Concept Check

The American public has damned socialism and communism as social ideologies that can govern their livelihoods. They have been independent minded and always wanted to obtain self-fulfillment and this has driven them to work hard so as to actualize their dreams and ambitions. From time immemorial, the American public has led a democratic way of life that enabled them to achieve the best in life that could be achieved (The 1960s: Lifestyles and Social Trends: Overview, 2001).

Life in the U.S. in the 1960s was quite very interesting to the people living then. Whether interesting in a good way or a bad way remains to be deliberated on. The U.S. saw a lot of changes in its social, economic and political sectors (Buhle, 1987). The Sixties, as it was called, was the period when the U.S. passed through some of the most challenging times with the assassination of their political leaders. Moreover, the women of this time felt that they should be given same opportunities and rights as their male counterparts thus the ideology feminism was a high-flying ideology.

Contrary to this, the Soviet Union was experiencing a different kind of life during the same period. The state liberalized divorce procedures during this period. Work was awarded to people with regard to their gender. Most females were denied jobs because they were supposed to take care of their homes. Once they had given birth, they were urged to stay at home (Hosking, 2001).

The American people had been born free for quite a long period of time before the 1960s and so they did not consider themselves as 'workers'. They did not have the option of working in order to categorize themselves into classes. It is in the Soviet Union that the Soviet people worked in order to distinguish themselves from one social class to another. The then political administration advocated much for the socialism, where no one could be richer than the other. The state controlled the distribution of wealth.

Socialism and communism had been in the Soviet Union for a long time, but they could not be accommodated in the U.S. as the ideologies meant that all power and resources were to be controlled by a few people, in this case, the government officials. Especially during the sixties when there was an increase in the number of people who were working. Huddleston (1993) noted that businesses were booming after the end of the war and so everyone who was capable was out there trying to make some profits. What socialism would have done to these people is to demotivate them. In this, regard these two ideologies pass for a four letter word to the Americans.

The life in the US in the sixties was different to the one in the Soviet Union in the sense that the different races that are there in the vast nation struggled for recognition. The African-Americans who are also citizens of the US rose to fight for equal rights, treatment and privileges as the white Americans. Unlike the Soviet Union, the United States observed anti-racism protest by college students.

In conclusion, the two countries were different then in their ideologies and the US would not opt for communism or socialism as this was not consistent with fundamental principles of human behavior.