The fifties were about convincing everyone that your life was perfect, even if it wasn't. The middle class "utopias" acted as their own cities upon hills that were meant to guide the rest of America. Americans became conservative and patriotic. They were truly proud to be Americans, and were ready to make others be like them. The Cold War also frightened many Americans and convinced them that America needed to be out in the world spreading democracy before the Soviets could spread communism. For all these reasons, Americans fully supported Vietnam. They believed they were spreading democracy in the world and living up to their perfect American standards, so they were all for fighting the alleged "bad guys" in Vietnam.
Yeah, I think it did. The essentially faceless, impersonal government was implicitly trusted and so people believed that whatever it said was right. They didn't think to question it because it seemed to be the perfect, objective truth and source of authority.
The fifties were about convincing everyone that your life was perfect, even if it wasn't. The middle class "utopias" acted as their own cities upon hills that were meant to guide the rest of America. Americans became conservative and patriotic. They were truly proud to be Americans, and were ready to make others be like them. The Cold War also frightened many Americans and convinced them that America needed to be out in the world spreading democracy before the Soviets could spread communism. For all these reasons, Americans fully supported Vietnam. They believed they were spreading democracy in the world and living up to their perfect American standards, so they were all for fighting the alleged "bad guys" in Vietnam.
ReplyDeleteDon't you think the the notion of a monolith played into America's early support for the escalation in Vietnam?
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think it did. The essentially faceless, impersonal government was implicitly trusted and so people believed that whatever it said was right. They didn't think to question it because it seemed to be the perfect, objective truth and source of authority.
ReplyDelete