Cultural Differences: Similarities Between The 1950's And Today

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The 1950’s was the decade after World War II and is synonymous to being a golden age for capitalism, family, and overall life. 1950’s America was and is still looked at as the poster child for good living. When comparing this era to present day, the admiration is lower in some areas and higher in others. Between these two times, people believe there are major differences that make them polar opposites. The way military impacts individuals differ. In present day, we are not currently recovering from a massive world wide war, so we cannot reap the benefits or consequences of it. Military might affect people individually, but it doesn’t have a wave of effects in different platforms like it did during Post War. Likewise, government involvement …show more content…
Socialism versus the survival of the fittest are at different levels between these two times. Economy at these two periods also were at different levels. Type of jobs, how to get jobs, and competition for jobs differ immensely between the two time. There are endless differences that can be pointed out about half a century ago and today; this is not surprising because many things evolve, upgrade, or downgrade as the years go on. However, these two times do share a significant similarity: institutionalized racism and inequality. Although the 1950’s differed from the present day lifestyle due to their military, easygoing economy, government involvement and gender roles, the two periods are not complete opposites due to the constant inequality amongst discriminated …show more content…
This is one of the biggest differences between the two times because post war was during an economic boom while 2016 is shortly after an economy recession. There were little factors within both times that shaped the government. In e 1950’s, it was generally easier for someone economically. In Gary Soto’s personal narrative “Looking for Work”, he describes his childhood growing up in the 50’ “eat[ing]... beans and tortillas in the stifling heat”(20). The beans and tortillas symbolized his low income status. Those are too inexpensive foods that a lot of families were forced to eat because of budget. Also, stifling heat makes it seem like maybe there was no air conditioning. He was a low income child in the 50’s; however, the whole book is about how he worked hard to get what he wanted. Regardless of his financial status growing up, he was able to climb up the ladder and be a successful author. The dynamics in the 1950’s helped support this. Programs such as the “National Education Defense Act funded the socioeconomic mobility of thousands of young men who trained themselves for well-paying jobs such as engineering”(Coontz 35). Coontz points out that this was also the last generation that had a good chance at being being middle class without going to college (35). Education is huge in 2016. People are dealing with huge lumps of debt to get an education because it is put in

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