RE-VIEWING AMERICA

WW II

Millions of Americans after trauma of Depression want to avoid even more trouble

no popular crusade for WWII

America tries to stay out

But once engaged, the war turned into a total war

Americans sacrifice civil liberties

egregious violations of civil liberties: Internment camps

Most Americans voluntarily sacrifice for the cause

Income tax expands dramatically in 1943, and witholding starts

Total war shifts attitude towards centralized government,

Many Americans can see the direct benefits, especially in terms of security

Origins and Evolution of  the Cold War

Makes Total War a permanent feature of life

internationally, this means that American credibility with allies is essential

Johnson escalates in Vietnam in 1965 to preserve American credibility

Cold War intensifies government investment in science and technology, and creation of experts

Total war brings its rewards

government primes the pump and economy booms for most

Reciprocity between citizen and state is another bypoduct

rights, not charity

Cold War Consensus

challenged at the margins

First in the Civil Rights Movement

then student movment, counterculture, women's movement, envioronmental movement, challenged more explicitly

The right adopts some of the same tactics, and same demand for their rights

Rowe v. Wade, pro-life movement is an important turning point for this, as it the antibusing crusade

Experts finally challenged from both the left and the right by the end of the sixties

Policy and political stalemate by the 70s

both the left and the right organized at the grass roots level

everybody has their own expert

Economic decline exacerbates the situtaion

stagflation, not "malaise,"

Ronald Reagan breaks this stalmate by returning to an older set of American values and patterns (like reigniting the Cold War)

American Re-mimlitarization, and internal contradictions of the Soviety Union ultimately contribute to the collapse of the Soviet Union

History can remind the nation of some of its past strenghts

Greatest strenght is an ability to come together for contrasting reasons, out of self-interest

The last scene in Heat of the Night

 

 

CYOU LECTURE OUTLINE

PUSHING BACK AGASINT COLD WAR CULTURE

so far, Dr. Strangelove (1964) was one of the few examples of Hollywood pushing back against the Cold War

even in 1964, it was criticized for that

The Bullwinkle and Rocky Shows, and the Twilight Zone, each in its own way, push back in 1960 and 1961

B and W

Again, lots to reinforce preexisting views of the Cold war

Watched by a satellite high in the sky:  SPUTNIK;

But, "evil" "Pottslyvania" characters (read S.U.) are so incompotent, laughable (exuse the pun) = nothing to fear here

And By the Way, American Democracy is not always so great

self-serving Congress, for instance

In the guise of Boris and Natasha, Communist world domination did not look like it was right around the corner

Might well begin to ask, just how threatening IS the Soviet Union

Might those demagogic, self-serving politicians be exaggerating the threat for their own reasons?

Twilight Zone

Analysis of "Monsters are Due on Maple Street"

Opens with caricature of main street America (which true to TV at the time, is white, upper middle class, "perfect"

but little things soon begin to go wrong

Ends with neighbors ripping themselves apart over who is different

This is clearly talking about who is secretly a communist

One man in the middle says "let's not be a MOB!"

but they are

Takeaways from the "aliens" and narrator at the end:

They pick the most dangerous enemy they can find – and its themselves.

 we’ll let them destroy themselves

There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices

prejudices can kill; and suspicion can destroy

Conclusion

Far more Americans were worried about Nuclear annihilation in 1960, then mob rule or the long shadow of McCarthyism

But the entertainment industry had been deeply scarred by McCarthyism

Whether through cartoons of loveable moose and inept soviet operatives

Or a direct punch to the gut of those who would stamp out any difference

By 1960, a few American heroes in the entertainment industry  were testing the boundaries of Cold War consensus,

one television show at a time