Greenwich Village: From Bohemian to Capitalist

Article Tools

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

6. The idea of female inequality.
Women should be the economic and moral equals of men, should have the same pay, the same working conditions, the same opportunity for drinking, smoking, and taking or dismissing lovers.

7. The idea of psychological adjustment.
We are unhappy because we are maladjusted, and maladjusted because we are repressed. If our individual repressions can be removed—by confessing them to a Freudian psychologist — then we can adjust ourselves to any situation, and be happy in it.

8. The idea of changing place.
"They do things better in Europe." By expatriating himself and living in Paris, Capri, or the South of France, the artist can break the puritan shackles, live freely, and be wholly creative.

All these, from the standpoint of the business-Christian ethic then represented by the Saturday Evening Post, were corrupt ideas. This older ethic is familiar to most people, but one feature of it has not been sufficiently emphasized. Substantially, it was a production ethic. The great virtues it taught were industry, thrift, and personal initiative. The workman should be industrious in order to produce more for his employer; he should save money in order to become a capitalist himself, then found new factories where other workmen would toil industriously, and save, and become capitalists in their turn. During the process many people would suffer privations: Most workers would live meagerly and wrack their bodies with labor; even the employers would deny themselves luxuries, choosing instead to put the money back into their business. But, after all, our bodies were only temporary dwelling places, and we would be rewarded in Heaven for our self-denial. On earth, our duty was to accumulate more wealth and produce more goods.

That was the ethic of a young capitalism, and it worked admirably, so long as the country was expanding faster than its industrial plant. But after the war [World War I] the situation changed. Our industries had grown enormously to satisfy a demand that suddenly ceased. To keep the factory wheels turning, a new domestic market had to be created. Industry and thrift were no longer adequate. There must be a new ethic that encouraged people to buy, a consumption ethic.

It just so happened that many of the Greenwich Village ideas proved useful in this situation. Self-expression and paganism encouraged a demand for all sorts of products — modern furniture, beach pajamas, cosmetics, colored bathrooms with toilet paper to match. Living for the moment meant buying an automobile, radio, or house, using it now and paying for it tomorrow. Female equality was capable of doubling the consumption of products — cigarettes, for example — that had formerly been used by men alone. Even changing place would help to stimulate business. The exiles of art were also trade missionaries: Involuntarily they increased the foreign demand for fountain pens, silk stockings, and portable typewriters. They also drew after them an invading army of tourists, thus swelling the profits of steamship lines and travel agencies.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print