Throughout the book “Gone with the Wind” there is a recurring theme of the Gotterdammerung, a winnowing out of the weak and the strong coming through. In the pre-Civil War South, Southerners lived quietly, going about their life, never believing that anything would ever change. When Fort Sumter fired the first shot, igniting the Civil War, things changed and would remain changed. There was no going back.
During the war, families were splintered as sons, fathers, uncles, nephews, and cousins went off to fight. Women stayed behind and did their best to support and supply the troops. Some also went about life as usual, never really believing that anything had changed. They continued to dance, hold parties, and kept their slaves. The only significant difference is that many families began losing their family members because of the battles raging.
After the surrender of Appomattox, the South was defeated and after the slaves were freed the life of all southerners was turned upside down. The slaves were freed and the agricultural way of life was drastically disrupted, causing poverty for all Southerners who relied on farming for a living and as a way to supply the income for their lives of leisure. Because many states had seceded and swore an oath to Jefferson Davis as their president, a political restructuring occurred as well as a social one. Blacks were no longer slaves and whites of the planter class were no longer on the top of the political (and social as well) strata. Confederate dollars became worthless and many were without the skills to survive or adapt to the new environment. Many adapted to the new circumstances by doing anything they could to survive, many working at jobs they never dreamed they would and learning largely as they went along. Some set up shops, some became laborers, others took in boarders and many managed to hold onto their farms and turn out a good crop, at first enough to feed themselves and then over time being able to grow more to sell.
Regrettably however, many could not. Some simply tried to live as the always had, having small parties, buying things they could not afford, and many more refusing to seek work, believing it was beneath them to engage in manual labor or be ‘in trade’ (run a shop, work in a bank, etc.) which was something that carried a stigma in the pre-Civil war era. Over time their estates were confiscated due to taxation and they slowly starved to death. They simply blinded themselves and refused to see the world as it had become and would be. They lived in denial of the situation.
At the beginning of this new century, we are now beginning a new Gotterdammerung. The routine and culture of the past fifty to sixty years has been dominated by young adults, upon graduating high school, spend a year or so working and experimenting (i.e., the ‘gap year’) and then going off to either college or university and then shortly thereafter getting a job. Over time however, things have changed in many subtle and drastic ways.
In the fifties it was traditional for a young man to marry after high school and still go to college or being work supporting a growing family. More often than not, a high school diploma was enough to find a good paying job working in an assembly line in a manufacturing company.
It was enough to pay for a home, family, and occasional vacation. Life was good and stable. All knew what to expect and what was expected of them. It wasn’t until the mid-sixties however that times began to change, drastically and unexpectedly. After up to almost two decades of expectations/defined roles, people began to want more than to do what was expected of them by anyone or anything. Women began to take a more serious interest in working outside the home and to live on their own, well past the time when they would be expected to marry. What men wanted wasn’t yet changed, but over time they realized that there was more in life than simply marrying, working, and raising a family in the neighborhood where they had grown up. Both sexes began to experiment with lifestyle, intellectual and sexual expectations/roles.
There was a catalyst that many were completely unprepared for. At first there was a backlash against women in the workforce, men being open about their sexuality (hetero or otherwise), wearing their hair in different styles and lengths and what sort of clothing they wore. Drugs for recreational purposes became popular, sometimes triggering mental illness or psychosis in users, which caused a panic and lead to the first drug laws. Music went from jazz, classical, and opera to newly created rock ‘n roll, soul, and disco. It was a cultural phenomenon that redefined what it was to be young and adult. It made the culture more youth centered instead of being dominated by mature adults and the elderly, who had for a long time held the reins of what was and wasn’t appropriate. Defiance of what was considered ‘appropriate’ ironically became the new appropriate way of thinking.
With the new cultural changes came a new way of viewing and socializing with minorities; during the time when roles and behaviors were clearly defined, so were views on race. Hispanics, Asians, and Blacks were expected to refrain from socializing with other races, especially not with Whites. Due to what were largely social and intellectual expectations, minorities were not considered smart enough to go to school and compete in the workplace so they were not encouraged to seek advanced education and jobs that required substantial skills. So deeply ingrained was this belief that when minorities sought to go to schools that provided advanced education and training there was a tremendous amount of hostility and small outbreaks of violence became common.
Out of all of this bloomed the Civil Rights era when blacks and whites worked together to end institutionalized racism that was the standard norm for businesses owned by whites. Numerous marches, sit-ins, protests (organized or otherwise), and lobbying took place. Senators and other politicians were furiously lobbied by their constituents and it was also a time of political and diplomatic instability (more on that later). A new epoch was nearing and leading it was a preacher named Dr. Martin Luther King, the face of the movement and its driving force. He preached and encouraged whites and blacks to work together to bring about equality and reached out to anyone who wanted to help or simply be included.
