Editors Note
The decade of 1950s was characterized by a lot of prosperity and development in the United States. Though there were social, psychological, economic and political changes, there still existed individuals who were surely unwilling to share their wealth and prosperity with others. Many individuals in the lower classes still remained poor and were paid little salaries undermining their status in the economic domain. This paper therefore, makes an insight of the socio-economic and political achievements in the United States and the setbacks that might have been experienced within the decade.
The decade of ‘50s is often considered a period of affluence. Discuss economic growth and prosperity in the 1950s and the changes that resulted from that prosperity. Include in your discussion the era’s population wealth, suburban living and consumerism. Also include a discussion of those who did not share the prosperity of the 1950s.
The period of 1950s was described as an era of economic growth and prosperity that saw victorious powers of the World War II. This period salvaged the active foreign policy designed to save Europe and Asia from the effects of the Second World War and to help in the expansion of the communism culture. Domestically, transition grew rapidly with wide spread rising wages and the exodus of many farmers to the urban towns. In the political arena, presidents dominated with both the democrat and republican ideologies. Since the democrats had a greater control of the congress, they were unable to pass much liberal legislation due to conservative coalitions. Majority of American employees had organized classes and enjoyed the long time promised consumer oriented Americanism that improved their daily lives. The United States witnessed a wider expansion in the good and service consumption. The Gross National Product increased by around 35% whereas the personal consumption increased by a threshold of 42% ad these were among the cumulative family incomes and unrelated persons. Accommodation never was a problem since several housing units were constructed. The employees also enjoyed paid leisure time to the working group. There was created a freedom of expression situation together with quality education though the health care system was so poor and wanting. The period of 1950 also saw a change in the social welfare whereby there was a considerable improvement in insurance for employees and their next of kin against work associated risks and illness, this covered all members of the labor force except the farmers. Americans
Discuss the impact of science and technology on daily life in American culture in the 1950s.
Great strides are visible in the American Science during the years of 1950s. A majority of inventions and discoveries seemed to form a greater percentage of all daily events. Practical science was demonstrated in the massive military projects during the World War II where a large group of scientists worked towards the objective such as the atomic bomb production which was later funded by the government. This promoted efficiency in their verge to engage in wars. Science became significant in human life application in various aspects. Scientific and technological advances as the use of credit cards became so much widespread during this period. Since the credit cards were under most cases related to the purchase of several goods for use, it directly contributed to the economic growth of the United States. Science and technology became significant in the demographic sector, in the late 1957; the first effective birth control pill was available: the large scale testing and development of birth pills under large scale levels required more of social change in order to achieve acceptability.
Another technological importance was the wider use of TV dinners that was of a key importance in increasing the food shelf life but this also required a greater social change for adaptation and usability which was contributed to by the introduction of TV dinner in each and every home.
The technology and science inventions during the 1950s were a period of much wonder. The improved applied science methods were saving human life on a daily basis. For example, polio was at this time a great killer disease until the time when scientists found a vaccine for it. Dental drills were more hurting and so scientists had to improve the dentistry methods involving aesthetic use. Scientists also had to invent the three dimensional films so that a shift of comparison would be developed between movies and Television. Such inventions and technological advances made the Americans demand to label the decade of science and technology.
Increased automobile ownership in the 1950s spurred the beginning of the interstate highway system. The Highway system led to many more changes in the American society. How would American culture have developed differently if the automobile had not been affordable in the 1950s? Explain your answer.
The interstate highway system was designed in order to replace a conglomeration of different transport networks in the United States. The interstate highway system and its corresponding spatial structure contributed greatly to the different land use patterns in order to give proper accommodation to the private automobile. Accommodation would have become an inevitable issue causing congestion in the city, pollution and even economic decentralization. This highway would therefore facilitate the trade of goods and services between and its suburbs creating more employment opportunities. Were it that car culture was not integrated into the American culture, several changes in the transport and communication sector would have not been realized. The existing road networks would still have limited access. There would exist no access between the smaller towns and larger towns in the verge to transport goods and services within such linked centers. Efficient transport under high speed would have not been achieved since the major reason for the construction of such interstate high way was to ease traffic congestion. Limited access roads would still be existing in the United States because no more feeder roads would have not been opened creating a wider lane of road transport. The interstate highway system provided the requisite facilities to allow the development of the suburban areas in order to outgrow to the city cores. With the missing link of interstate highway system to enormously facilitate private automobile utilization and efficient cargo transport, it would be possible for the surrounding cities to develop urban space with minimized freight automobiles. Without the car culture, the central city would still remain predominantly agrarian and economically secondary; this situation made the lands in the suburbs of the city becoming much of lower prizes due to their relative inaccessibility and presumed unproductive nature. More of the transport system that would be dominant without the acquisition of automobiles could still be intra-city since linkage to other parts of the city would not be possible.
Describe the rise of rock n roll and explain why it was so popular among the teens of the 1950s.
Rock n roll was a popular music born in the mid 1950s; it was merely a product of integration of equal parts of rhythm and blues, Tin Pan Alley Pop and country music. It was a result of a long term experiment marred with numerous hybrid mutants. It is however, certain that rocks existed before 1954. Several rock historians claim that it was the first genre of music to define age group. This kind of genre offered the teenagers a sense of belongingness even at their times of loneliness. Rock and roll is associated with the first generation that had a greater affluence, leisure and some of them considered rock as part of the cultural set up. Rock n roll became popular due to the cheap nature of its resources. Rock n roll arrived due to the invention of electric guitars, amplifier and microphone with several changes in the music recording industry with rise of independent variables and radio stations that played such music making it an affluent genre of music suited to the teenagers thus leading to the development of the name rock n roll as a distinct and special genre. Rock n roll had several contents such as record buying, jukeboxes and Television programs not limited to the use of films, clothes, cars and even motorbikes. Rock also used a distinctive language that was identical to the youths. Several books about youth artifacts had cultural influences. Rock music has been seen to be reorienting the popular music into the teen market and mostly jubilating about teen fashions.
Conclusion
The decade of 1950s was characterized by a lot of prosperity and development in the United States. Though there were social, psychological, economic and political changes, there still existed individuals who were surely unwilling to share their wealth and prosperity with others. Many individuals in the lower classes still remained poor and were paid little salaries undermining their status in the economic domain. The period of car culture was accompanied various infrastructural development and automobile acquisition. Science and technology also proved as a major boost of the economic and socio-political status of the Americans.
