HIST 2112 Lecture 16Outline of Last Lecture I. Los Angeles: Late 1940sII. The Second Red Scare as OverreactionA. How bad were the Soviets? B. The Soviet Union and CommunismIII. The Second Red Scare as a reaction against the New Deal legacyA. Anticommunism and conservation critics of FDR and the New DealB. “New Dealers,” unions, academics, activists as popular targetsIV. Political Manifestations of the New DealA. The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) 1945-1952B. The Alger Hiss spy case: 1948-1950C. The Rosenberg Case: 1950-1953D. “McCarthyism” 1950-1954a. Senator “Tailgunner Joe” McCarthy b. Searching for a “hot issue”c. The infamous McCarthy “lists” and the McCarthy hearingsd. The army-McCarthy hearings and the end of McCarthyism1. Key role of TVV. The Second Red Scare in Popular Culture A. HUAC and the “Hollywood Ten” a. The infamous black listB. The sanitizing of Film and TVa. No morally complex or ambiguous subjectsb. No conflictc. No criticism of “the American way of life”d. No “sympathetic” communist charactersVI. The Scare and the “whitebread” mainstream middle-class culture of the 1950sOutline of Current Lecture I. Welcome to LevittownII. Economic Growth in the 1950s A. GrowtB. What made all this growth happen?a. Cold War Military Spending1. The creation of “military-industrial complex”2. The interstate highway systemb. Deliberate Government Policy1. The continuing influence of the New Deal idea of “activist government”2. 1950s: “corporate liberalism”3. The “Liberal Consensus”- Example: Dwight Eisenhower, JFKIII. 1950s Corporate Liberalism in ActionA. Highway construction and Federally-backed mortgages.a. Goalb. Mortgages and racial discrimination IV. “Hyperconsumerism”A. Consumerism as “Freedom”a. The “kitchen debate” (1959)V. Cultural Critics of Corporations, Consumerism and SuburbiaA. Sloan Wilson, Man in the Grey Flannel Suit (1955)B. C. Wright Mill, White Color (1951)C. David Riesman, The Lonely Crowd (1951)D. William Whyte, The Organization Man (1956)E. Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique (1963)VI. Consumerism and the TeenagerCurrent Lecture: I. Welcome to Levittown Home ownership: Suburbia - To own a house is the most American thing you can do- 1945-1955- more houses build than any other decade- 1960 year when home ownership becomes the norm- 2/3 of all Americans grow up in suburbs now- Long Island is the origin of all Suburbs (Levittown) - Builder: William Levitt and sons… - WWII built cheap housing for US navy Assembly line version of home building- Bring in a bulldozer and level everything out, punch some roads in, lay down 60 ft. cement pads, next to cement pads a truck dumps wood for house, throw up housequickly with nails, etc…, 750 sq. ft. cape cod style houses (two bedrooms, kitchen, living room, and one bathroom)  $6,900 (ticky tacky houses)- 800,000 people live in Levittown… come with appliances, many of the latest conveniencesII. Economic Growth in the 1950s and beyondA. Growth: The backdrop for US history 1950s-1970s- 1945-1970s Unprecedented economic growth in America… economy quadruples in size- Grows for so long, we take it as normal - Working class people and all sorts of people with money that they didn’t have beforeB. What made all this growth happen?a. Cold War Military Spending: 50% of spending in 50s, especially in SW1. The creation of “military-industrial complex”o Centers of defense spending2. The interstate highway systemo Stimulate economyo Allows people to evacuate city if you were nuked theoretically … not realisticallyb. Deliberate Government Policy1. The continuing influence of the New Deal idea of “activist government” i.e. Liberalismo Government programs that stimulate the economy left over from the New Deal still continueo Depression is over, FDR is dead, New Deal still alive … NEW DEALERS believe that it is the governments duty to create conditions for economic growtho Government needs to encourage consumerism … produce prosperity2. 1950s: “corporate liberalism”: anti- communist, corporate friendlyo Government needs to work with businesses (voluntary cooperation) o 1950s: liberals think businesses can be America’s best crusade… they should be our partners in prosperityo Liberalist: Anticommunist, corporate friendly3. The “Liberal Consensus”: the bipartisan popularity of moderate, corporate liberalism in the 1950s-1960so Example: Dwight Eisenhower, JFKo Moderate republicano What you see in the 50s is that CL makes it where someonelike the President of Ford Motor Co. is also secretary of defense… you can just back and forth from government to businessesIII. 1950s Corporate Liberalism in ActionA. Highway construction and Federally-backed mortgages: key to getting economy going again… supplies so many jobs and money, etc.a. Goal: stimulate housing industry, automobile industry, and thus much of the economy, resulting in better wages and more consumer spendingb. Mortgages and racial discriminationo Blue mortgage, at the end of the five year mortgage, you have to pay the rest in full. o Government makes FHA (federal housing admin.): if you want to buy a house, you can get a loan from the FHA, 30 year mortgage o Bank can pay money to essentially be ensured by the FHA in turn back up mortgages… bank starts loaning money   housing  economyo HOA  SUCKS.IV. “Hyperconsumerism”A. Consumerism as “Freedom”: Cold war & consumerism are linkeda. The “kitchen debate” (1959): canary yellowo Model suburban homes send messages about being an American.o Proves superiority of American system with all of our luxuries – freedom?o Russians argue that they can beat us at our own game…V. Cultural Critics of Corporations, Consumerism and SuburbiaA. Sloan Wilson, Man in the Grey Flannel Suit (1955): corporate employees in big cooperation in the 1950s… he was in the coast guard, did the most important work for America, he comes back and gets a great job, lives the American dream – hates it, turns him into conformist, shallow, butt-kissing, yes-man… corporations were more strict than military.B. C. Wright Mill, White Color (1951): argues that the rise of corporate liberalism is staffed by white collar workers and is creating a new kind of person (not really anindividual anymore/shallow)… not good.C. David Riesman, The Lonely Crowd (1951): pretty much the same as White ColorD. William