HIST 2112 1st edition Lecture 25Outline of Previous LectureI. The Second Red Scare II. Political Manifestation of the ScareIII. The Second Red Scare in Popular CultureOutline of Current LectureI. LevittownII. Economic Growth in the 1950s and beyondIII. Corporate Liberalism in ActionIV. HyperconsumerismV. Cultural Critics of Corporations, Consumerism and SuburbiaVI. Consumerism and the teenagerCurrent Lecture I. Levittown 3 places in America called Levittown They got their name from the construction guy that put the towns together, William Levit. Was most famous for taking the assembly line when it came to building houses Because of baby boom at this time the housing demand was high There was finally houses for the common manII. Economic Growth in the 1950s and beyond Between 1945 and 1950 there were more houses constructed by far Everyone is doing better, even the poorest of the poor In the 1950s was the growth of Suburbiao Cold War military spending The government is spending a lot of money and it is pumping the economy 10-15% of the spending is related to the cold war The creation of military-industrial complex Interstate highway systemo Deliberate government policy The government wanted to increase growth and start suburbia It had a lot to do with the New DealThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute. The continuing influence of the New Deal idea of activist government – liberalism Liberalism at home domestically means that the government has a duty to help take care of people and stimulate suburbia The government should use its power to lift up peoples qualityof life and make people consumers Corporate Liberalism – corporate friendly, in the 1950s liberalism believed that if the corporations were run correctly they could benefit society and make the US unstoppable Liberal Consensus – the bipartisan popularity of moderate, corporate liberalism Dwight Eisenhower- He was the classic middle of the road Republican- Believed in the new Deal- He was a liberal leading Republican John F. Kennedy- Was middle of the road as wellIII. Corporate Liberalism in Action One of the major ways they stimulate the economy was the highways Highway Construction and Federally-backed mortgageso Goal was to stimulate housing industry, automobile industry, and thusmuch of the economy, resulting in better wages and more consumer spending o Mortgages and racial discrimination The banks usually wouldn’t loan money to African Americans Some people would give the money to an African American family to live in a suburban area. The white families would sell their homes for really cheap prices and that person would buy it and jack up the prices and sell it to non-white families. IV. Hyperconsumerism Consumer Spendingo Spending goes up due to people having more moneyo Credit cards Consumerism is freedomo People would have kitchen debates over whether suburbia was a good thingV. Cultural Critics of Corporations, Consumerism and Suburbia Sloan Wilson, Man in the Grey Flannel Suit (1955) C. wright Mill, White Collar (1951) David Riesman, The Lonely Crowd (1951) William Whyte, The Organization Man (1956) Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique (1963)VI. Consumerism and the teenager Before the 1950s you didn’t have the concept of the teenager Teenagers was created by
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