Standards of Desirable Behavior Motivation to Meet Standards

24 population lived in urban areas in 1920 compared with 28 percent in 1870. It was also stated that the country‘s wealth was doubled in that era. Therefore, it made the society became consumer society. They also listened to the same music and also did the same dances. This new culture brought negative impact for some people. They felt uncomfortable with this new culture because it brought more conflict than celebration. Jazz music that became dominant music in that era, for some older people it brought moral disasters because of the vulgarity, but many younger generation loved the freedom that they felt on the dance floor. Besides, it was also stated that many Americans had lots of money to spend because of the rises of economy. They can easily buy many things such as clothes and home appliances. There was also a fact that an act at that time did not make drinking alcohol become an illegal action. Therefore, many people saved lots of liquor before it became illegal. There was a rumor that a club in New York had a 14-year supply for the liquor in its basement. According to Garraty and McCaughey 1987, the society of Americans in 1920 convinced that they had made a terrible mistake by going to war and they rejected the values that had led them to do so. Idealism gave way to materialism and moral purposefulness to irresponsibility. They tried to forget the war by bringing themselves in pleasure-seeking activities. They were able to spend more money and made high demand for goods. According to Lasch 1978, products that were luxurious became necessities and materialism was unbound. Americans considered material achievement as a right to be physically comfortable in their way to pursue happiness. ―Material wealth assures them to be self-reliant, hard PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 25 workers, qualified competitors, all of which will maintain their freedom ― Kearny, 1982, p. 21. From the explanation above, it is clear that Americans in 1920s measured their success based on their material achievement to get happiness as much as they can. It also became the measurement of someone‘s position in the society. According to Oroh 1993, many characteristics of modern America were shown by the end of the First World War. In 1920s, it represented the development of a mass national culture. Even it was stated that: ―The Protestant work ethic and the old values of self-denial and frugality gave way in the 1920s to a fascination with consumption, leisure, and self-realization, which is the essence of modern life‖ p.727. The rises of the economy of the country made the Americans became the highest standard of living in the world. On the other side, there were some Americans found out that the new culture actually forget the values of the religion and the old culture. However, the new way of consumption in 1920s and the ways of spending their leisure time became the part of the American life and became their culture. It was also stated that people at that time liked to spend their time on the roads, becoming a nation of tourists. It happened because car was one of the most products that were bought by Americans to spend their money. It was proved that there was a development of a mass national culture that changed the society‘s behavior. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI