Baby Boomers (1946-1964)
Baby boomers are people born after World War II between the years 1946 and 1964. They were given the name Baby Boomers because of the enormous increase on the population. Some causes of the Baby Boomers are: World War II, Fear of Communism, and Safety. Some effects of the Baby Boomers are: Rebellious teenagers, Consumerism, and Suburbs.
|
Causes
World War II (1945)
After World War II, soldiers were eager to start a new life. They weren't as happy as they were before the war. They wanted to forget about their hardships as a soldier in the war and thought that the solution was having children. When they came home from the war, they had children. Because there were so many soldiers returning home and many of them having kids, the birth rate increased by millions. These children became the Baby Boomers generation.
|
Fear of Communism (1947)
Many feared communism. They felt as though communism was getting stronger because of the amount of communists increasing. They thought that a way to get rid of communism was to outnumber the amount of communists by having children. They would teach their children the idea of democracy and eventually the amount of communists in the world would be outnumbered. By outnumbering the amount of communists, they believed that the communist party would weaken itself and eventually come to an end.
|
Safety (1945-present)
After winning the war, people (both soldiers and non- soldiers) felt safe because the United States had won the war. They felt that they could now settle down with their wives and have children. They felt a sense of security. They felt as though they no longer had to worry about their family being in danger from other countries. Before the war, people did not have children because they were afraid of losing their children due to the bad conditions in the United States. Now they were able to have children without worrying about losing them because of the poor conditions the U.S. had with other countries were now over since the U.S. won. The children these people had were the Baby Boomers.
|
Effects
Teenagers (1960-present)
Baby boomers became the first generation to be rebellious teenagers, a trait found in many teenagers in generations after. They felt as though they could not live up to their parents’ expectations because their fathers were war heroes and fought for their country. This became pivotal for American Culture because not only is this trait common for teenagers in generations after, but the rebellious behavior of the Baby Boomers led to icons such as Elvis to get really famous and changed the history of music. Baby Boomers redefined the definition of a teenager as someone rebellious and lives for today, not tomorrow.
|
Consumerism (1957-present)
Because there were so many children (baby boomers), the population increased greatly. With the population increased, there were a lot more demands for products which resulted in consumerism. Many products demanded at the time were baby products and later the television. Baby products because of the huge amount of babies being born and later the television because families wanted to know what was happening with the country as a fear of communism was spreading. Parents wanted to make sure their children (baby boomers) were safe. Businesses were making large profits because people were buying many products mostly on credit. This has impacted the culture of America because Baby Boomers led to consumerism which resulted in inventions such as the television which is popular even today. Without consumerism, we would most likely still have radios instead of television.
|
Suburbs (1950s-present)
Although the country was safe from being harmed by other countries after the United States won the war, people worried their spouses and children (being the baby boomers at the time) were in danger because there was such a high crime rate in the city. They decided that they could not risk the well being of their families and moved to the suburbs because the suburbs were a safer place to raise their family. This impacted the culture of American society because it caused families to live in suburban areas. Even today, there are so many of us who live in the suburbs and without the baby boomers, these families would not have worried so much about the crime rate in the city and possibly may have not moved to the suburbs.
|
Conclusion
The birth of the Baby Boomers is a pivotal event because it changed America as well as its culture. Baby Boomers are responsible for the social change in teenagers. Baby Boomers thought they would not be able to live up to their parents expectations since their parents fought in the war. Because of this, they were disobedient and did everything they were told not to do. By doing so, Baby Boomers caused musicians such as Elvis Presley who were viewed as disrespectful to become worldwide sensations. Due to their actions, Baby Boomers also transformed the average personality of a teenager from someone who is working hard for a better tomorrow to someone who is living for today because everyone only has one life so we should not waste our time listening to our parents. This personality can clearly be seen in many teenagers today as a majority of teenagers today think it is more important to be happy then to make others happy. Baby Boomers also impacted on consumerism. Because of Baby Boomers, the population increased by a large amount which led high demands for products. Without the Baby Boomers, we would not have products such as refrigerators and television today which are crucial for our lifestyle today. These products are used on an everyday basis. Lastly, Baby Boomers are the cause of the suburbs. If it weren't for the Baby Boomers, the Suburbs would not exist because the main reason why the suburbs were made was because the parents of the Baby Boomers were afraid of what would happen to their children because of the high crime rate. The Baby Boomers have changed America and our culture as they have impacted the lifestyle of our people.