Regrettably with his assassination at the hands of James Earl Ray, the movement ended up fracturing. To combat this hostility and protect themselves, many minorities became part of gangs and formed militant groups that didn’t believe in passive resistance or trying to understand those who opposed their presence in their schools and as time went by, work places.
This was the first development of race supremacy in a much more militant context, with groups literally arming themselves and isolating themselves from the wider community. The Black Panthers and Nation of Islam are two such groups, both emphasizing the importance of keeping black Americans from integrating with the wider, ‘racist’ community. Various skinhead groups were also formed, along with Latin gangs and Asian Triads. Race relations either broke down or were highly strained. Throughout the seventies race riots rocked the nation on a regular basis and war broke out in Southeast Asia.
The war in Vietnam marked a significant change in which how the public viewed war. The draft was instated (as usual during a time of war), but this time there was a different attitude. Many refused to be drafted, refusing outright, fleeing to Canada, or feigning physical/mental illness to avoid deployment. For the first time there were protests against the war, mass demonstrations against the government and military. Military personnel seen were spit on, verbally abused, or at times physically attacked. Wounded veterans were disdained and denied many of the courtesies and respect that WWII veterans were given after their return from overseas.
The difference in attitudes seems to have been that while Hitler was a direct threat, the prospect of Communism happening in countries didn’t seem relevant. Communism was also becoming the trendy political cause and there was resurgence in the ‘noble savage’ attitude towards the people who lived in those countries. With the new view of authority, the Presidents who started the war were viewed as ‘unhip’ and youth now demanded that those in authority justify themselves and what they did to them and that since they didn’t understand the reasons (pro-war or otherwise) for going to war against Vietnam, it seemed a pointless thing and it was considered a waste of time.
As a result there was a tremendous anti-war movement which, after the Tet Offensive, resulted in troops withdrawn and brought back to the US. During the late seventies things seemed to settle down and things were changed, but society seemed to fundamentally stabilize. While marriage was seen as something that was expected, women began to work outside of the home, build careers, and live on their own for a while. Men still had families, but they did expect to an extent that their wives would also work. Life was at this point standardized and race relations were also stabilized for the time. Like most decades, the eighties had its own phase being this one that ‘Greed is Good’ and people who had money made sure others knew it.
After the real estate crash people took on new causes, one being that corporate responsibility would become a new expectation. The environment became another cause and preventing pollution became a part of government policy. Also a new policy based on correcting the discrimination caused by the racism of the past was enacted into law, called Affirmative Action. Hiring preference was given to minorities and soon colleges and universities made this part of their admissions process. Minorities were given special consideration, even if their credentials weren’t up to the standards usually required of either applicants or prospective employees.
During the early nineties with the increasing use of the internet took a new, advanced turn and then jaded cynicism took root. Grunge rock, shabby chic and also anti-intellectual humor took popular root. “Beavis and Butthead,” an MTV (Music Television Videos) became a cultural institution and by the mid nineties however, it faded and music and culture centered on pop music, hard rock, and the development of various music singing/dancing groups. As with each decade, singers began to rise and fall, but with wider international exposure because of the use of the internet. It resulted in the ability for people to send news within minutes of its happening and this increased the popularity of the groups, but stripped them of a privacy that used to be attainable irrespective of how famous a person became.
With the development of the digital age however, a new technology called ‘file sharing’ developed. It was called “Napster” and triggered a full blown upheaval in the way the entertainment industry worked, It allowed people to not only download music, but also in time video files and with the development of DVD technology (also known as “Digital Versatile Disc” or “Digital Video Disc”) recordings from concerts and interviews and even skits performed on comedy shows on television. The entertainment industry went up in arms and Napster was shut down, but many alternative programs developed. Ever since then access to entertainments previously inaccessible are now available entirely for free, the question of legality is considered a gray area of debate. Fundamentally however, things continued the same. Students went to college, worked, dated or married, and had families. They vacationed and lived their lives.
When 9/11 occurred, it jolted America in the same way that Pearl Harbor did. Americans had heard on a regular basis that bombings against our allies and overseas embassies and other interests, but many accepted as part of the lifestyle of the military and our diplomats. We thought very little about it and accepted that these things happened. On September 11, 2001 however American society was turned upside down. Instead of bombings happening ‘over there,’ it was ‘over here’ and happening to us. In response, Americans mobilized, sending aid, volunteer support, and then President George W. Bush sent forces over to Afghanistan and eventually Iraq, overthrowing two dictatorship/terrorist regimes. Support for the Afghan war was immediate, with the press being fundamentally supportive except for the actions of a few various fringe outlets.
