LIFE LIBERTY PURSUIT OF An analysis of the changing faces of the American Dream ( fill-in-the-blank ) AND THE Thoughts on POPTONE paper from the French Paper Company.
Mar 25, 2016
LIFELIBERTY PURSUITOF
An analysis of the changing faces of the
American Dream
( fill-in-the-blank)
AND THE
Thoughts on POPTONE paper from the French Paper Company.
LIFELIBERTY PURSUITOF
An analysis of the changing
faces of the American Dream
( fill-in-the-blank)
AND THE
Copyright © 2011 by Emily Shields
All rights reserved. This book or any portion
thereof may not be reproduced or used in any
manner whatsoever without the express
written permission of the publisher except
for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Printed in the United States of America
First Edition, 2011
ISBN 0-9000000-0-0
Shields Publishing House
2060 Leavenworth Street
San Francisco, CA 94133
Dedicated to my parents, who inspire me to pursue my dreams.
THEAMERICAN
DREAM
From the first days of its founding, the United States has fascinated the
rest of the world with its distinct character , an identity firmly rooted in an
American Dream of rising from nothing to greatness, largely by virtue of
talent and hard work. And the Dream has been leveraged as a powerful
marketing tool, to sell everything from cigarettes to prefab houses to politi-
cal candidates. It resonates in marketing and advertising in ways that are so
ingrained as to be barely detectable. But time and tide have had their effect
on the Dream, and the character of the people who believe in it.
Over the past half-century, the changing faces of the American Dream have
paralleled the evolution of the American character, a parallel that has been
greatly reflected in pop culture throughout the decades.
THE CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE
LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF .
Mobilization for World War II lifted the American economy permanently out of the Great Depression.
LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF .
Hard work pays off in material well-being and respect. I will be better off with each passing year. My children will be better off than I have been. All hard-working Americans can own a home. Sacrifice, self-denial, and deferred gratification are virtues. Social acceptance is more important than our self-expression. Faith in God and country is unquestioned. Cars, possessions, and vacations are all badges of respectability. Men and women have traditional gender roles as breadwinner and homemaker.
THE 1950’S AMERICAN DREAM
07
LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF .
Pent-up consumer demand fueled exceptionally strong economic growth in the post-war period. The nation’s
gross national product rose from about $200,000 million in 1940 to $300,000 million in 1950.
Many Americans feared that the end of WW II
and the subsequent drop in military spend-
ing might bring back hard times of the Great
Depression. Instead, pent-up consumer demand
fueled exceptionally strong economic growth in the
post war period. The automobile industry success-
fully converted back to producing cars, and new
industries such as aviation and electronics grew by
leaps and bounds. In 1947, commercial television
with 13 stations became available to the public.
Computers were developed during the early forties.
The digital computer, ENIAC, weighing 30 tons
and standing two stories high, was completed in
1945. A housing boom, stimulated in part by easily
affordable mortgages for returning members of
the military, added to the expansion. The nation’s
gross national product rose from about $200,000
million in 1940 to $300,000 million in 1950 and to
more than $500,000 million in 1960. At the same
time, the jump in postwar births, known as the
“baby boom,” increased the number of consumers.
More and more Americans joined the middle class.
College became available to the capable rather than
the priviledged few.
The United States recognized during the postwar
period the definite need to restructure interna-
tional monetary arrangements,
initializing the creation of the
international Monetary Fund.
Business entered into a period of
consolidation and firms merged
to create huge conglomerates.
The American work force also
changed significantly. The num-
ber of workers providing services grew until it sur-
passed the number who produced goods. By 1956, a
majority of U.S. workers held white-collar jobs.
Growing demand for single-family homes and the
widespread ownership of cars led many Americans
to migrate from central cities to suburbs. Coupled
with technological innovations such as the inven-
tion of air conditioning, the migration spurred the
development of “Sun Belt” cities such as Houston,
Atlanta, Miami, and Phoenix. As new, federally
sponsored highways created better access to the
suburbs, business patterns began to change as well.
Shopping centers multiplied, rising from eight at
the end of World War II to 3,840 in 1960. Many
industries soon followed, leaving cities for less
crowded sites.
LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF .
family. house. car. television.
POSTWAR PROSPERITY
The Four Freedoms paintings offer tremendous insight into how US citizens viewed their idealized selves. This idealization became the backbone of the post-war American dream.
LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF .
Levittown is today a byword for creepy suburban conformity, but Bill Levitt,
with his Henry Ford–like acumen for mass production, played a crucial role
in making home ownership a new tenet of the American Dream. From 1900
to 1940, the percentage of families who lived in homes that they themselves
owned held steady at around 45 percent. But by 1950 this figure had shot up
to 55 percent, and by 1960 it was at 62 percent. Likewise, the homebuilding
business, severely depressed during the war, revived abruptly at war’s end,
going from 114,000 new single-family houses started in 1944 to 937,000 in
1946—and to 1.7 million in 1950.
Buttressed by postwar optimism and prosperity, the American Dream was
undergoing another recalibration. Home ownership was the fundamental
goal, but, depending on who was doing the dreaming, the package might also
include car ownership, television ownership (which multiplied from 6 mil-
lion to 60 million sets in the U.S. between 1950 and 1960), and the intent to
send one’s kids to college.
