15 The Origins of America s Culture Wars Key Terms Great Society Counterculture Silent Majority Family values I What is Liberalism 1 Old liberal vs New Liberal the word liberal actually has two meanings Old liberal originates in late 1600s early 1700s Term comes from John Luck He says liberalism means educated people should pick what kind of government runs society Government is necessary but people should get to pick what kind Not only should these educated pick government but this government should keep paws off of citizen s lives as much as possible The only government should do is protect life liberty and property New liberals want to do the greatest good in society for the most people They want to do the most awesome they can Civil rights became associated with liberal as we understand it now 2 Johnson s Great Society President Johnson comes in in 1963 He wants to essentially eliminate poverty Calls this the war on poverty In order to accomplish this he is willing to utilize the government Jobs are a big component but education is bigger and helping people get college education Money is an issue in gaining college education Wants federal government to make a big change so most people can do the most good These are big liberal concepts being paid by the government witch taxes Conservatives have issues with this plan All of these big plans have to be limited but the ideas are out there Liberals who believe in this latch on to the ideas 3 Expansion of Civil Rights women are going to begin advocating for more rights and opportunity jobs education pay 1970s utilize some same tactics as civil rights movement to accomplish these goals Event he the LGBT advocate for their rights in this time period What ended up happening is gay communities started forming in urban areas There was a gay club called Stonewall and in 1969 people were arrested for doing illegal acts Cops were surprised people fought back as a result of openly fighting this concept of gay pride and avocation of rights begins moving forward 4 Counterculture Essentially this is a concept of Americans particularly young Americans dissatisfied with traditional values If American society is based on traditional family the counterculture says they want no part in that Want to save the world and experience it in new ways Happening with a population that is big baby boomers these people are angry with what they see America is doing to themselves II What is Conservatism 1 Barry Goldwater and 1964 conservatives really look at Barry He was an Arizona senator and a republican His conservatism is new because up until this point republicans have been okay with hanging out in the background Republicans didn t actually see problems with goals of progressives even the new deal What starts freaking out conservatives is President Johnson s great society plan Using tax payer s money is where conservatives said no Johnson s great society inspires them to fight back too much money to help all these people Worried about effect of economy not concentrated enough on allowing economy to grow Conservatives are getting nervous on number of changes in American society What a traditional American society looks like is looking quite different Conservatives say we like traditional way of life In 1964 Johnson goes up against Barry Goldwater in election Ultimate liberal against conservatism Johnson is going to win even though he wins conservatism isn t going to go anywhere By 1968 everything has changed American society seems to be on the verge of falling apart The presidential election is a very contentious one Johnson could run again but in 1968 he doesn t want the job anymore By March of 1968 Robert F Kennedy decides to run In June Robert Kennedy is assassinated The democrats are having a hard time keeping people to want this job Goldwater has his big change but going up against Nixon Nixon attracts Goldwater people by being much more conservative Adopted more conservative ways of speaking came up with idea of Silent Majority 2 Nixon s Silent Majority What he says is in US there is a silent majority tired of chaos change living in fear of what s going to happen next He is the guy to turn to to get American back on track We have this majority that wants structure stability and able to go day to day not having to worry They aren t going on marches going on the news these are the tough solid good American types What he says is he is here to represent silent majority He is giving conservatives a chance to win but taking away from civil rights movement He will slow the process of all these changes down Using white fear to get what he wants This took could potentially be successful because we are talking about voters mostly white These minority groups who see this idea don t have a chance to put their voice in when Nixon wins in 1968 this demonstrates if you tap into what he conceptualizes as silent majority you have the potential of winning Not just doing conservative things 3 Reagan Era politics economy government and values Regan thinks conservatism can be expanded further He is going after the Goldwater conservatives Regan claims to be their guy brings back traditional values He also learned from Nixon s Silent Majority Codes his language to fit this idea In this period of time late 60s to 80s there s a rise in conservative Christianity What they find is they have distinct political opinions they want government to take a stand prayer in school abortion shouldn t be legal etc These are fundamentally difficult things to merge Regan decides he can make this happen What he does is uses his experience as an actor He presents himself to citizens as different guys The Christians say they want this guy What he is able to do is take conservative and mold it into all of these things For tis point forward if you are a republican and want to tap into conservatism you have ability based on what being an American was shaped into Liberalism and conservatism was all about having an idea of what being an American looks like The two ends of the spectrum tend to be the most vocal What that does is gives American perception the US as a whole is this and this Reality is most Americans fall in between In order to win elections people are willing to make compromises III The 1990s and Culture Wars 1 Family values traditional vs modern 2 Diversity and identity 3 Government and Economy IV Blue Red Purple