Today, the automobile has become commonplace as most of us use them nearly every day. In America, places of work, leisure, and the home are exclusively linked and accessed by the car. Cars have become such a large part of our lives that we cannot imagine living without them, and we forget that there was a time not long ago when cars were not as widely used as they are today. Although the car was by no means invented in the 1950s, we do owe much of our way of life to the 50s automobile. Americans went crazy for the car in the post war era, creating a new subculture called "car culture." Millions of new cars flooded the streets and forced a complete overhaul of America's infrastructure. While car culture increased in significance and popularity, it has had a wide ranging impact as a result of a long list of side effects - more roads, parking lots, environmental issues, congestion, growth of suburbia, congestion in the city, and tourism. This car culture that developed in the 1950s has come to impact every aspect of the lives of the American people from the music they listen to, to the places they live.
During WWII, President Roosevelt wanted a postwar assistance package for returning veterans to help transition from war to peace time. In 1944, the Servicemen's Readjustment Act, or the G.I. Bill, was passed and gave returning veterans many benefits that helped them not only ease back into civilian life, but hit the ground running. Benefits of G.I. Bill included free college education, zero down payment home loans, and twenty dollars a week for one year while returning soldiers searched for work. All of these benefits gave a significant boost to the economy and led to the consumer culture familiar to us today. Many indust...
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... part of those ideals that everyone strived for. The road trip became very popular as it was then possible to drive cross country to see national treasures such as Mt. Rushmore and the Grand Canyon. The car itself had became a symbol of freedom as it granted the every person in America a personal freedom that was previously unattainable for many. Sarah Redshaw talks about this new symbol of freedom in her book In the Company of Cars. She says that cars are "the ultimate symbol of freedom, independence and individualism" because they offered the driver the ability to go anywhere and do anything whenever they choose. They brought people places they could not otherwise go, and brought them to their destinations faster. There was no need to abide by a schedule or rely on anyone else. It was just you, your car, and the open road. The possibilities were endless.
“Americans’ Love Affair with Cars, Trucks and SUVS Continues.” USA Today. USA Today, 30 August 2003. Web. 5 January 2012.
Veterans had a hard time finding employment after the war. Employers considered a veteran’s service in the Vietnam War as evidence of drug addiction, and refused to hire them. The rejections only made the soldier’s struggles adjusting back to normal life even harder and encouraged their drinking and drug use. These harmful habits were their way of coping with the hate and rejection from society while still helping them forget their experiences in Vietnam. Veterans from the Vietnam War were the victims of an unprepared government.
This resides within the conflict/class theory that Karl Marx discusses in his Communist Manifesto. Max argued that the capitalist bourgeoisie(rich, factory or production owners) exploit the proletariat(workers). Marx recognizes that the work carried out by the proletariat created great wealth for the capitalist. Bourgeoisie in capitalist societies pay their proletariat enough money so they are able to afford to buy food, a well off income, to make the proletariat believe that they are well off for what they are being paid. When in fact, the price of a product is worth more than what the proletariat makes. I applied this issue to this theory, and it resonated with my interpretation. With this issue, the bourgeoisie(government) has its proletariat(veterans) doing its “dirty work”. Evidently, the government promotes and conveys that veterans are provided everything while being deployed making them believe that they will have a comfortable living after the war. When in reality, veterans realized that the benefits or pay is not being paid off during their time of
This brought about the "Servicemen's Readjustment Act -- the G.I. Bill of Rights". The programs were meant to not only educate and train the returning soldiers, but also help them obtain low interest mortgages and business loans. These loans are backed by the Veterans Administration and guaranteed by the government. Most of the suburbs were built as small communities with strip malls. This meant that all families had to have at least one car, if not two, for a second job.
A healthy postwar economy would depend on providing soldiers money and a place to live once they were home. So the US Government came up with the GI Bill witch was passed 50-0. On June 22, 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the GI Bill of Rights. The law made possible the loan of billions of dollars to purchase homes for millions of veterans, and helped transform the majority of Americans from renters to homeowners. Though the bill sounded so great many in Congress and educators at Colleges and Universities had serious doubts. Some felt the GI Bill was too expensive, others feared veterans would lower standards in education. Many saw a postwar America faced with the loss of millions of jobs, creating unprecedented unemployment. A federal survey indicated that 56% of the nation's soldiers anticipated a widespread economic depression after the war.
Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler surfaced as the “Big Three” auto companies heading into the 1920’s. The invention of the automobile revolutionized transportation; by the 1920’s cars made places easier to access to people. Many of the traditionalists did approve of the automobiles, but some of them just favored the old way of walking places. The traditionalists were fearful of car accidents with the upbringing of the automobile. During the 1920’s a driver’s license was not needed in most states, and there weren’t really any “rules of the road” quite yet. No signs, signals, or traffic guards, and the roads were not ready for automobiles or pedestrians yet. Some traditionalists were not for these life risking ways of automobiles, but they were accepted among most for an increase in transportation and their easy access to even those who were not rich. The modernists at this time were known to want the exciting new changes and risks, so they were all for the automobiles. This rebellious group knew the advancement of technology with automobiles meant transportation to explore, and not be stuck in the same places within walking distance. The 1920’s
America is the land of opportunity and the land of second chances. People come to America to live a better life, but it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. When Veterans come back home, all they want is a second chance at life again. They want to come back and be able to start from where they left off. But the government has done very little to help these veterans. The government believes they have done enough with the programs they have created, but it hasn’t had much of a change. The purpose of this essay is to discuss my opinion and what I know about this issue, to benefit The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, who are my intended audience. If the government were to put a lot of effort, like they do for pointless issues, there wouldn’t be many struggling veterans. If the government does more to improve every aspect of the reintegration process of veterans, so many benefits would come out of this action. There are a couple of reasons for why we should work toward improving veterans lives. First, there would possibly be a decrease in the veteran suicide levels and a decrease in the substance abuse aspect. Second, less veterans and families will have to worry about living and struggling with mental illnesses. Third, by improving the economical aspect for these veterans, more will find jobs and less will end up on the street homeless. And lastly, the reintegration process won’t be as hard for these veterans, and they will be able to resume a normal life. This essay is not meant to offend in any way, its purpose is to provide a new perspective over this issue, to cause a change for the better.