HOME OWNERSHIP BOOM
LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF .
13
Nothing reinforced the seductive pill of the new,
suburbanized American dream more than
the burgeoning medium of television.
The introduction of television after World War II
coincided with a steep rise in mortgage rates, birth
rates, and the growth of mass-produced suburbs. In
this social climate, it is no wonder that television
was conceived as, first and foremost as a family
medium. Over the course of the 1950s, as debates
raged in Congress over issues such as juvenile
delinquency and the mass media’s contribution to
it, the three major television networks developed
prime-time fare that would appeal to a general
family audience. Many of these policy debates and
network strategies are echoed in the more recent
public controversies concerning television and
family values, especially the famous Murphy Brown
incident in which Vice President Dan Quayle
used the name of this fictional unwed mother as
an example of what is wrong with America. As
the case of Quayle demonstrates, the public often
assumes that television fictional representations of
the family have a strong impact on actual families
in America. For this reason
people have often also assumed
that these fictional households
ought to mirror not simply
family life in general, but their
own personal values regarding
it. Throughout television his-
tory, then, the representation of
the family has been a concern in Congress, among
special interest groups and lobbyists, the general
audience and, of course, the industry which has
attempted to satisfy all of these parties in different
ways.
In the early 1950s, domestic life was represented
with some degree of diversity. There were families
who lived in suburbs, cities, and rural areas. There
were nuclear families (such as that in The Adven-
tures of Ozzie and Harriet) and childless couples
(such as the Stevens of I Married Joan or Sapphire
and Kingfish of Amos ‘n’ Andy). There was a variety
of ethnic families in domestic comedies end family
dramas (including the Norwegian family of Mama
and the Jewish family of The Goldbergs). At a time
when many Americans were moving from cities to
mass-produced suburbs these programs featured
nostalgic versions of family and neighborhood
bonding that played on sentimentality for the more
“authentic” social relationships of the urban past.
The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet was one of the most enduring family based situation comedies within the
history of the American television. Ozzie & Harriet were a direct reflection of what Americans wanted to be.
THEFIRSTTVFAMILY
LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF .
Within the domestic comedy form itself, the nuclear family was increasingly
displaced by a counter-programming trend that represented broken families
and unconventional families. Coinciding with rising divorce rates of the
1960s numerous shows featured families led by a single father (My Three
Sons and Family Affair and the Western Bonanza), while others featured
single mothers (Julia and Here’s Lucy and the western The Big Valley).
By 1967 the classic domestic comedies featuring nuclear families were all
canceled. At the level of the news these fictional programs were met by the
tragic break up of America’s first family as the coverage of President John
F. Kennedy’s funeral haunted America’s television screens. We might even
speculate that the proliferation and popularity of broken families on televi-
sion entertainment genres was in some sense a way our society responded
to and aesthetically resolved the loss of our nation’s father and the dream or
nuclear family life that he and Jackie represented at the time.
RISE OF THE UNCONVENTIONAL FAMILY
LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF .
19
THEREAGAN
ERA
While the song, “Born in the USA” demonstrated
that American pop culture could generate powerful
critiques of Ronald Reagan’s vision for America,
in truth, it was very typical of its time. Popular
American songs and movies of the 1980s were more
likely to celebrate Reagan’s values than to challenge
them. For most of his presidency, Reagan was quite
popular, and pop culture, by and large, reflected the
American public’s admiration for the president and
his worldview.
The most dominant trend even in hip-hop, was not
toward social activism as it was toward material-
ism; legendary ‘80s rhymes celebrated hot women,
big bling, hot cars, and even cool sneakers. Ronald
Reagan and his conservative supporters may not
have appreciated the cultural aesthetics of hip-hop,
but most rappers embraced an individualistic, com-
petitive, and materialistic ethos that shared much in
common with President Reagan’s own worldview.
American culture generated a wealth of works
seemingly simpatico with the prevailing ideolo-
gies of Reaganism. For example, one of the early
hits that lifted Madonna to a career of pop super
stardom was “Material Girl” (1985), Madonna’s
material values marked a sharp break from those
that had predominated in the 1960s and ‘70s heyday
of countercultural rock n’ roll, when tunes like
Loggins & Messina’s “Danny’s Song” (1971) preached
a different message.
Ronald Reagan was without a doubt popular for the majority of his presidency, and pop culture, by and large, reflected the American public’s admiration for the president and his worldview.
The shift in lyrical themes in pop music from
the ‘60s to the ‘80s mirrored a distinct shift in
values and priorities for many young Americans.
It is always dangerous, of course, to make broad
generalizations about entire generations of people;
there were plenty of corporatist strivers around
in the hippie ‘60s and plenty of countercultural
dropouts on the scene through the “materialist”
‘80s. That said, young Americans who reached
maturity during the Reagan Era were much more
likely than their ‘60s predecessors to
hold Reagan-like values. College cam-
puses that had erupted in protest and
anarchy during the ‘60s welcomed
burgeoning Young Republican clubs
in the ‘80s. Young grads sought law
degrees and MBAs in record numbers.
