In 1946 with the end of World War II, “the cry of the baby was heard across the land,” as historian Landon Jones later described. Between the years of 1946-1964, baby boomers made up almost 40% of the nation’s population, with nearly 76.4 million “baby boomers” in the US alone. Though causation varies, at this time many people in the postwar era were confident in a prosperous future and wanted to give their children everything that they had previously had to deny themselves. Corporations also were on the rise and growing larger, and consumer goods were more plentiful and affordable than ever before. Consumerism had a central role in the postwar era with adults eager to be a part of the new consumer economy. However, manufacturers and marketers of the time mostly had their eyes on the many ‘baby boomer” children.
With age some of these baby boomers would begin actively fighting against the consumerism they were raised in and this would usher in the counter culture of the sixties, as boomers became socially-conscious, anti-establishment hippies. To follow this was the preppies, which refers to ivy leaguers with materialistic tastes. By the 1980s, the success of Reaganomics and the high level of consumerism would ultimately give rise to what we call 'Yuppie Culture'. The term Yuppie itself refers to “young urban professional”, or “young upwardly-mobile professional” which was characterized as a young professional with an affluent career and a taste for materialism. Typically referring to members of the upper middle class or upper class in their 20s or 30s. This term was allegedly a playoff of the 1960s “yippie” which refers to members of the countercultural and activist Youth International Party.
Yuppies were the cream of the baby-b...
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... and consumerist values rule the nation.
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When most people think 1950’s the popular show “Happy Days” comes to mind; although, these were anything but happy days. The 1950’s were an era of prosperity, growth, and chaos in the United States; men were returning from World War 2 and many new babies were born. The population during this time was about 151,684,000 with an unemployment figure around 3,288,000 (Bradley). Industries began to expand in order to meet the needs for all the new people looking for work and thirty percent of the work force was in industry and commerce. Corporate America was emerging and corporation profits increased such that change could be seen on a macro scale. The economy was booming steady until the recession in 1957; although, this recession was nowhere near as great as the depression.
Kallen, Stuart . A Cultural History of the United States through the Decades: The 1950's . San Diego, CA: Lucent books, Inc. , 1999. Print.
The bureaucratization of business in the 1920’s meant that more people could be employed in higher paying white-collar jobs than before, including, for the first time, housewives. This new income combined with the reduced prices for goods that resulted from mechanized production, assembly lines and a general decrease in the cost of technology created a thriving consumerist middle class that went on to fuel the economy in all sectors, especially the upper classes. Likewise, during World War II Americans saved up around 150 billion dollars, and this sum combined with the income of the GI Bill allowed normal people to buy expensive things, from houses to cars to electronics to education at a rapid rate, fueling the trademark prosperity of the 1950’s. The new automobile culture of the 50’s spawned new businesses that catered to mobile Americans, such as nicer and more standardized hotels like Holiday Inn, and drive-up restaurants like McDonalds. Just as the culture of the 1920’s was transformed by modernist ideas, the world of the 1950’s was reinvigorated by the introduction of the automobile to the middle class....
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With the post war baby boom of the 1940s resulting in a huge shift in age demographic, the 60s became a decade belonging to the new wave of youths. Liberated and hedonistic, this affluent generation shunned the values of their parents,
The year is 1946, WWII is over and America was the only nation who’s manufacturing industry was left unscathed. Because of this, along with the worker protections of FDR’s New Deal led to a golden age for the American middle class. At this time nearly anyone can find a decent job, no matter your education, class or experience and live a decent life. This golden age will continue, till 1980 when the 1st Great Recession kicked in (McCleland 550). The combination of other nations rebuilt manufacturing industries, a pattern of poor economic policy, the dismantling of unions, corrupt corporations, new technology, the need for higher education and discrimination will all play a role that lead to
The Baby Boomer Generation (Born between 1946 and 1964) was born into the post-World War II economic prosperity and opportunity (Weston, 2006). Baby Boomers were members in smaller families and were doted on by parents, schools, and society as a whole (Weston, 2006). For the most part, they grew up in two-parent households where the father earned the family income and the mother was the home caretaker (Weston, 2006). News became more visual and dramatic as world-changing events such as men landing on the moon and the shooting of a president were seen on television (Weston,
In the essay The Chosen People, Stewart Ewen, discusses his perspective of middle class America. Specifically, he explores the idea that the middle class is suffering from an identity crisis. According to Ewen’s theory, “the notion of personal distinction [in America] is leading to an identity crisis” of the non-upper class. (185) The source of this identity crisis is mass consumerism. As a result of the Industrial Revolution and mass production, products became cheaper and therefore more available to the non-elite classes. “Mass production was investing individuals with tools of identity, marks of personhood.” (Ewen 187) Through advertising, junk mail and style industries, the middle class is always striving for “a stylistic affinity to wealth,” finding “delight in the unreal,” and obsessed with “cheap luxury items.” (Ewen 185-6) In other words, instead of defining themselves based on who they are on the inside, the people of middle class America define themselves in terms of external image and material possessions.
During the Golden Age of Capitalism in America even the President enjoyed some leisure time. At the end of WWII the standards of living was up, unemployment was low and the American GNP more than doubled. The population boomed leading suburban living to become the norm. Jack Straus, the chairman of the board of Macy’s, declared “Our ability to consume is endless. The luxuries of today are the necessities of tomorrow.” This became the thinking of the time. Citizens lavished in the new life style of ease that a growing economy could now provide for the average, working, middle class person.
Life for Millennials is not as easy as it has been said to be. According to Taylor Tepper, an editor of Money Magazine, when the Great Recession peaked in 2010, the large mass of Millennials graduating college were more vulnerable being that the unemployment rate among young adults peaked at 14% (Tepper). A Pew Research Center survey came to the conclusion that “Millennials are the first in the modern era to have higher levels of debt, poverty and unemployment, and lower levels of wealth and personal income than their two immediate predecessor generations had at the same time” (Tepper). In addition, David Bass, a Millennial himself and author of “The Millennial Generation Lacks a Strong Work Ethic,” states that the current employment rate for young adults is 55.3%, “the lowest rate since the end of World War Two” (Bass). These numbers do not tell it all, rather “a generation’s greatness is not determined by data; it’s determined by how they react to the challenges that befall them,” challenges that this generation does not fall short of
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It is a dominant stereotype that the Millennial Generation possesses a great sense of entitlement. When one is entitled, they feel as if they should be more privileged and seem to behave as if they are more deserving than others. Most readers are in agreeance with those who argue that Generation Y, otherwise referred to as the Millennial generation, is an entitled group of people, but not everyone is in agreeance with who is responsible for the sense of entitlement that these Millennials possess.