100-150 WORDS (HISTORY)
jhastecFrom Consensus to Counterculture
In the 1950s, Americans enjoyed unprecedented economic growth and prosperity, a welcome relief from the hardships of the Great Depression and World War II. The robust economy was fueled by consumer spending, much of it centered on home and family as Americans looked increasingly to domestic life for pleasure and fulfillment. Men and women married younger and started families at a record pace, producing the postwar “baby boom.” The upsurge in family life affirmed traditional values while creating demand for household goods. Millions of American families moved to the burgeoning suburbs, filling the new mass-produced homes with television sets, appliances, and various other consumer goods.
The Cold War made a substantial imprint on postwar society and culture. Anti-communist crusades, which cast dissent as disloyalty, inspired conformity and had a chilling effect on political debate. At the same time, the image of the American family in a gadget-laden suburban ranch house became an important symbol in the ideological battles of the Cold War, signaling the superiority of “free enterprise” over the Soviet system.
In this context, the political, ideological, and class divisions of the past seemed to lose their significance. To many observers, a “consensus” had emerged, in which Americans were in agreement about the virtues of liberal democracy and capitalism. Indeed, the rising affluence of American society seemed to suggest that any lingering national problems could be solved by adjusting the status quo, not overturning it.
Yet there were also strong currents of anxiety and discontent in postwar society. The specter of nuclear annihilation hung like a dark cloud over otherwise optimistic expectations for a prosperous and secure future. And not everyone enjoyed the good life depicted in glossy magazine advertisements and on television sit-coms. Poverty and racial discrimination cut millions of people out of the American dream. At the same time, critics worried about the conformity and complacency engendered by postwar society, while men and women experienced frustration with traditional gender roles. In the 1950s, discontent found expression in works of social criticism, a vibrant youth culture, and in the anti-materialist writing and style of the Beats and their followers.
Together, these movements inspired further activism and demands for greater freedom and equality. They continued to transform society and inform political debates in the decades that followed.