Why can it be said that the technological and business innovations of the 1920's had both positive and negative consequences for American society?

Answer 1

Wow! Its a big domain, as America had so many innovations. Let's look at the biggest ones: automobiles, electronics, electrification, aircraft, and one business innovation that cut across most of these, being mass production. Automobiles: They gave mobility, both for business and pleasure. Particularly in the country where it was a major chore to undertake a 10 km. trip. People in the country could access friends and stores. And, receive urgent emergency services, such as health, police and fire protection. All could just plain travel for enjoyment, not limited to railway tracks and schedules. In rural areas, the offspring of the auto was the tractor whcih provided more work for less "fuel" cost than did horses and amplified the output of each farmer considerably. In the cities, autos were cleaner and healthier than the manure of horses and attendant flies.

On the other hand, the air got unnaturally dirtier, and would keep getting more so as the extent of auto use continued to grow until drastic emission improements in the 1970's kicked in. And, while cars allowed people to commute further to work, they also tended to play havoc with the downtowns of cities. The suburban sprawl we see today is an outcome of the auto, and it poses big concerns for the future as fuel gets expensive, and the sprawl makes mass transit hard to implement.

Cars also caused large number of road deaths, lilely more Ameircans have died in auto accidents thant all the wars America has experienced in its history. Electronics: Mostly in the form of radio, went from an experimental curiosity to an everyday appliance in homes during the 1920's and brought instant news and sports coverage, and provided professional entertainment to access everyone's home. It is hard to find much to fault in all this, except perhaps the reliance on "professional" entertainment inhibited the growth of natural folk entertainment. Aircraft: the use of these increased dramtically, mostly an outcome of the developments of the Great War. Although little passenger aircraft use happened in the 1920's, the use of airmail expedited written communication. And, socially, the way aircraft opened up the imaginations of all to the possibilities to come, with air shows and the cross Atlantic achievements of people like Babcock and Lindbergh, who becamse heroes among the public. Aircraft technology advanced so much in the 20's, largely an offspring of the internal combustion engine improvements also applied to ground vehicles, which increased the power to weight ratio of engines. Electrification resulted in many time and labour saving devices int he home, it was the 20's which saw the mass market develop for refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, washing machines (with a mnotor, not a crank now), fans and ranges. It is hard to see fault in all this, electricity replaced a lot of human drudgery. Perhaps one negative might be that middle classed people no longer had the need for servants, but on the other hand, with the booming economy, these people had little trouble finding other work for most of the 20's. The technology that enabled much of the above was mass production. The costs of autos, electric appliances and radios dropped thoughout the 1920's, although the sophistication of these improved. This was a result of the application of scientific production techniques, most exemplied by the assembly line approach to production which the Ford Company started in the teens. By subdividing work into elements and analyzing each for distance moved, the optimum choice of tools, work heights and improving the consistency of raw materials, some amazing results were obtained in production yields and an associated reduction in labour costs per item. Foir instance, the Ford Motor Company was able to double its production in its largest factory, Highland Park, each year on average, from 1914 through 1922. A Ford Model T, which cost $550 in 1917 would drop to $290 at the lowest price point in 1923. The same approach yielded similar results in all forms of consumer goods procuction, and the U.S. led the world in per capita wealth, largely an outcome of this. On the other hand, the mass production method took most creativity away from the line worker, and made more or less a human robot out of him or her. Excesses also developed, such as the line "speed up", and this would lead to unrest among workers and the formation of strong labour unions in the next decade. Overall, the 1920's were truly an amazing time in American history. Though we like to say that we live in a time of change, I am sure my grandfather experienced it far more acutely. Born on a farm, just 13 km. north of Toronto, with no running water, lights, telephone or motor vehicles, in a short time frame, by 1926, he had all of these and such a change they made in everyday life, far more than the computer has today.