The Development of Lisa's Political Rebellion -- Part 5

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

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When Lisa Houseman was 15 years old in October 1959, she and her mother Marjorie visited the new Guggenheim Museum while shopping together in Manhattan. This visit sparked in Lisa a fascination with modern architecture, design and art. She thought she should study such subjects when she would attend college.

Even while still in high school, Lisa spend much of her free time developing her awareness and appreciation. When she watched television, she watched documentaries about those subjects and she generally paid attention to modern design of objects. .

As Jake Houseman prospered in his medical profession, the family's household budget grew, and Marge was able to replace their home's old furniture with new furniture. Lisa loved to accompany her mother while shopping for new furniture and urged her mother to buy modern-design furniture and also modern art.

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Lisa did not pay much attention to politics, but in 1960 she became fascinated with the Democrats' candidate John Kennedy, who seemed modern, fashion-conscious and glamorous in comparison President Eisenhower. On one shopping trip, Lisa asked her mother why she always favored the Democrats.

Marjorie explained that she had grown up during the Depression, when many people -- including her own close relatives -- could not jobs. In those circumstances, the Democrats had established many government programs to provide support to the unemployed and to create jobs. In general, the Democrats helped disadvantaged people, whereas the Republicans demanded that such people "pull themselves up by their bootstraps".

Lisa reflexively adopted her mother's political thinking. Lisa too thought that the government should generously support disadvantaged people, who often could not help themselves.

Lisa, however, was growing up in a booming economy, which was very different from the Depression economy in which her mother had grown up. During Marjorie's teenage years, the unemployment rate was above 15%, whereas during Lisa's teenage years the unemployment rate was around 5% -- a rate that economists call "full employment".

US Unemployment Rate
(Click on image to enlarge it)

Lisa did not know anybody who was unemployed. All her uncles, all the men in her family's social circle, and all her classmates' fathers were prospering in professional occupations and enjoyed excellent job security. All her friends received generous allowances. Some of her friends also worked in summer jobs to earn some extra spending money. It was easy for a teenager to get a summer job.

Lisa agreed with her mother that the government should provide support to the disadvantaged -- for example, to people who were unemployed. That was a reason why Lisa hoped that John Kennedy and his Democrats would win the 1960 election. However, Lisa also had an impression that anyone who wanted a job could get a job in a rather short time.

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Continued in Part 6