This is just priceless. Came across it while I was doing research for F. Lee Hoover, 1920s comic who performed last night at the Khyber (and went over quite well, I must say). It is an article written in the Ladies Home Journal in 1921, saying why jazz was ruining the country.
“Jazz is worse than the saloon! Why?” I asked.
“Because it affects our young people especially,” said Mr. Bott. “It is degrading. It lowers all the moral standards. Unlike liquor, a great deal of its harm is direct and immediate. But it also leads to undesirable things. The jazz is too often followed by the joy-ride.”
If there is one thing that really sticks in my craw, it’s a bunch of sober youngsters listening to jazz and then going out joy riding! This madness must end! I’m just glad the right wing is coming down on the side of decency and putting an end to this threat which, if left unfettered, will almost certainly lead to the downfall of our great nation.
Not to start an argument, JGT– as you know I'd never even think of doing that– but the impulse to save us from various societal threats is more apt to come from liberal, “progressive” types than conservatives. Whether they're outlawing certain types of food or seeking to ban outdoor smoking in national parks lest someone be exposed to a whiff of second hand cigarette smoke or imposing zero tolerance rules in the schools to prevent kindergarden children from bringing plastic knives in their lunch bags or imposing speech codes lest some favored victim group be “offended” by the expression of an opinion, libprogs love to regulate other people's behavior for their own good. Conservatives such as myself, on the other hand, are more likely to support people's rights to their poisonous and unhealthy habits and their right to go straight to hell and screw up their lives in any freely chosen manner. “Progressives”– the very name shows a complete misunderstanding of history as well as human nature– believe that human beings are perfectible given the right mix of regulation and law. Conservatives know better.
Just saying…