Essay Sample on World War II Generation

Introduction

The World War II generation refers to the individuals who were brought up during the great depression period and fought in World War II or their labour and effort helped to win the war. The World War II generation perseverance through the difficult times of the great depression and the world war is a clear proof of their extraordinary character. The remarkable actions of the World War II generation during times of peace and war made the United States a better place to live in. The World War II generation had developed various values based on personal responsibility, honour, duty and faith that helped them to sail through the tough times and also enabled them to build the American economy. Every stage or period of the World War II generation formed part of a historical achievement and challenge of a magnitude that the world has never experienced before. This paper intends to assess the extent to which the World War II generation was great.

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The Extent to Which World War II Generation Was Great

The World War II generation had various achievements, virtues and a unique lifestyle that made them accomplish much within that period and persevere through the tough times they experienced.Various aspects or qualities help to identify the extent to which the World War II generation was great. Some of these unique qualities include; first, they lived up to the standard that they were accustomed to at that time. The individuals during the great depression did not live up to the standards that they could not meet. In most cases, they valued and felt contented with the limited resources and finances that they hard. For example, the black individuals who earned a minimum salary of approximately $25 would shop for various food commodities that fit the amount they earned such as beans and steak (Aiko, 1994). They head to consume what they got despite it not being exactly what they would have wished to eat. On the other hand, the white people during that period usually earned more compared to the blacks however they seemed to want to live a life that was beyond their level. For example when a white man earning a large sum of money took home beans for the family to eat, their wives would get furious since they wanted their husbands to bring them more quality things such as meat. The World War II generation were also contented with the limited resources that they had such as clothing's, and other health care resources. In most cases they made good use of the available materials or resources. This character helped them to sail through the tough period of the great depression and World War II.

Secondly, the World War II generation shared their wealth amongst themselves. The people during that period believed that the country had and could produce a lot of things that made life comfortable and happy; therefore they believed no individual should own a lot of things that he or she does not need and cannot use them to deprive or minimise the problems of other individuals in the society. To ensure the balance of resources, the World War II generation had to distribute or share the available resource with other members of the society. This was achieved through the creation of various movements such as share our wealth society in which every member of the community was part of. The movements were formed because in case of any problem in the society or community the members of the movement could easily act as one this helped to ensure that there was comfort for all the individuals in the society (Long, 1934). The generation of world war it was able to preserve itself since there was equal share or distribution of the available resources. Almost every individual had a share of the nation's wealth, however; in some cases, the white individuals were allocated more resources as compared to the blacks since the issue of racism was very rampant in the country (Ramirez, 2010). The formation of movement in the World War II societies particularly among the black communities helped to ensure equality among all individuals since everyone had access to the needed resources.

Thirdly, the highly encouraged women empowerment. In ancient times, women were considered as minor beings whose primary role was to rear the children and look after the family. However, this seems to have changed among the World War II generation whereby the women also formed part of the workforce. No woman was restricted to work during the great depression, which helped to ensure that the family had enough food or resources to take them through the tough times. To promote women empowerment, the World War II generation had created posters that encouraged the female employees to work hard and to have the belief that they can also make it. An example of such kind of a poster the "Rosie the Riveter" poster that hanged up in the Westinghouse during World War II. The posters also showcased the masculinity in women encouraging that they also had the power to achieve what their male counterpart could also achieve (Douglas, 1917). The issue of women empowerment helped to maintain equality within the society; therefore, people were able to help each other overcome the challenges that existed during the period. Women in the World War II generation could secure any job they with for despite their colour. For example, the women employment positions such as sales clerk.

Fourthly, they had a high value for their music and culture. The World War II generation had a significant culture that was portrayed through the songs, dance, poems, and the musical instruments that they used. The songs poems and dance were used to showcase the cultures of both the white and blacks during the world war period (Langston & Levering, 1926). The white people's music, dance and poems were considered to be more popular as compared to that of the black individual. However, the black's people were willing to eliminate their racial individuality into the mould of the African American standardisation and to attain the same fame as the white people (Cox, 1981). The music in the World War II acted as a way of propelling equality among the whites and blacks since the song helped to eliminate the racial differences between the whites and the blocks. Any song that portrayed ethnic deference's within the society at the time did not gain popularity since the great depression population were after maintaining equality to propel the society through the tough times experienced during the period.

Conclusion

The World War II generation are the individuals brought up in the great depression period and had to preserver through the trough period experienced through the world war period. However the World War II generation is considered to be great due to various reasons that include; first, they highly encouraged women empowerment allowing the women to take up various obligations in the society. Secondly, they had a high value for their music, dance, and poems which helped to ensure equality within the society. Thirdly, they lived up to the standard that they were accustomed to at that time. Fourth, they shared their wealth and resources amongst themselves thus ensuring that every individual in the society had the needed resources.

References

Cox, I. (1981). Wild Women Don't Have the Blues. Rosetta records. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.ke/books?isbn=1135865086

Douglas, A. W. (1917). Why don't more women trade with me? System, 32, 906-908. Retrieved from. https://www.bartleby.com/348/349.html

Long, H. P. (1934). Share our wealth: every man a king. HP Long. Retrieved from, https://www.americanyawp.com/reader/23-the-great-depression/huey-p-long-every-man-a-king-and-share-our-wealth-1934/

Langston, H., & Levering, L. D. (1926). The Negro artist and the racial mountain. The Nation, 23. Retrieved from https://www.thenation.com/article/negro-artist-and-racial-mountain/

Ramirez, C. S. (2010). The woman in the zoot suit: Gender, nationalism, and the cultural politics of memory. Duke University Press. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.ke/books?isbn=0822388642

Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga. (1994). Preparing for 'Evacuation' To an Incarceration Camp. Retrieved from http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/8326/