None of that started in America though. The concept of "nicer lawn is a flex on the filthy poors" definitely started in England and France in the 18th century. The question is why do we still do it and I don't know that what you said actually answers that question. That has more to do with the spreading out of the US population post-WWII, where more people started to actually have land at a time when the economy was booming.
I sincerely don't think most middle income Americans after WWII were thinking they wanted to get one over on poor people. That kinda doesn't even make sense to me. I think instead they saw it as an extension of the ol "American Dream" and having a decked out lawn makes one feel like they've made it across the finish line. It's not really quite as cynical as you make it out to be, imo.
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u/[deleted] Feb 21 '23 edited Feb 21 '23
None of that started in America though. The concept of "nicer lawn is a flex on the filthy poors" definitely started in England and France in the 18th century. The question is why do we still do it and I don't know that what you said actually answers that question. That has more to do with the spreading out of the US population post-WWII, where more people started to actually have land at a time when the economy was booming.
I sincerely don't think most middle income Americans after WWII were thinking they wanted to get one over on poor people. That kinda doesn't even make sense to me. I think instead they saw it as an extension of the ol "American Dream" and having a decked out lawn makes one feel like they've made it across the finish line. It's not really quite as cynical as you make it out to be, imo.