1. Dissent and Discontent
What lies beneath the prosperity?

2. Quantity vs. Quality Many people were critical of the 1950s lifestyle
Although many people had more, was life better?
What is the American Dream?
Quantity vs. Quality

6. 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
Conformity

8. 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

9. Jack Kerouac On The Road Stream of consciousness prose
Page-long paragraphs
Revolutionary style
Poet, journalist, novelist
Interested in Eastern religions
Heavy drinker

10. Allen Ginsberg
“Howl”
Opposed economic capitalism, militarism, sexual repression
Free speech advocate
Vietnam War protestor

11. William S Burroughs Novelist, poet, spoken word performer Naked Lunch
Junkie
Lifelong drug addict

12. 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
Poverty

13. 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 living in decline

15. Urban Renewal Sounds good…mixed results
Greater concentration of poverty
Can the cycle be broken?
Urban Renewal

16. 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
SPVzIls
Rural Poor