The most important Americans of the past 75 years

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Dr. Medulla
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The most important Americans of the past 75 years

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Okay, last week my seminar discussed a book about Hugh Hefner and Playboy, and I made the comment that I think Hefner is one of the five most important people of the past 75 years. Importantly, that's not necessarily a compliment, only a comment about his widespread significance; Hefner represents a deliberate effort to normalize consumption and hedonism in American life. Before the class finished for the week, one of my students asked me who my other four were. I admitted that I don't actually have a list, but said that I'd come back to our final meeting (tomorrow) and share my list. Which I've completely stumbled on. And so I turn to you to help fill in the blanks. Here's what I've got (in no particular order):

Hefner (explained the rationale above)
Nixon (he represents the crude, cruel, and calculating character of American politics, appealing to people's worst qualities rather than something higher)
Manson (fantasy, celebrity, violence, the normalization of fame and decline of infamy)

That's all I got. My list is very white and male, I know, tho all three are assholes. Suggestions?
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Re: The most important Americans of the past 75 years

Post by Flex »

well, me, obviously.

Addendum: I'll think of a few more answers, obviously
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Re: The most important Americans of the past 75 years

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Okay, after just a gut minute or two think, I'll propose Bing Crosby. He's important for two things, particularly: 1) he almost singularly invented the way singers sing into microphones, understanding that new microphone technology allowed him to sing in a more intimate, lower volume way into the mic creating intimacy between the singer and the listener. His innovation in that regard finally moved popular performed music away from its vaudville roots and into the modern art form of "popular music" as we basically understand it. Secondly, Bing was an early adapter and investor in magnetic tape and understood the importance of recording music in a way that wasn't really contemplated at the time. Like with his understanding of the microphone, his pursuit of new technology to create clean, durable audio recordings helped form the basis of the recording industry as we know it.

For those two reasons - his incredibly impressive vision for using burgeoning technology, essentially, much more than what he actually recorded himself - I think he had a foundational impact on american music, which is in turn one of out greatest cultural contributions and influences (for good or ill) on the world.
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Re: The most important Americans of the past 75 years

Post by JennyB »

I'm not sure who this person would be - maybe Fauci (not to sound like a white-bread liberal) - but someone in the medical field. The reason I thought of him is because of his work on HIV/AIDS and COVID. Interested in others' thoughts.
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Re: The most important Americans of the past 75 years

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Bing Crosby is a leftfield kind of answer that appeals to me. I was thinking about tech/culture people and leaned towards Steve Jobs, but that seems kind of easy and probably gives him more significance than he deserves. So Crosby is in the running. I also like it because it's a music answer without doing the easy Elvis response.

I also thought about medicine, but drew a complete blank there. Like, maybe Watson (and Crick) for discovering DNA?
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: The most important Americans of the past 75 years

Post by Heston »

Whoever wrote "More Than a Feeling."
There's a tiny, tiny hopeful part of me that says you guys are running a Kaufmanesque long con on the board

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Re: The most important Americans of the past 75 years

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Tell your students your cat ate your list, or maybe it was Adele.

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Re: The most important Americans of the past 75 years

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Heston wrote:
30 Nov 2022, 6:48pm
Whoever wrote "More Than a Feeling."
I think that was Bing Crosby.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: The most important Americans of the past 75 years

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revbob wrote:
30 Nov 2022, 7:49pm
Tell your students your cat ate your list, or maybe it was Adele.
I always seek to model good behaviour, so I can't dodge this.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: The most important Americans of the past 75 years

Post by Dr. Medulla »

Also, another possible entry: Milton Friedman, as he did more for popularizing the idea of free markets and deregulation as the path to utopia than anyone else. Mostly terrible stuff, but his critique of the welfare state has dominated for decades now.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: The most important Americans of the past 75 years

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Dr. Medulla wrote:
30 Nov 2022, 7:54pm
revbob wrote:
30 Nov 2022, 7:49pm
Tell your students your cat ate your list, or maybe it was Adele.
I always seek to model good behaviour, so I can't dodge this.
Rosa Parks, MLK two that obviously come to mind for advancing civil right struggles.

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Re: The most important Americans of the past 75 years

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revbob wrote:
30 Nov 2022, 8:32pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
30 Nov 2022, 7:54pm
revbob wrote:
30 Nov 2022, 7:49pm
Tell your students your cat ate your list, or maybe it was Adele.
I always seek to model good behaviour, so I can't dodge this.
Rosa Parks, MLK two that obviously come to mind for advancing civil right struggles.
Important in their time, but over the entire sweep on 75 years? I'm skeptical. The Boss has suggested to me that Malcolm X is the most significant African-American political figure for both his time and afterwards. I'm a bit guarded there, too, but I think he has a greater claim than Parks or King.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: The most important Americans of the past 75 years

Post by revbob »

:naughty:
Dr. Medulla wrote:
30 Nov 2022, 8:53pm
revbob wrote:
30 Nov 2022, 8:32pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
30 Nov 2022, 7:54pm
revbob wrote:
30 Nov 2022, 7:49pm
Tell your students your cat ate your list, or maybe it was Adele.
I always seek to model good behaviour, so I can't dodge this.
Rosa Parks, MLK two that obviously come to mind for advancing civil right struggles.
Important in their time, but over the entire sweep on 75 years? I'm skeptical. The Boss has suggested to me that Malcolm X is the most significant African-American political figure for both his time and afterwards. I'm a bit guarded there, too, but I think he has a greater claim than Parks or King.
Umm is this some kind of trick Heston thing?

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Re: The most important Americans of the past 75 years

Post by eumaas »

probably the inventors of the transistor at Bell Labs.
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Re: The most important Americans of the past 75 years

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revbob wrote:
30 Nov 2022, 9:08pm
:naughty:
Dr. Medulla wrote:
30 Nov 2022, 8:53pm
revbob wrote:
30 Nov 2022, 8:32pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
30 Nov 2022, 7:54pm
revbob wrote:
30 Nov 2022, 7:49pm
Tell your students your cat ate your list, or maybe it was Adele.
I always seek to model good behaviour, so I can't dodge this.
Rosa Parks, MLK two that obviously come to mind for advancing civil right struggles.
Important in their time, but over the entire sweep on 75 years? I'm skeptical. The Boss has suggested to me that Malcolm X is the most significant African-American political figure for both his time and afterwards. I'm a bit guarded there, too, but I think he has a greater claim than Parks or King.
Umm is this some kind of trick Heston thing?
Not intentionally, but if you're narrowing the list to five people, you'd want people whose influence is longer as a way of distinguishing them from those who were significant over a shorter period. So I've kinda skipped directly to thinking of people whose ideas and contributions can be felt over multiple decades, especially up to the present.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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