The 1950's

In the 1950’s America began to face it sins. Brave individuals began to speak out against racism, the Vietnam War, feminist concerns, corporate greed, global conflict, destruction of the environment, sexuality and gender issues, corruption and more. These issues move from the front burner to the back burner and visa versa, but are all still simmering.

In the same time frame, we began to live the American dream. Marketing became more and more sophisticated and ever present in our lives, with ever expanding media platforms. Marketing told us that we must live like the Joneses, live in complete comfort, pamper ourselves, look young and beautiful, have anything we want.

Pop culture brought us a numbing amount of entertainment we could access anywhere anytime. Work, for many, lost its significance in defining who we were and giving meaning to life. Even if you were committed to your work, your work might not be committed to you.

Now we find ourselves addicted to leisure and consumption. Convenience rules our lives. We make trash by the tons, consume ourselves into debt, strive for superficial beauty. Our heroes are celebrities and athletes. We are too busy to vote, to think and to be informed citizens.

Still, the brief stories of true heroism, neighborhood activism, dedicated public service, young volunteers and more, give hope from beneath the darkness we find too often in the American landscape.