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Impact of 1950s consumer society
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According to an article published the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History titled, “The Fifties”, the American middle-class grew rapidly during the 1950’s and by this time 60 percent of Americans were considered “middle-class”. Truman Capote’s book, In Cold Blood, chronicles the murder of a well-to-do middle-class family known as, the Clutter family. Capote uses the Clutter family to represent the rising middle-class in the 1950’s by showing a lifestyle that is comfortable yet modest. The middle-class consists of well-educated business workers who are neither rich nor poor.
In the 1920s the American wealth exploded. It brought forward an increase of millionaires by 400% but this in turn buried the already poor Americans into a deeper hole of poverty. The difference in income between the wealthy class, the middle class and the poor class was absolutely massive. In total 60% of all Americans lived at or below the poverty line of $2,000.
With the dropping of the Atomic bomb that ended WWII and the beginning of the Cold War, the United states was in distress. The start of the 1950s brought about many changes to American society, from the Red Scare and threat of the possible spread of communism in America, to changes in political movements, civil rights movements, and another possible war. The political climate in the 1950s was a period when people made judgement without proof based on people’s occupations, it instilled a fear that anyone could be a communist and pushed McCarthy to find and dispose of them. Factors that influenced this political crisis and fear go back years to 1917 when communism was recognized as a political force. It was known as the last red scare.
Den Fernandez Consumer Culture in the 1920s As the world moved into the Roaring 20s it attempted to leave behind the destruction left in the wake of World War 1. In that transition back into a semi-normal society, a new fascination emerged from the United States' economic prosperity and consumerism. While the end of World War 1 brought American soldiers back home from the front lines, it also brought back huge economic gains with America’s numerous loans to other countries with the Dawes Plan instated by President Calvin Coolidge.
Written by Christina Hodge, the book Consumerism and the Emergence of the Middle Class in Colonial America: The Genteel Revolution, was to portray a woman during the eighteenth century and daily life in Newport. Hodge talks about Widow Pratt throughout the chapters, she is not the main character. The book is also based on a historiography, which is the study of historical writing. The theme of the book is on gentility, the social superiority by genteel manners, behavior, or appearance. There is also the way of being genteel, the way to act proper.
1 - Consumerism developed in America during the early twentieth century in large part due to the boom in industry created by Europe 's inability to create goods after World War I. Combined this with American inventions such as Henry Ford’s assembly line and Americans had money to spend (Schultz, 2013). With the advent of an electrical distribution system, Americans had electricity in their homes for the first time, which led to the desire for all types of electrical appliances to make life easier. All these new products meant that companies had to get the word out about their products which ignited the advertising industry, which led to even more consumerism. Mix into this recipe, the growing credit industry, and you had consumerism like
A Baby’s Life: Whose Choice Is It? The topic of abortion stands as one of the most controversial issues until today. Most pro-choice advocates often embellish the idea of abortion by stating that women have the right to their own bodies. As an obvious pro-choice supporter, Valerie Tarico writes down ten reasons supporting abortion.
The United States during the 1950s and 1960s was an era of general consensus for the average middle class American. This was an era that saw the nation’s affluence grow tremendously. The middle class grew so much that the middle class had the ability to buy homes, buy cars, and live comfortably with their families. Cities began to sprawl throughout the nation, and suburbanization increased as well .
The Berlin Wall and Great Depression were over and the new era came upon to spark the beginning of the 1950’s. The typical focus of this era was to protect families individually and preserve domesticity, and hold certain standards too succeed in life. To include, that in 1950’s, there was much improvement when it came to working and jobs. There were more white collar jobs in the office and other administrative settings such as: advertising, marketing, etc. After the Cold War, there was a vast Economic boom, people were earning money and putting money in the banks more than ever before.
As World War II came to an end, the United States entered the 50s. This decade became a major influential time that brought many cultural and societal changes. Categories such as the economy, where a boom in new products increased, the technology world which incorporated new medicines and computers, entertainment when the television became popular and the overall lifestyles that Americans adapted to. All of these topics reshaped and created several advancements throughout society during the 1950s.
At the time, most Americans were of middle class status, families were living the life that they had dreamed of for many years. The standard of living
Consumption In Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”, the concepts of consumerism and utopia are continuously compared and discussed in tandem with one another to decide if any correlation between them is present. Although people may argue that the humans belonging to the World State are happy, their lack of simple human pleasures such as love, religion, intellect, free will, etc, denies the people of actual joy. Since the government is what controls these pleasures by glorifying consumption, the World State’s culture and consumerism must interrelate. The government's control of common human experiences and characteristics such as love, pain, religion, and free will result in the total dependence on the state.
What We Really Miss About The 1950s In her essay, “What We Really Miss About the 1950s”, Stephany Coontz talks about the myth of the 1950s. She begins her argument by stating some reasons why the nostalgia for the 1950s exists. The main thing Americans miss about the those days is the stability. She acknowledges that this fallacy is not insane.
The Beatles, Pop Music and Youth Culture: Were they heroes or capitalists? The decade of 1960s has a great impact on people of all backgrounds because of the ‘affluent society’ (Hecl 6). The 1960s was the time when people started to settle with the war in the economic sense. This result of the post-war socio-economic shifts after the second world war has led to the increasing affluence and new technological inventions in mass production which help cheapen the price of goods thus lower the costs of living (Bennett 9).
Consumerism intrudes with the workings of society by overthrowing the standard judgment wish for an adequate supply of life 's necessities, a steady family and solid associations with a manufactured continuous journey for things and the purchasing power with little respect for the genuine utility of the item purchased. In today’s World World, there is a high level of consumption which has been described as a major threat on sustainability. Even though consumerism has positive effects like motivating people to work harder in order to improve their social status and well being, it has adverse effects on the environment and the social aspect of life. Consumerism, according to the new Oxford English dictionary, means the preocccupation of society with the acquisition of consumer goods. Sustainablity, on the other hand, according to the ‘brudtland report’ was broadly defined as Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
