But we should also take note of the lessons unlearned in last Roaring '20s. The radical dislocations of the early 20th century did not lead only to progressive expressions of the politics of identity. Many White conservatives were doubling down on their identity, too. The 1920s saw the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan in places far from the South (its largest bases were in Indiana and Oregon) and the institution of racist quota laws for immigration.

[empedocles]

1. Interesting author

'Are you ready for the Roaring '20s?
Opinion by Nicole Hemmer

Updated 8:43 AM ET, Mon April 12, 2021

Nicole Hemmer is an associate research scholar at Columbia University with the Obama Presidency Oral History Project and the author of "Messengers of the Right: Conservative Media and the Transformation of American Politics." She co-hosts the history podcasts "Past Present" and "This Day in Esoteric Political History" and is co-producer of the new podcast "Welcome To Your Fantasy." The views expressed in this commentary are those of the author. View more opinion articles on CNN.

(CNN)There is a section of my closet -- I live in New York . . . '

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. 23 skidoo

For the young'uns:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/23_skidoo_(phrase)

[hunter]

3. My grandma and her sister were wild things in Hollywood during the roaring 'twenties.

Certainly there was conservative backlash against the "flapper lifestyle" but the most damaging aspects of that era were increasing disparities of wealth and overt racism.

The U.S.A. had never sorted out the Civil War, Europe had never sorted out the Great War, and banking theory was primitive.

It all blew up again in the Great Depression and World War Two.

After World War II, reflecting on the errors of the past, Germany and Japan were rebuilt and economists like John Maynard Keynes developed a much more sophisticated understanding of money.

Today's antil-intellectual "conservatives" and religious freaks want to throw away everything that made the U.S.A. a world power because they are fucking cowards and bullies who are absolutely terrified of anyone who considers themselves equal or superior to the straight white "Real American" male.

[TheRealNorth]

4. At least we can drink this time...

[BannonsLiver]

5. Mmmmm

Cocktail parties, donor retreats and cotillions galore!

[brooklynite]

6. Bernie and Jane WERE fun dinner partners...