April 6, 2025

By Arthur H. Gunther III

thecolumnrule.com

It seems like a century ago now, but time was when you had a few shekels, you could head to the local restaurant operated by a longtime couple in your community and, say, enjoy a plate of spaghetti (no one called it pasta then), with which you also received a small and fresh salad and, of course, cherished bread. The price was not extravagant though perhaps you did not do this every week, and the ambiance – the trusted restaurant, the friendly owners, the waitresses, the cook, the barman – were as welcome as the food. And the establishment made a profit that was not threatened by product shortage, markup greed and, now, devouring tariffs.

Largely but not completely, this was a blue-collar place, an occasional anchor for the hardworking raising a family, hoping to send the kids to college or training that would push them up the “success” ladder.

This was America, say 1956 when the Republican platform called for union support, increased assistance for workers, job equality, community assistance and various measures to increase “prosperity” and to accelerate the growth of the American middle class that effectively renewed, if not truly began, with the return of GIs following World War II.

What happened? A recent trip to a local restaurant, also long in business but with a succession of owners, had me eating “pasta.” Salad additional. No bread, even at extra cost. Fine service. Ambiance clouded by today’s American uncertainty.

What has happened? The earlier years following a depression and another world war and the nuclear threats of the Cold War brought us some cooperation between political parties, even if the wealthy class remained bent on adding to itself at the expense of those down the ladder. There was enough principle – for example, Dwight Eisenhower’s – to continue the American experiment.

As Ike exited and warned against the growing influence of military/industrial influence, as overdue civil rights demonstrations were held, as the injustice of the Vietnam War loaded PTSD into young men, the great hope of a growing middle class with equality and diversity began to lose momentum, especially after the John F. Kennedy assassination, an ironically timely event for growing greed.

You know, the average person just wants to go to her/his favorite eatery and have spaghetti, salad, bread. These people want the reaffirming comfort of that visit in a nation that tries to improve itself in all ways. For all people. And they want the owners to make a decent profit. They want to eat in peace and security, not with heartburn.

What happened? Greed happened, and before any of us sit down for whatever meal we want, we should all join the “Hands Off” protests nationwide against the deliberate attempts to destroy both democracy and the continuation/improvement of the American Experiment.

The writer is a retired newspaperman.

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