History post

Beatniks - the Hippies of the 1950s, or something altogether different?

Beatniks, also known as Beats, came about in the 1950s. Beats were considered poets, artists, and novelists of the bohemian community (Revel, 25.3.3.). They thrived in New York's Greenwich Village and San Francisco's North. Yes, I would say that you could consider Beatniks the hippies of the 1950s. Beats were free spirits, they did not have an interest in owning a home, getting married, or developing a career; they were more interested in instant gratification and individual freedoms, sometimes that included casual sex and drugs (Revel 25.3.3.). Beat poets and authors wrote about topics that others typically found obscene and controversial, such as: "the lives of drug addicts, musicians, artists, radicals, and homosexuals" (Revel 25.3.3.), and living away from the materialistic society that was now the middle class. So yes, I believe that you could categorize beatniks as hippies, but I also think that they were much more than that. Beatniks could also be categorized as open minded and accepting. They were busy embracing and celebrating homosexuality while others were busy shunning it and  calling it illegal. I think you could also qualify beatniks as a group before their time. A lot of the beliefs they shared back then, are accepted in today's American culture. Instead of being concerned with making as much money as possible and fulfilling the American standard of having a career and family, beatniks were concerned with living life to the fullest and accepting people for who they were and not the amount of money they had. I believe that the beatniks were probably an amazing group of people simply trying to get others to open their minds to a different way of life, and showing people there is more to life than just a paycheck and what you buy with it, which is something today I firmly believe in. 

What were the causes and outcome of the Korean War?

Following the Allied victory in World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union had an agreement to occupy the Korean peninsula as a trusteeship divided along parallel 38. However, the U.S felt uncomfortable with USSR spread of communism in North Korea which was termed as a threat to freedom that the United States considered imperative (Keene, Cornell & O'Donnell, 2012). Thus, in 1947 the US approached the United Nations with the proposal for uniting Korea and a resolution was passed for elections. However, the Soviet Union and North Korea boycotted the UN-supervised election leading the establishment of democratic south government and communist north government. In 1950, the president of the South said that he would attack the North. However, the prime minister of North Korea quickly amassed resources from USSR and started the war against the South. The contention was that they needed to liberate the entire Korean peninsula from imperialism and colonialism from the United States.

However, the underlying reason for the war was the cold war between USSR and the United States as each wanted to stamp their political ideologies in the peninsula. One of the effects of the Korean War was casualties (Keene, Cornell & O'Donnell, 2012). The United States lost more than 30,000 men. At least half a million of South Koreans died while the North and China also lost many men. The second effect is that it divided the country permanently into North and South Korea which resulted in the separation of many families. USSR suffered territory loss while China developed enmity with the United States as a result of the war. However, the United States was able to achieve its objective which was further spread of communism.