Today, Americans who came of age during Ronald
Reagan’s presidency remain, the most conserva-
tive generational cohort within American society.
The “Reagan Generation” Americans born between
about 1960-70—is currently the only age cohort
of the American population in which Republicans
outnumber Democrats.44. Perhaps the iconic pop-
culture representation of that cohort was Alex P.
Keaton, the character played by Michael J. Fox on
the hit ‘80s sitcom Family Ties. Alex P. Keaton was
the perfect embodiment of the Reagan generation;
the teenage son of aging hippie parents, he idol-
ized Milton Friedman, kept a portrait of Richard
Nixon at his bedside, subscribed to the Wall Street
Journal, and never went anywhere without his
briefcase. The huge generation gap between the
ultra-capitalistic Alex and his parents provided
Family Ties with seven primetime seasons on NBC.
LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF .
A NEW REALITY
LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF .
25
As the ‘70s gave way to the ‘80s, the center of gravity in thinking about the
American Dream was forced to accommodate a new reality—that of economic
uncertainty. Standards of living no longer moved up automatically each year.
Second jobs became a necessity to maintain the desired standards of living.
For the first time, Americans had to ask if the Dream really could apply to
every American, or just some Americans.
If the American Dream of this period had many faces, it is important to
acknowledge that some of those faces were ugly. The sexual revolution,
widespread divorce, single parenthood, and improvised schooling criteria
had side effects, not all of which were attractive. The American character
soon had to accommodate the reality of unintended consequences from
change—from declines in education results and rises in sexually transmitted
diseases to psychologically troubled kids and rampant drug abuse.
HEREIN LIES THE AMERICAN PARADOX. WE NOW HAVE, AS AVERAGE AMERICANS, DOUBLE REAL INCOMES AND DOUBLE WHAT MONEY CAN BUY. WE NOW ALSO HAVE LESS HAPPINESS, MORE DEPRESSION, MORE FRAGILE RELATIONSHIPS, LESS COMMUNAL COMMITMENT, LESS VOCATIONAL SECURITY, MORE CRIME AND MORE DEMORALIZED CHILDREN.
THEAMERICANPARADOX
HEREIN LIES THE AMERICAN PARADOX. WE NOW HAVE, AS AVERAGE AMERICANS, DOUBLE REAL INCOMES AND DOUBLE WHAT MONEY CAN BUY. WE NOW ALSO HAVE LESS HAPPINESS, MORE DEPRESSION, MORE FRAGILE RELATIONSHIPS, LESS COMMUNAL COMMITMENT, LESS VOCATIONAL SECURITY, MORE CRIME AND MORE DEMORALIZED CHILDREN.
LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF .
HIGHUN
EMPLOYMENT
RATES
OVERSPENDING
LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF .
In hewing to the misbegotten notion that our standard of living must trend
inexorably upward, we entered in the late 90s and early 00s into what might
be called the Juiceball Era of the American Dream—a time of steroidally out-
size purchasing and artificially inflated numbers. It was no longer enough
for people to keep up with the Joneses; no, now they had to “call and raise
the Joneses.” This personal debt, coupled with mounting institutional debt,
is what has got us in the hole we’re in now. While it remains a laudable
proposition for a young couple to secure a low-interest loan for the purchase
of their first home, the more recent practice of running up huge credit-card
bills to pay for, well, whatever, has come back to haunt us. The amount of out-
standing consumer debt in the U.S. has gone up every year since 1958, and up
an astonishing 22 percent since 2000 alone. The over-leveraging of America
has become especially acute in the last 10 years, with the U.S.’s debt burden,
as a proportion of the gross domestic product, in the region of 355 percent.
Which means debt is three and a half times the output of the economy, which
is most definitely an historical maximum.
THE CONSEQUENCES 29
:
The American dream can no longer be just about money. While a nice house and a pay raise will always be attractive, the new American dream has to be about living within our means and simple continuity for the sake of our future.
THEAMERICAN DREAMWILLPREVAIL
LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF .
GOING FORWARD
LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF .
A dream is an aspiration. A sense of greater possibility and a motivation to
push through difficulty to a better day just beyond reach but within sight.
It’s not a dream if you’re hanging on by a thread, trying to keep what you’ve
already got. The aspiration of ‘greater, better’ is gone when all you’ve got is
‘protect, preserve.’ It is a fragment society, there can no longer be a single
vision anymore of what each individual aspires to.
It is time for a change. The market crash, the ensuing recession, the
worsening societal inequality—these are not normal cyclical downturns or
growing pains. We are in a crucial transitional stage. The nature of our
economy is changing; the nature of what people want from our economy is
changing. A whole new system for creating wealth is taking shape, a new
kind of capitalism that is powerful and full of promise, but far from fully
formed. Yet neither party is proposing measures that might help it along
because neither appears to grasp what’s going on.
35
And what about the outmoded proposition that each successive generation in the United States must live better than the one that preceded it? It’s no longer applicable to an American middle class that lives more comfortably than any version that came before it. The time has come for simple continuity, where the standard of living remains happily constant from one generation to the next.
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