Economy

In the 1920’s the economy was booming and we see a time of growth and prosperity. The
advent of credit allowed people to buy anything they wanted, since banks granted loans to
anyone. People were making purchases through credit, without realizing that the money being
loaned were from wealthy people that had a lot of money in the bank. As people grew in debt they
were incapable of paying it off which caused an economic depression because the rich lost all
their money. This was similar to the 2000’s housing bubble bust in which banks granted money
without verifying a stable occupation. This led to an economic recession because people lost jobs
and became incapable of paying their payments. The boom and bust cycle is relevant throughout
history especially during the 1920’s and early 2000’s. During both eras there are periods of growth
in which there is a strong consumer demand that creates a boom phase. There were many driving
causes in the 1920s to cause a boom phase such as WW1, buying with credit, and mass
production. This period busts when the Wall Street crashes and and the intensifying banking
crisis. The boom phase in the early 2000’s was similar to that of the 1920’s in which people have
good jobs, buying with credit and creating a good market for investors. It busts when
unemployment rises and people are unable to pay their debts, creating an economic downturn.
 Role of Women
The development of women’s rights and equality in the 1920’s were very similar
to the 2000’s due to the major steps taken through the 19th amendment in 1920 and
the closing of the wage gap in the 2000’s. Both of these mark a very important point in
women’s history, and show us how the 1920’s were especially similar to the 2000’s
when it came to advancing women’s equality, as both events helped women near the
treatment that men had in society during both decades. Both time periods also marked
a point in which women broke new barriers in the job market, showing the similar
development of women’s rights. In the 1920’s women had just begun to enter the job
market, while in the 2000’s women had begun to normally take upon jobs that were
usually done by men. This shows the push for more rights in society as women had
gained the right to work more like men.
 Change in Fashion
The constantly developing culture of society in the 1920’s had seen many
similarities to the development of culture in the 2000’s as well, due to the bold risks
taken by society in changing from recent history. Similarities in the development of
music in the 1920’s and 2000’s were shown by the two genres of jazz in the 1920’s
and electronic music in the 2000’s. Both genres revolutionized dancing during both
time periods, and had developed from other music genres to create one cohesive
genre. Rapidly changing fashion can also be seen in both eras, as culture had
greatly split off from its more recent fashion and in both eras it became more casual.
Mass media and consumerism had also seen many similarities, as people became
more connected through radios in the 1920’s and cell phones in the 2000’s, and this
resulted in the cohesive want for certain items such as radios and cars in the 1920’s,
or the brand new phone or television in the 2000’s.
 Social Attitudes
Flappers at the time of the 1920s had been women that defied the contemporary social norms at the time,
acting a lot more rash and wild than they had before. We can compare this to the women who took steps in getting
jobs that women normally had not gotten into before, such as sciences and engineering. Prohibition in the 1920’s
mostly revolved around alcohol at the time. The government outlawed the production and distribution of alcohol, and
many people were unhappy. We can compare that to the prohibition of marijuana in the early 20th century, and the
growing contempt towards its illegalization in the early 21st century. Many people believed that marijuana is not as
bad a drug as the government makes it out to be, and as we see today, like we saw in the early 20th century, the
illegalization is diminishing. There was rural vs urban conflict in both the 1920s and the 2000s as in the 1920s, the
industrial revolution had led to the roaring 20’s where people went up in economic status and US as a whole was
booming.Less and less people worked on farms or in rural areas, and more and more people came to work in the
more urban city environments seeking new opportunities. We can see something like this in the 2000s as the rise of
new technologies like the internet and phones make it possible to have a lot of information at one's fingertips, but
living in a rural environment limits the amount of access you have to things like internet connection. There was
disillusionment as well, as the roaring 20’s gave way to the Great Depression which destroyed the economy of the US,
wrecking peoples spirits, which had hit even harder because the time before it had seemed so grand. We see
something similar in the Great Recession, which was nowhere near the scale of the Great Depression, but it still
showed a decline in the economy of the US, leaving many people unemployed and penniless.
 Politics
The government of the 1920’s was heavily based off of Republican views. This was primarily due to the
increased amount of disapproval of the federal style government put in place originally by democratic
presidents.The public opinion of the government remained unrestored despite a flurry of Republican
presidents being elected to office. Another key reason public opinion was disoriented was the Sante’s
reluctance to sign the treaty of Versailles. Many anti-war groups arose during this era, disapproving of the
senate’s mindset. Republican presidents and officials were also highly interested in business-based
economies. This left many original styles of economy behind, such as farming. The government of the 2000’s
was similar to the government of the 1920’s in a few key ways. However, as expected, there are also some
defining differences between the two decades due to the advancement of technology and communication
throughout the modern era. Similar to the rise of anti-war groups in the 1920’s, the idea of resisting the act of
going to war continued up this point. In the form of peaceful protests, many people rejected going to war in
afghanistan. The government eventually made the decision to engage in the war, weakening the bond
between the government and the public similarly to in the 1920’s. The large focus on the business-based
economy of the 1920’s was adapted in the 2000’s, focusing primarily on energy production and distribution.
The demand was created by an increase in public communication, and the discovery of the consequences of
non-green energy production.