Post Wwii Culture On The United States - 2399 Words

Post WWII culture in the United States was built on conformity and intolerance, and free spirits, anti-capitalists, and homosexuals had been repressed. After the victory of the Second World War the constrained consumer demand drove the U.S. economy to grow exponentially. The automobile industry effectively converted back to producing cars and previously minor industries such as aviation and electronics grew into major corporations. A housing boom, that had been influenced by easily affordable mortgages that returning members of the military had been granted through the GI Bill. According to the U.S. State Department the nation s gross national product (GNP) rose from about $200,000 million in 1940 to $300,000 million in 1950 and to more†¦show more content†¦He served as the backbone for cultural change through his most famous collection of poems, Howl and other poems which included: California Super Market, Sunflower Sutra, and America. Through Howl a new poetic and narrativ e voice had blasted into American culture that was spontaneous, fluid, restless, intensely private and yet unashamed of confessions. In this first and most widely recognized line Ginsberg writes, â€Å"The best minds of my generation destroyed by madness,/ starving hysterical naked....(1-2). This new voice would speak of a new generation confronted with atom bombs, cold wars, consumerist materialism, and rampant social conformism, but also the freedom-enhancing possibilities of drugs, jazz, Eastern religions, and outlawed sexual practices. Ginsberg’s revolutionary style of poetry, which emphasized individuality in the 1950’s and 60’s inspired anti-materialism, gay rights, and anti-war movements that are still pertinent in present day America. Ginsberg’s poetry sparked a revolution against materialistic ideals, which had run rampant in the United States during the 1950’s and 1960’s. He expressed his disgust with mass consumerism, and materialistic ideals in what is arguably Ginsberg’s most powerful and popular piece of poetry, Howl. In Howl Ginsberg provides a reflection of a culture of individuals who are living outside of the societal norms of the time. The system of control, including the conformist society of