Events and issues of the 60s
Events and issues of the 60s
The United States faced complex political trends and interrelated cultural aspects. This era is referred to as ‘The Sixties’ which is popularly known for its culture in terms of academic objectives, journalism and history. The era is also referred as the time of social revolution and counter culture which began in 1963 to 1972. The decade is also named ‘swinging sixties’ which was a period of flamboyance and irresponsible excesses. This was because of the relaxation and leaving out of social practices like racism and sexism of the time.
The decade of the 1960s was likened with new subversive events that were both radical and existing that influence the later years up to the current time. The decade is characterized by the following major events.
In 1960, the country held a presidential election which John F Kennedy became the first president of the United States. Lyndon B Johnson as the vice president took the office in 1961.
President Kennedy’s first step in office was the formation of Peace Corps.
Martin Luther king Jr. became a human rights activist. He gave his speech titled ‘I have a dream’ on 28 August, 1963 in Washington DC. He pressed for the legislation of human right.
Lyndon Johnson became the US president in 1963 after the assassination of John F Kennedy by Lee Harvey Oswald. President Lyndon passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This act marked the end of racial segregation in public places, in schools and in the employment sector.
The President and Hubert Humphrey his vice president took up office in January 1965. The same year too, the national Voting Rights Act was passes. This act outlawed practices of discriminatory voting.
The US escalated war in Vietnam in 1965.
The National Organization for women was born in 1966.
The first heart transplant took place in1967. President Richard M Nixon in November, 1968 was elected as the president after defeating Hubert H Humphrey. US President Richard Nixon in 1969 was inaugurated in January. He promised to end the Vietnam War in his “Peace with honor” promises. In this year also Neil Armstrong became the first person to visit the moon.
Impact on personal life
Had these events not happened, the US social, political, cultural and technological aspects could not have been the way things are today. The contributions of Martin Luther King, Jr, President Richard Nixon, and President John F Kennedy transformed the social ideology of human rights by enhancing racial equality. They are the people who heard the cry of the young people to break the conservative norms experienced at the time. This included social segregation in public school, black Americans not being allowed to vote and the women had been marginalized by the patriarchy that existed in the society. This lead to the formation of National Organization for Women (NOW) formed. The minorities demanded freedom by the use of posters, Rallis and organizations. These are the issues that have affected my personal life today. I see all races as equal. Color or gender should not make us see other people of different races as incapable or uncivilized. I have leant to respect the cultural values of other people instead of perjuring them.
The second aspect I have learned about the 1960s event in America is the issue of war. This was seen in Vietnam which resulted to the death of many American troops of over 58,500. With such a devastating event, it is important for countries of the world to come together and form an anti-war movement because human lives are precious. This was seen in 1965 when Americans were against the US involvement in Vietnam but the war did not stop and many more soldiers lost their lives. Adhering to the needs of the public is the most important aspect because the US during this time experienced student’s riots that became a national debate if it was necessary for US to be involved in the war.
Technological changes
The technological changes in the 1960s include the first man to visit the moon, the introduction of the satellite for global communication the formulation the theory of logarithm information, and ARPAnet introduction which became the precursor of the internet. These technologies have been improved today and have made communication and other aspects in life easier.
Part 11
The Pill, a female contraceptive was released by the Food and Drug administration of US in 1960. Another scientific contribution in the 1950 was the heart transplant operation that happened in 1967 (Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, 2007). These two scientific discoveries have made it possible for women to plan when to be pregnant and not. Thus the pill has become effective for family planning. The heart transplant has made it possible for patients of severe coronary heart diseases and heart failure to receive a heart from a donor and to continue with their normal life.
Medicare
Medicare was formed in the 1960s which was incorporated into the system of health care delivery. During the years of it conception Medicare has inflationary cost impact on health care. This was the second largest federal program that was growing in very fast. By 1980, Medicare comprised of 15% of the total expenditures in the nation for health care. This called for changes in the provision of payments by the introduction a payment system that was prospective in nature. Initially, the hospitals experienced a major impact of this system and later, the impact was felt on agencies of home health and on facilities of skilled nursing (Gehlert and Browne, 2006, pp 65).
The change by the policymakers on Medicare payment led to changes of services delivery by the providers. This resulted to the Medicare program being managed at a, national level in health care service delivery. Newtonian principle has been likened to Roemers law in the study of social transformation of health care service in America. The service has undergone government struggle with various inefficiencies, economic dysfunction and misallocations. This has impacted to poor services delivery to clients.
Part III.
Specific events and issues from the 60s and
The creation of the global village.
The development of the satellite for global communication and the introduction of the ARPAnet which developed to the modern internet have contributed to the formation of the global village. The internet can be used to connect two people in continents that are far from each other. Through the satellite, countries can exchange programs, forums and ideas which lead to the formation of a global a village with efficiency in communication.
Positive aspects of globalization
Globalization has contributed to exchange of ideology. Globalization is more than people integrating to coming together physically. There is increased competition which subsequently leads to quality improvement of products. Domestic companies have worked hard to fight foreign competition, and what they have to do is to satisfy customer and raise the standards. Globalization has led to employment. Countries which invest in foreign market create employment opportunities to the locals. There is also the flow of capital and investment and well as the spread of technical know-how. Culture is spread in a global setting (Jorgensen, 1998, p121).
Negative effects of globalization
The outsourcing of white color and manufacturing jobs creates unemployment to the mother countries of the manufacturing companies. Labor exploitation is another aspect of globalization because investors invest in the Third World countries which offer cheap labor. There is job insecurity because if a foreign company out competes the local company, the business will be closed leading to job loss of its employees. The development of internet technology has led to criminals and terrorists to communicate before undertaking a devastating event that was witnessed in September 11, 2001. There is bad influence of media which erodes indigenous cultures and communities. There is increased human trafficking as a consequence of globalization (Paus, 2008, p 143).
Changed world view
The changes in the 1960s have changed the American world view in various angles. Modern world perspective is that which the world is viewed as one global village. The World Wide Web has helped people to communicate and to question the leaders of various parts of the world. This was not the possible after the Second World War. The civil Rights Movement raised the consciousness of the nation to stop discrimination of the minority and respect the human rights. There was also the conception of women rights and gender activists. They claimed that women have equal rights to those of the male. The sixties gave the people the chance to question the authority especially in the US involvement in Vietnam War.
Reference
Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery (2007)“Patient’s Guide to Heart Transplant Surgery”. University of Southern California. Retrieved from
http://www.cts.usc.edu/ht-pg-hearttransplantprocedure.html
On August 9, 2010
Arthur M (1998), theSixties: Cultural Revolution in Britain, France, Italy, and the United States Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998, pp 247–248.
Krauthammer, C (2007). Prelude to the Six Days The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/17/AR2007051701976.html
On August 9, 2010.
Jorgensen, E (1998). Elvis Presley: A life in music. The complete recording sessions. St. Martin’s Press. p.120
Paus E (2008) Global Capitalism Unbound: Winners and Losers from Offshore Outsourcing, Palgrave Macmillan, and pp 143
Sica, A and Turner, S (2005) the disobedient generation: social theorists in the sixties Publisher University of Chicago Press, p 108
Gehlert, S and Browne T (2006) handbook of health social work Publisher John Wiley and Sons, p 65
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