Lizabeth Chen n Mass Cnsumptin in America In her bk A Cnsumers Republic: The Plitics f Mass Cnsumptin in Pstwar America, Lizabeth Chen duses the exuberance in a sbering shwer f scial histry. Where the view f pstwar cnsumerism is that we were cming tgether as ne natin under tailfins, push buttns and bradcast TV, Chen asserts that in mre imprtant respects we were actually mving farther apart. Lizabeth Chens thrughly given research is a readable histry n cnsumerism, and hw it came t be such a frce and part f ur lives in America. Chen bases her views mstly n an analysis f her hme state f New Jersey, but she culd be writing abut anywhere in these United States f Generica. The explsive grwth in the 50s f the cnsumer market in New Jersey and elsewhere in the natin pushed many ecnmic ttals t new highs. But scially, plitically and even physically, the American landscape became mre divided alng lines f class, race and gender. Fueling this prcess was the increasing privatizatin f all aspects f American life. Cnsumer mvements have lng flurished in America, Chen maintains, mst ntably in the muckraking f the late 19th and early 20th centuries (which resulted in federal standards fr fd and drugs) and the cst-f-living prtests and buy where yu can wrk byctts f the Great Depressin. Chen argues that mass culture and cnsumptin standardized American life in the 1920s.
What changed in the Cnsumers Republic was the shift in emphasis frm the citizen cnsumer t the purchaser cnsumer. The first represented the public interest, the secnd the marketplace. The first had rights, the secnd demgraphics. The stry f the Cnsumer Republic is the stry f the rise f the suburbs, where the majrity f Americans nw live, wrk and shp. Henry Frd predicted the demise f the urban envirnment earlier in the 20th century when he said, The city is dmed. We will slve the prblem by leaving the city.
The Essay on American America Culture Countries
The 21 st Century American The traits of the typical American have changed drastically throughout the years. Americans have become different in many ways from when they officially became independent in 1776 to the present time in 2001. America is strong, powerful, and influential. Americans exemplify positive values, selflessness, hospitality, and the American way of life. Our values often differ ...
The private autmbile prvided the means f transprtatin, but gvernment literally and figuratively paved the way. Federal subsidies fr highway cnstructin and hme mrtgages gave many urban dwellers the physical and financial means t escape the perceived trubles f the city. At the lcal level, zning rules fr develping residential subdivisins and shpping centers brke up the mass public and erected strict bundaries f class and race. Grund zer f the Cnsumers Republic was the single-family huse. Its divisin f labr cnsisted f Dad as chief executive and treasurer, Mm as the manager f peratins and the kids as the prductive utput. There was als the plethra f gds and services f the dmestic ecnmy, frm appliances, furnishings and maintenance supplies t the daily cnsumables, clthing and persnal effects f each family member t the vehicles needed fr wrk and play and s n.
These items were duplicated in every hme in every neighbrhd in America, all the respnsibility f the individual hmewner. The perfect metaphr f self-reliance in the Cnsumers Republic was the hme fallut shelter, where each family became accuntable fr its wn survival in the event f nuclear hlcaust. And nt surprisingly, these facilities were mst ften built in suburban areas by peple with middle-class incmes and abve, wh had the space and mney fr them. Where Chen really excels is shwing hw scial, ecnmic and plitical frces came tgether in the Cnsumers Republic. After the Secnd Wrld War, cnverting back t the peacetime ecnmy meant als reestablishing the dminance f the mstly white men cming hme frm service. The nuclear family was prmted as the fundamental scial and ecnmic unit, tightening gender rles that the wartime ecnmy had lsened. Prgrams such as the GI Bill and VA lans wrked t men’s advantage, especially fr thse riginally frm mre privileged backgrunds.
The Essay on Brandon Chen Family Families Tom
The Chen family lived on a simple farm in Kansas in the late 1920 s; they grew corn and wheat and made a living off that. A few years past and the Stock market had crashed on Black Tuesday, October 24 th, 1929 (web). The Great Depression was setting in, and the Dust bowl hit in 1935 (Garraty 57) all across the central part of the United States causing dust to be blown everywhere. This prevented ...
The incme tax cde and lending guidelines further cncentrated financial pwer in the hands f men. (What we nw call the marriage penalty started ut as a bnus given t predminantly male head-f-husehld taxpayers t subsidize their nuclear families; married wmen did nt have legal access t credit ratings independent f their husbands until the Fair Credit Act was passed in the 70s.) Hmewners assciatins and shpping center security plicies kept ut undesirables, typically the pr and blacks. Mving int the 60s, market segmentatin techniques began t slice and dice the ppulatin int even smaller grups, spilling ver int the special interest plitics we knw tday. As an utgrwth f Chens New Deal research, this bk seems intent n representing the Cnsumers Republic as a missed pprtunity fr furthering the scial welfare agenda that arse between the tw Wrld Wars. Hence, little space is devted t hw the stage was set fr the pstmdern cnditin in which we live. Chen recgnizes that prductin practices shifted arund the 70s, as Third Wrld sweatshps began supplying designer jeans, Nike running shes and ther cnsumer items t the First Wrld.
But her claim that grwing incme disparity in the US simply prmpted marketers t mve upscale and abandn the mass market isnt entirely accurate. Census Bureau statistics frm the 70s shw that persnal cnsumptin cntinued almst unabated acrss the bard even thugh real incmes drpped. These cnsumptin levels were maintained by the entry f mre wmen int the wrkfrce (typically in wrking-class ccupatins) and the expansin f unsecured debt, primarily higher revlving credit card balances. This legacy lives n tday. Still, this desnt negate Chens basic thesis s much as shw that theres plenty f grist fr grinding ut the next chapter f the stry. Reference: Chen, Lizabeth. 2003. A cnsumer’s republic : the plitics f mass cnsumptin in pstwar America.
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