Post-War Conformity in the 1950s and the Seeds of Change - Essay Example

History and Political Science Response Paper Week 12 Response: Post-War Conformity in the 1950s and the Seedsof Change During the post-war conformity period experienced the 1950s, my grandparents were in their teenage years and were particularly affected by the ongoing societal conformity. My grandparents and other teenagers experienced severe peer pressure from their friends and society to dress in the latest clothing, use the latest slang and hang out with coolest kids at the cinema halls. According to my grandfather who is generally quite outgoing even is his current old age, the American society at the time was quite ideal as there were numerous jobs going around and teenagers could be able to land simple jobs such as milking cattle and performing chores and errands to earn extra money to be used in attending the cinema and dances. On the other hand, my reserved grandmother attests to its having been a rather difficult time especially in light of the fact that her family was not particularly well off and had a hard time affording the latest gadgetry and clothing. Although they were not quite well off, my great grandfather struggled to raise his family and was satisfied that he was able to provide them with a house, schooling and education, which caused my grandmother to be particularly proud of him although she at times coveted the fancy clothing and gadgetry owned by her friends and their families. Having been brought up in a society that sought a high degree of conformity, my grandparents both worked hard to enjoyed an innate sense of security when they bought and owned similar electronics to their neighbors in addition to having a house of considerable size. Both of them attribute this acquired sense of security from the traits that they developed in the highly conformed American society of the 1950s. Week 13 Response: Response on Reform and Revolution in the 1960s Living in the United States in the current day and age, there are relatively very few causes that I would have an inclination to march or protest for. However, the one thing that I happen to be particularly sensitive about generally pertains to terrorism. This is because I happened to loose a number of close family, distant relatives as well as neighbours. Most of my friends can be able to account for at least one family member of close relation that suffered either directly or indirectly primarily as a result of terrorism. The recent attempts by the United States to engage in a number of wars such as the Iraq and Afghanistan wars has severed to increase the number of families that end up suffering as a result of terrorism. I have had the experience of marching and protesting against a land grabbing case that wanted to grab one of the local playgrounds. I was still a small kid but strongly felt that it was wrong for the field to be grabbed since in my young mind, I would not have a place to go play with my friends or simply hangout. Our parents mobilized us in writing protest letters to the council and this resulted in positive developments as we managed to save our beloved playground. I would never consider engaging myself in beyond peaceful demonstrations as I strongly believe that it generally does not result in any good. I believe that violent demonstrations can at times defeat their purpose as the demonstrators gain a negative image and largely lose any support that they might potentially have accrued. Week 14 Response: Response on Conservatism and Domestic Events My grandfather has always been strongly conservative and is always slow on the uptake of any change to his established way of life. However, having a large number of African American friends, both my grandparents were quite pleased with the results of the civil rights movement in this period of history that caused them to more easily relate with their African American friends. My grandfather is particularly happy with America’s success in the space race but both of my grandparents are however critical negative aspects of this period such as the Vietnam war. My father was forcefully conscripted into the army and my grandmother still vividly remains the intense agony and anguish that she underwent while my grandfather was busy serving in Vietnam where he lost a large number of friends. The sexual freedoms of the hippie movement and the widespread use of drugs are some of the things that have until today served to cause both my grandparents to adopt a largely conservative stance on these issues. My grandparents believes that while some of the changes that the country underwent during the 1960s and 1970s were particularly beneficial, most of the changes such as increased drug usage, the Vietnam war and high prevalence of sexual diseases caused the overall result of the changes to be particularly negative. Both my grandparents believe that the move towards conservatism in the country during the 1970s and 1980s was perhaps the very best thing in the country’s history and have fond memories of Regan’s conservative approach. This is primarily because they strongly believe that a conservative approach could result in a resumption of the earlier better days. Week 15 Response: Response on Conservatism and Foreign Affairs One of the hall marks of my life that has developed to become a key part of the United States’ history is my support for the current president. I have always admired his speeches and their delivery and was quite proud when he successfully managed to become president as well as defend his seat in the subsequent elections. In relation to globalization and the rather widespread use of the internet, I normally use the internet to easily communicate with my friends across the world by use of social media. I have been able to make a number of friends across the world from Asia, Africa and Europe; and I usually enjoy reading the posts that they make on media such as Twitter and Facebook as they help me keep abreast with most of the global happenings. I am however quite careful to only select acquaintances with similar moral values and beliefs to mine and block any that display negative traits as I understand that failing to do so can put me at risk of stalkers and negative exposure. Using the internet generally causes me to feel like part of the wider global community as I make new friends and learn a large number of new and interesting facts about their respective countries, cultures and beliefs. Week 16 Response The discussion in week 14 pertaining to conservatism and domestic events is seen to essentially be quite well structured as it essentially reflects back to the week 12 lesson on the country’s post-war conformity of the 1950s. The week 14 lesson is seen to relate back to the week 14 lesson in that it requires that I conduct a further interview with the week 12 interviewees to ascertain the changes that they happened to undergo between the period ranging between 1965 though to 1985. This was quite interesting as I was able to grasp an understanding of just how radical some of the changes that they underwent happened to be and it is primarily as a result of this understanding that I was able to understand their current stance in regards to conservatism after their having grown up in a society that highly advocated for conformism. The week 14 lesson can be seen to further aid in setting up the week 15 lesson on conservatism and foreign affairs by providing a basic foundation on conservatism in the country. From this foundation it is thus possible for one to easily delve into the more expansive field of conservatism and foreign affairs. Read More