How Hobsbawn Compares Most of the Human Beings to the Historians - Article Example

The Golden Years Name Institution Course Date The Golden Years Chapter Nine Background In this chapter, Hobsbawn compares most of the human beings to the historians, in that, human beings only become aware of the nature of their experience in remembrance. It can take a human being a very long time to realize each passing day leads to a totally enhanced world. For instance, back in the early nineteen fifties most of the people, particularly in the progressively flourishing developed states came to know that times were certainly amazingly enhanced, particularly when they could have flashbacks of what happened before the second world war. This attests the point of Hobsbawn argument that human beings get to know the nature of their experience through flashbacks or reminiscence (Van der Linden, 1993). The world transformed slowly that no one could realize and the only way that humans came to know about the changes in the world was through the flashbacks and the memories of the past. The Observers view It took several years for observers, specifically economists, to recognize that time had passed and the world, specifically the world of the 1st world nations had changed so much and it had gone through a very unique and an exceptional phase in history. That was the time these observers began coming up with names to describe the amazing transformation in the world of developed states. According to Brzezinski, (1993), the changed in the world as per the description of Hobsbawn, shined more brightly and the radiance out powered the dark and dull era of the consequent decades of catastrophe. According to Piel, (1992), there are quite a number of motives why it took a very long time for the observers to realize the excellent nature of the period. The United States of America being at the top in terms of stable economy after the end of the Second World War was not all groundbreaking(Burks, 1961). It simply sustained the presence of the war era which had been exclusively type of that state. 1st World Nations and World War Era Hobsbawn’s explanation in this chapter shows that the USA did not suffer a lot of damages during the war as compared to other countries that were involved in the battle. By the time the Second World War came to an end, the country had already taken another step in terms of industrial production. Furthermore, merely because of the advance and size of the United States economy, it’s authentic performance during the era of the so called “The Golden Years” was not as striking as it was supposed to be taking into considering their stable economy at that time. Its performance as compared to the economy growth of other states that began from scratch or a tiny base was not inspiring at all (Piel, 1992). Economic Growth The economy of the United States grew slowly between nineteen fifties and nineteen seventies than any other industrialized state except Britain. In fact to be more precise and to the point, United States economy between 1950s and 1970s began to progressively lag behind as compared to its earlier times when its economy grew rapidly which took other nations by surprise (Van der Linden, 1993). In all other industrialized nations, comprising even the slow-moving Britain, the so called “Golden Age” put an end to all previous records. In fact, for the United States of America, it was technologically and economically a time of comparative falling back rather than moving forward and making advances in terms of economic stability (Brzezinski, 1993). The gap in throughput per man-hour between the United States and other states diminished, and if in nineteen fifties it appreciated a nationwide wealth (gross domestic product) per capita was twice that of Germany and France, more than five times that of Japan, and more than half as large as Britain, the other states were rapidly catching up and kept doing so between nineteen seventies and nineteen eighties (Ascherson, 1994). Japan and European countries came to see their success after the Second World War. They measured their success not by the target set by reference to the future but to the past. In the non-collectivist, recovery also showed putting the fear of social rebellion and collectivist advance, legacy of war and confrontation, behind them. According to Ascherson, (1994), even though most states (other than Japan and Germany) were already back to their normal lives by early nineteen fifties, the early Cold War and the perseverance of influential collectivist parties in Italy and France disheartened jubilation. In any case, the substantialreimbursements of development took some time for them to be felt. Furthermore, the top-secret weapon of civilization of general affluence, namely complete engagement, did not become universal until the nineteen sixties when the average of west European redundancy stood at 1.5 %. According to Brzezinski, (1993), early nineteen fifties, Italy still had about eight percent of work. In other words, Europe came to take its astonishingaffluence for granted in the year nineteen sixties. By then indeed, stylish bystanders began to accept that, one way or another, every-thing in the economy would go forward and upwards continually. As seen in the 1972 report from United Nations, there is no exceptional motive to hesitate that the fundamental inclinations of development in the middle and early nineteen seventies will continue much as in the nineteen sixties. No special effect can now be anticipated which would at all extremely change the external surroundings of European economies. The club of developed entrepreneurial industrial economies, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and development (OECD), revised its forecast for future development upwards as the nineteen sixties progressed (Burks, 1961). At the present, the Golden Age has been considered to fundamentally belong to the 1st world nations, which throughout these decades, signifies about 3 ¼’s of the world’s production and more than eighty percent of its engineering exports (Brzezinski, 1993). One additional motive why this specificity of the era was merely gradually recognized was that in the nineteen fifties the economic improvement seemed quite international and self-governing of economic administrations. According to Van der Linden, (1993), the growth of the USSR in the nineteen fifties was faster than the economic growth rate of the western countries, and the economies of states especially from Eastern Europe grew almost as swiftly as compared to their counterparts from the west which by then were more industrialized than the states from the east. According to Burks, (1961), the Golden Age as it is popularly known, was an international phenomenon, even though universal prosperity never came within sight of the majority of the worlds inhabitants. Population Growth The manufacturing world was growing all over the places; in the socialist and capitalist regions and also in the 3rd world. Nevertheless the population of the 3rd world grew at a spectacular rate, the numbers of South Asians, East Asians, and Africans rose rapidly in nineteen fifties but could not be compared to Latin Americans as their numbers rose at a higher rate. The third world nations were faced with serious famine between nineteen seventies and nineteen eighties. According to Ascherson, (1994), during the Golden Age period mass starvation was not experienced, except as the result of wars and political madness. According to Burks, (1961), the higher numbers in population led to life expectancy stretch out by an average of six years. This therefore means the production of food doubled the population rate both in the developed nations and in the under developed nations. Conclusion Hobsbawn, comparison of human beings to the historians, is very through in that, human beings, to be honest, only become aware of the nature of their experience by visiting the past through memories. A human being might not realize that as days pass the world also gets transformed. The world transforms slowly that no one can notice and the only way that humans get a chance to notice about the transformations in the world is through the flashbacks and the memories of the past. The economy of 1st world nations especially the United States grew at a faster rate during the world war era while a very long time for other nations to get back to their feet. Developed nations as seen in this paper did not suffer much from the effects of the world war as compared to other nations especially developing nations. Developing nations grew faster in terms of population after the world ward. References Ascherson, N., (1994). The age of Hobsbawn. Brzezinski, Z., (1993). Out of control: Global Turmoil on the Eve of the Twenty-first century. New York Burks, R., (1961). The Dynamics of Communism in Eastern Europe. Princeton Nove, A., (1969). An Economic History of the USSR. London Piel, G., (1992). Only one world: our own to make and to keep. New York Van der Linden, (1993). Forced labour and non-capitalist industrialization: The case of Stalinism Read More