This however, showed that there were many who refused to accept the new realities that had been thrust on the American people. On a small scale there were anti-war protests, mainly by small traditionally anti-war organizations that had been founded during the Vietnam War era. As far as they believed, the war in Afghanistan was no different from Vietnam, with the same reasons that many protestors objected to the Vietnam War in the first place. Due to the changes brought about by the 9-11 attacks, there was no real fundamental support by the press or public. Many in the public believed that the implications and many deaths needed a stronger response than diplomacy or any form of attempts to understand the people who had provided technological and territorial support.
After the fall of Kabul, a new government was installed and it was considered a success. While troops were still attacked, the general population helped out and small but functioning government agencies sprang up. The Northern Alliance, the most important resistance movement in Afghanistan against the Taliban helped also maintain order in the newly emerging country. It was considered a substantial victory because it destabilized Al Qaeda’s ability to meet, plot, and train new terrorists. Various other networks and cells were disrupted and for a time Al Qaeda’s ability to function was shattered.
After what was an undisputed victory, President GW Bush decided it was time to finish past unfinished business. He set his sights on Iraq, a country run by Dictator Saddam Hussein for over the past thirty years, since the 1970’s. He nationalized the previously western owned oil fields and companies and attacked Iran, triggering the Iran-Iraq war that lasted for eight years and culminated in the use of chemical weaponry against the Iranian military. This was the first time that a leader of a country had used chemicals against their own people. After invading Kuwait he was trounced by the U.S. led coalition and militarily confined within his borders. He was forced to sign a treaty that would subject him to multiple inspections by UN led weapons inspectors and in return for his cooperation he would receive aid to help feed his starving people. Despite the deal however, Saddam reneged time and time again, distracting and vacillating on whether or not to allow the weapons inspectors to go with full access do their job.
This and many other things were used as a justification for his overthrow. Frequent mentions were made of Saddam’s tyranny against his people and his cruelty for gassing the Kurds in Southern Iraq was used as an example. After the war began the United States was culturally split. One view didn’t understand and accept the reasons for the war and protested, demonstrated, and signed petitions, frequently lobbying their senators and other representatives. Another side however pointed out that after 9-11 it was no longer acceptable to simply allow dictators to rule their countries with only token inspections and to turn a blind eye to the suffering their people endured. There were backlashes against the entertainment industry through a grassroots movement and the mainstream media was also considered to be taking partisan sides with the anti-war movement, triggering a downturn in sales and distribution.
In other areas there were changes as well. Due to many college professors formerly being part of the Vietnam War era protestors, many of them believed the war to be wrong and said so to their students, many of who became angry believing that the classroom was not a place were politics were supposed to be discussed and debated except when the curriculum specifically required it. Enrollments began to drop, along with the reasoning that school was too expensive to pay for with tuition rising faster than most could save and pay for it. Because student loans were so easily available and attained, most colleges and universities began to raise tuition amounts. As a result, technical and vocational training is becoming more and more common and affordable.
With the increasing amount of people with degrees, workplace requirements increased as well. However, because many people did not get specialized degrees in specific areas, many workplaces began to require that a certain amount of testing occur before hiring and that the person applying already have a large amount of experience in the field. With grade inflation becoming common degrees began to have less and less worth. With numerous student loans that required regular payments made, graduates began to realize the burdens they had so lightly taken on before entering university/graduate school.
At some point, credit became a much easier way of paying loans off and using it as a way to start comfortably off after graduation. Unfortunately it became a lifestyle, not a way of taking care of immediate concerns. Because many entry-level jobs did not pay as well as many young adults hoped, credit was a way of maintaining the lifestyle they preferred instead of using it was a way to keep above water until they got the job they needed to support themselves fully. It also led to many living a lifestyle they couldn’t afford to live. Many with good paying jobs used credit to supplement their lifestyle with expensive cars, elaborate wardrobes with designer labels, and frequent vacations they couldn’t afford to take on their actual salaries.
Because of these developments, culturally and economically, we are like the Deep South in the midst of the Civil War. As both the Iraq and Afghan war continue, we are also changing during this time the way we live our lives. Many will adjust to the new circumstances and change their plans and expectations. Others will live as if nothing has changed and still expect the world to either stay the same or that something will happen to prevent them from having to change their way of life.
Note of Interest: Many believe that the world will end in the year 2012. I believe personally that the year 2012 will not be the end, but the end of the changes that are now taking place. There will be a new world at the end of the next three years and what it will be is still unknown.
Diane Crow is an aspiring virologist with a variety of interests, including her advertising/fashion/ telecommunications business, writing and providing commentary concerning culture and current business issues. Diane can be reached at:
thefashionregister@hotmail.com
