"We used to be a country. A proper country." - tweet over an American flag. Image: Screencap.
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Unoriginal MAGA Lament Quickly Evolved Into a Perfect Shitposting Template

"We used to be a country. A proper country."
Image of Alyssa Shotwell
Alyssa Shotwell
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Published: Dec 6, 2021 05:07 pm

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Because December 2 was a day that ended in “Y,” an anti-vax, pro-Trump Twitter user went semi-viral for lamenting about the days that they could go into a popular gas-station chain … and purchase things?

Was it the lack of brown people in the store or the fact that they aren’t wearing masks? Or something else? Either way, the internet ran with it and remixed it, and this unoriginal MAGA sentiment was given the meme treatment.

Memory is a funny thing

The tweet led many people to whistfully reply, quote tweet, or just tweet (without linking to the 7-Eleven origin story) what they missed from when we were “a proper country.”

Like recalling when Raven-Symone was the only mainstream Black pop culture icon to warrant a cover spread on the coolest teens for Vanity Fair. (To be fair, this whole thing was a mess—proceed with caution.)

However, some of the best ones stuck with the food theme and inadvertently wandered into actual nostalgia.

Even the original poster came back full-freaking-circle to make sure everyone knew they were talking about vaccines and “freedom.”

Women using money in 1973

Even with just the few context clues for those who missed the original, it’s clear that someone was harkening back to the days when some people had fewer rights—people of color, ESL students, women, LGBTQ+ folks, and more. It’s sad and predictable that the user has #MAGA and its companion phrase #KAG (Keep America Great) in their Twitter bio while yearning for more oppressive days for those not like them.

Speaking of few rights, that energy of pointing that fact out fuels many of the replies that are not just straight jokes at the original tweet. For example, writer and comedian Arielle Dundas pointed the fact that women could legally be obstructed from owning a credit card in 1973.

Until the 1974 Equal Credit Opportunity Act, women and marginalized groups could be discriminated against by creditors. Before this, some women couldn’t access credit cards, or they only could until they were married. A study in 2012 found women, on average, still pay .5% higher interest than men, and that is just the women who are invited and enrolled in credit cards.

Yet another reminder for those that say MAGA: We ask for who, though?

(Image: screencap and Alyssa Shotwell)

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Author
Image of Alyssa Shotwell
Alyssa Shotwell
(she/her) Award-winning artist and writer with professional experience and education in graphic design, art history, and museum studies. She began her career in journalism in October 2017 when she joined her student newspaper as the Online Editor. This resident of the yeeHaw land spends most of her time drawing, reading and playing the same handful of video games—even as the playtime on Steam reaches the quadruple digits. Currently playing: Baldur's Gate 3 & Oxygen Not Included.
twitter Link to alyssashotwell.myportfolio.com