Flink’s Three stages of American automobile consciousness fully express the progress of the whole automobile industry. From the first model T to the automatic production, it gives me an intuitive feeling of the automobile history from a big picture. On the other hand, Kline and Pinch focus more on a certain group of people--farmers or people who live in the rural area, they use it as an entry point to talk about automobile, alone with the role and duty transition between male and
Prior to war and the passage of the GI Bill the average American could only dream about college and owning a home. Designed to be used for college, technical or vocational courses, apprenticeship/on-the-job ship/on-the-job training, certificate programs, flight training and correspondence courses and home loan guaranty, the GI Bill has been credited with establishing the foundation of today’s middle class. By 1984, when the GI Bill was revamped, 7.8 World War II Veterans had participated in education or vocational training programs. The updated program became known as the Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB), after former Mississippi Congressman Gillespie V. “Sonny” Montgomery. His goal was to continue education programs and the VA home loan guaranty for the latest as well as, future generations ...
The significance of the G.I. Bill to the social and economic development of the United States cannot be overstated. Once a bastion of upper-class intellectuals, university education was now opened up to people from every income level. Practical subjects, such as business and engineering, gained popularity, resulting in a better trained, more productive workforce. Furthermore, the enhancement of Veterans Administration Hospitals has allowed veterans to receive low-cost, quality healthcare, increasingly important to an aging veteran population. Often closely associated with university hospitals, many important research developments have taken place through VA Hospitals, including the development of dialysis machines. Finally, the availability of low-interest mortgages is widely credited with facilitating the post-war housing boom and growth of suburbs. Developments such as Levittown were built expressly with the intent of providing housing for returning soldiers and their families. Nearly 20% of all single-family homes built from 1945-1965 were financed, at least in part, by the G.I. Bill's loan guarantee program. With these subsidies, veterans were able to afford improved housing, fostering the emergence of a new middle class.
This year, the United States is set to end over a decade of continuous combat operations in Afghanistan as well as reduce the size of the military in an effort to restrain the growing deficit of the federal government. While some welcome these actions, they will have a significant effect on the men and women of the armed forces. Since the military is now focused on returning to a peacetime posture and cutting personnel, more veterans will be entering the civilian market. These men and women, who come from all walks of American life, will have had vastly different experiences than their civilian counterparts. These veterans will have spent their formative years in a wartime military and while they have so much to offer society, often, their service and they as individuals are stereotyped with unflattering characteristics by civilian managers, which has a negative impact during their post-military search for employment. Some civilians see them as uneducated and suffering from a host of mental problems related to their service. This problem is not only relevant for recent veterans but for all of those who have volunteered to serve in the military. Veteran unemployment is a serious problem for the United States. Those who choose to serve in the military should not be negatively impacted in the civilian marketplace as a result of their sacrifice.
Automobiles play an essential role in American society. As if being the major means of transportation was not impressive enough, automotives can be seen on T.V., in movies, in magazines, and can sometimes be indicative of a person’s wealth and social status. On average, Americans drive nearly 40 miles and drive for just over 50 minutes driving per person per day (http://www.bts.gov). That means a person spends roughly one-sixteenth of a day driving. It would make sense, then, to make such an essential part of society as efficient, cost effective, and clean as possible. However, that is not the case. As the years have passed cars have actually begun to move away from efficiency. Hawken writes, “[The automobile] design process has made cars ever heavier, more complex, and usually costlier. These are all unmistakable signs that automaking has beco...
The war ended, and so did their pay. After the end of World War I, the Congress enacted a bill that would reward the veterans bonuses for each day they serve. The bill provided cash bonuses to the veterans that would be funded beginning in 1945. After the Great Depression, the nation settled and all the veterans started to demand their bonuses. In May of 1932, almost 15,000 veterans and their family made their way to Washington D.C. (John J. Chiodo) The events of the “Bonus Army” provide the plight of these veterans. The Bonus Marchers brought the GI Bill of Rights, also called Servicemen’s Readjustment Act which provided benefits to returning veterans. (“The Bonus Army”)
Hundreds of disabled vets were returning home from war with no money to live on and no training to get jobs. Thousands of vets had their papers destroyed in battle and couldn’t get benefits when they returned. The government agencies were unorganized and it took a long time for soldiers to get their benefits. The federal government decided that they needed to do something. They passed a piece of legislation called the Serviceman’s Readjustment Act of 1944. It is also known at the GI (government issue) bill. The bill finally gave war veterans a full benefits package. It gave all veterans money for tuition, books and living expenses to attend 2 or 4 year colleges. It also provided unemployment for up to 1 year. The bill also gave them low interest loans for homes, businesses or farms. The government had finally come up with a plan to help soldiers adjust back into civilian
With the popularity of movies like The Fast and the Furious and its sequel Too Fast Too Furious, import car culture has now become mainstream. What had started out as a small subset of Southern California car culture has quickly become part of American culture. In the same way hot rodding of the 50s and muscle cars of the 60s was a cultural lifestyle of the youths of that era, the import scene is now the new car culture of our generation. Car culture runs deeply in California. Hot rodders and street racers daily cruise the streets, all started from Asian Americans' love of import cars and racing.