Modernization in the United States and the Essay

Modernization in the United States and the Global Community

How does modernization manifest itself in U.S. society?

Truly, modernization in the United States began in earnest with the inception of the Industrial Revolution in the late 19th and early 20th century. Accordingly, it would manifest in direct concordance with the imperatives of a laissez faire economy. The technological and commodity oriented production boom that, nearing the turn to the 20th century, instigated the period known as the Industrial Revolution, would initiate the widespread modernization of America's urban centers. These would be the basis for a mode of expansion that enabled capitalism to ultimately achieve its intended pale of influence over the world. The growth of the world's economy came to include formerly imperialist colonial powers, independently thriving former colonies and massive commercial operations, creating a direct association between the capitalist principle of 'open competition' and the flourishing of modern infrastructure, consumer intuition, commercial development and technological innovation. As a result, modernization would share a direct relationship with some of the moments of greatest economic growth in America's history, with the largesse achieved in the 1920s, the 1950s and the 1990s coinciding directly with high points in the nation's timeline of economic expansion. This pattern is directly consistent with the theories offered by Adam Smith, largely thought of as the father of modern capitalism. Smith contended that a free market economy was the best way to allow a nation with the resource potential and human capital of the United States to ultimately lead a charge toward modernity.Is modernization likely to continue in the U.S. Explain your answer.

All evidence suggests that even in spite of its current patterns of economic recession and stagnant growth, America's cyclical tendencies is toward a steady ebb and flow in terms of innovation. Thusly, we may predict that the pendulum will ultimately swing back toward modernization when once again the resources become available to the U.S. economy. Particularly, modernization has often been driven by catalyzing technological innovations, with the automobile, the highway system, the commercial airliner and the internet all have resulted in exponential opportunities for economic growth and technological sophistication. With great certainty, the United States will continue its thrust in this direction, with the only possible impediment today being its continued dependency on a finite fossil fuel as its primary source of energy. Indeed, if modernization is to continue and perhaps even to shed some of its reputation as part and parcel to industrial blight, it is perhaps not too bold to predict that the technological innovations driving are next bubble of innovation will relate to renewable energies.

Is modernization a world-wide trend?

Increasingly across the last several decades, modernization has proven a world-wide trend. Indeed, it would seem that this is the explicit intent of the process called globalization. For many 'developing' nations, a heightening trade relationship with developed economic powers is producing a necessary push toward the….....