the age of consensus

I am currently trying to track the origins of this term. I've stumbled on this history exam that questions the validity of the statement: "The decade of the 1950s deserves its reputation as an age of political, social and cultural conformity."

I've learned that the original purpose of the 1956 Interstate Highway Act was military transport and a means to evacuate cities in case of nuclear attack. I also learned about the racially segregated planned community Levittown. Here's another site.

Planned communities just creep me out. Here is a great site about Levittown. As much as places like this are creepy, they're also intoxicating, like what Gregory Corso in "Marriage' refers to the pleasant prison dream. Part of me surges with silly glee when I drive through places like Chepachet, RI, traffic slowed by a Pee Wee League parade, flags blowing in a gentle breeze, hanging from inviting porches with potted plants and maybe a black lab resting on them. I love mailboxes and school houses with globes and children's pictures visible through the windows. I love quaint main streets and small stores and yards, front and back. I even love churches. Or at least the idea of churches, community, bake sales, bazaars and whatnot. I love how communities can make people on the inside feel special, included, and cared for but I hate how communities can be restrictive, sexist, racist, bigoted, etc. A feeling of claustrophobia can set in.

Anyway, on a somewhat related note. I am so excited for the new season of Mad Men!