Vietnam War Social Changes

Even though Appy describes this social shift in societies’ national identity happening all of the sudden after the Vietnam War, primary sources such as Milwaukee 14, show that parts of public were aware of the truth much earlier and thus were trying to take action against it. This was by far the biggest social change that the war caused. This war was not only able to question people’s belief in American exceptionalism but also forced them to take a hard look at their country and its role in the world. The Vietnam War not only caused social changes but also had economic and political effects. The biggest economic change that the Vietnam War caused was damage to the wealth and resources of the United States. “The Vietnam War stimulated inflation

America’s money was going overseas and at the same time money wasn’t coming back, which caused the dollar to become weaker. Consumer confidence also became weaker, since many were questioning the government’s decisions to stay involved in the war and the horrors of the war became more and more public. When people loose distrust in their government, they also spend less money and start saving. This again is a cause for inflation. The government was spending too much money on the war, which “led to an increasingly unfavorable balance of trade, which contributed to an international monetary crisis and threat to U.S. gold reserves in 1967-68. That threat was seen as convincing evidence that the U.S. could no longer afford the war. Inflation fueled by the escalation of the Vietnam and later Yom Kippur War also increased food prices and contributed to the oil price hike in 1973, which then led to inflationary expectations” (Rohn). These enormous economic problems during the war also caused Americans to lose even more trust in their government and thus formed a circle of no spending. The economic cost of the war was incredibly high, and after the war, there were also interest payments on debt occurred during the war that had to be paid off. The Vietnam veterans needed programs that the government had to pay for as well. The impact of the Vietnam War on the economy was a burden and caused people to look at war and the economy more in connection. The social changes and the economic changes go hand in hand with political changes as they all have effects on each