America in the 1960s: New Left's Ideology (Essay Sample)

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America in the 1960s
INTRODUCTION
The United States in the 1960s’ experienced enormous economic growth. Rating the growth using the current American Dollar value, the gross national product (GDP) rose by over 200% between 1945 and 1960 (U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration 69). Several factors contributed to this. Firstly, the post-war era found American industries unscathed by war. Secondly, there was high demand for goods due to the scarcity which had been created by the World War II. Thirdly the returning war veterans had been paid lump-sums by the federal government and thus their ability to buy goods and services was high. The other factors for the growth of the economy were technological in nature. For instance the invention of the transistor in the 1950s’ revolutionized the electronic industry. The economy being basically capitalistic in nature led to the increased production of goods and services leading to immense increase in GDP. The economy responded to the normal economic factors such as recession and growth. However these factors did not adversely affect the economy, it remained steadfast in the 1960s’ against the twists of production, supply and consumption (U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration 69).
Against the backdrop of economic boom which afforded reasonable living standards for most families, was the youth of the 1960s. They were as result of the baby-boom of the 1950s’ and had been brought up under the puritan family values which had been embraced by the most middle class families in the US. In the 1960s’, these youth-the babies of 1950s’- began to question the social norms expressed by their middle class middle-aged parents. They felt that the parents’ lectures on strict morality and religion did not adequately address the social and racial inequalities of the 1960s’. They rebelled and marked this by many males growing long hair, clad unusually and formed organizations to match and agitate for the adoption of their new culture.
As a result new economic, political and social ideologies started to form. The old lefts’ ideologies were challenged by new beliefs. Slowly new leftists philosophies started to emerge leading to the formation of new social-political loyalties and organizations (Rising 20).
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE OLD AND NEW LEFT’S IDEOLOGIES OF THE 1960S’
The old left had many differences compared to the new lefts. These differences ranged from the philosophy of conception to the practice of the ideologies.
The first difference is that the old left ideologies had been shaped by Bolshevik revolution, the great depression and the Word War II. Another difference is that the old left had a very different political perspective to that of the new left. The level of democracy of the old left was low. The old lefts concentrated more on the dogma and gave less service to democracy. They believed that for reformations to occur they needed to originate from those who had power. The political organizations were thus viewed as vital instruments for bringing in the desired change. Since they saw the working class as the main agent which could drive the transformations, labor constituted their main area of focus. They related social ills such as racism and middle class alienation to flawed capitalistic system (Rising 21).
.On the other hand new left’s ideologies were shaped by the economic boom which occurred after World War II, mass culture driven by the media, affluence and growing possibilities. There political perspective was conceptualized on the perception that reforms needed to originate from those on the lower scale of power. According to the new lefts, corporate capitalism and liberalism were the real challenges facing the nation. The level of democracy in the new lefts was also high. The lefts saw those at the lower end of economic ladder as the essential agents for the implementation of the desired changes (Rising 21).
FACTORS LEADING TO THE EMERGENCE OF NEW LEFTS’ IDEOLOGIES
The need to hold steadfast to the Marxism-Leninism ideals was one of the factors leading to the rise of the new left. The new lefts wanted to distance themselves from some of the old lefts who had deviated from the ideals espoused by Marx. For instance the revelation of Stalin’s deviation from Leninism norms contributed to the formation of the new left wing.
The economic stability of the 1960s’ could as well have created the new left ideologies. Stable economy left people with less to worry about. This created more time for those interested to devote more of their time in moral enquiry. The result was birth of new ideologies on moral conduct, capitalism and culture.
High student population in colleges and the consequent exposure to academic theory played part in the emergence of the new lefts. An evidence of this is the formation of Students for Democratic Society Organization in 1959, a radical society which viewed American invasion of Vietnam as undemocratic.
The invasion of Vietnam by US generated mixed feelings amongst the Americans. It triggered the Americans to probe the objectives of the war, the validity of the objectives and the effects the war had on both the American and the Vietnamese. The question whether America wanted to stop the spread of socialism or to further imperialism was raised. The result was the emergence of new left ideologies which were anti-war.
THE CAUSES FOR THE ALIENATION OF THE YOUNG IN THE 1960’S
Alienation when applied to social aspects refers to the lack of integration leading to a certain degree of isolation at interpersonal level, community level or with the work environment. Several factors came to play in order to lead to the alienation of the American young people in the 1960s’.
The media in the 1960s’ contributed to the alienation of the young people in America. Movies and music which was propagated through radio and TV often contradicted with the tight moral standards of the time. The youth of that time felt at a loss, they could not make up their minds whether to embrace the culture projected in the media or to be loyal to the st...