Dissent and Discontent

What lies beneath the prosperity?

Quantity vs. Quality

Many people were critical of the 1950s lifestyle

Although many people had more, was life better?

What is the American Dream?

Conformity

“Fitting in” came at the cost of individuality

Power of advertising

Power of television◦Was it really a “vast wasteland”?

Which is better: to be like everyone else or alienated?

Catcher in the Rye

Beat Generation•Writers and artists who rejected societal norms•Anti-conformity and materialism of middle class life in America•Their individuality and creativity lead to the hippies of the 1960s

Allen Ginsberg•“Howl”

•Anti-capitalism, militarism, conformity

• Free speech advocate

•Vietnam War protestor

William S Burroughs•Novelist, poet, spoken word performer

•Naked Lunch

•Junkie

•Lifelong drug addict

Poverty

Not all of America saw the gains of the suburban middle-class

Cycle of poverty

African Americans in inner cities, whites in rural parts of the country, and Latinos in both

Urban living in decline

Cities hit hardest w/ rise of suburbs

As many minorities moved to cities for jobs, many whites fled to suburbs

Took income, wealth, and tax revenue to suburbs with them

Shift in political power hurt cities

Fewer services and increased crime rates

Urban Renewal

Sounds good…mixed results

Greater concentration of poverty

Can the cycle be broken?

Rural Poor

Those who didn’t move toward cities never felt the decade’s prosperity.

Black, White, Latino…it didn’t matter

Large scale farming became cheaper

Few jobs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMfWSPVzIls