Post World War II Economic Resurgence - Essay Example

The factories were producing consumer goods on a large scale and the economic planning aimed to increase the purchasing power of the potential consumers so as to enable them to increase their consumption spending. The whole objective was to encourage a mass consumption drive so that the national economy could sustain and boost a high production drive. Suitable federal programs like the Employment Act of 1446 and the G.I. Bill of Rights allowed returning veterans to buy new homes and the consumer goods required to furnish them. This also aided the nation’s Cold War claims that the US was a more equality-driven nation in which everybody had the access to a better quality of life. The nation cherished the newfound democratization of consumption that was boosted by the democratization of credit and employment opportunities.

     However, this new consumer haven based on capitalist democracy and free choice did tend to support many old entrenched gender and class biases. It conveniently sidelined the working-class women who had come out in large numbers during the War to aid and strengthen the war efforts. Now that their services were no more required, the system once again intended to give in to the patriarchal notions of the American family which upheld male domination. It again intended to make women dependent on male choices and decision-making capacity. This bias was systematically supported by the gendering of consumption, credit, and opportunities for employment. The post-World War system also promised to enhance the status of the working class. However, it intended to do so by increasing the purchasing power and consumption capacity of the working class. It no way desired to extend a say and role to the working class in the larger decision-making process. Steps were taken to suppress the working class say by ensuing measures like the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 that discouraged labor organization and unionization. The post-War scenario in a way upheld and encouraged the deep-seated social biases and prejudices by supporting the privileged sections of society.

     The post-War consumer Republic did make America a thriving economy. One wonders as to the many glaring current American issues like unequal distribution of wealth, the deep-seated social inequalities and prejudicial access to education and health, and the gender bias implicit in the American social and corporate framework is an outcome of the biases that were imminent in the Post World War II economic resurgence? Did the post-War economic setup strengthen the conservative notions of prosperity and social development?