Modernism and Pluralism Is a Daunting Task. Essay

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Modernism and Pluralism is a daunting task. Depending on the setting and discipline, both concepts mean different things to different people. Establishing the beginning and end of both concepts is equally as daunting but, regardless, it cannot be denied that both concepts have greatly influenced contemporary thinking and that the world, as we currently know it, would not have developed without the change in thinking brought about by both concepts (Wagers, 2007).

In politics, at least in the United States, there is likely no greater example of the influence of Modernism and Pluralism than President Franklin Roosevelt. His election in 1932 marked a departure from the traditionalism that was characterized by the presidency of Herbert Hoover and America's adoption of the ideas of modernism and pluralism that had been circulating throughout the world for many years (Barone, 1990).

By the time that Roosevelt was elected, modernism had been affecting culture, politics, and religion for an extended period of time but American culture had remained largely stagnated in traditional viewpoints. Hoover's approach to the Great Depression reflected this traditional approach. Hoover felt that resolving the causes and effects of the Depression was not the responsibility of the national government. He believed that the situation would resolve itself in time. Roosevelt, meanwhile, advocated that government had the capacity to resolve social problems and that radical change was not an evil, but rather, a sign of progressive thought.

Roosevelt's adoption of Modernism as a directional theory is somewhat surprising in light of his ancestry (Brands, 2009).

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Roosevelt grew up in a world of privilege. His family was extremely wealthy and he was educated in the traditional manner characteristic of most wealthy Easterners. Groton prep school, Harvard, and Columbia Law School prepared him for a life along traditional lines but Roosevelt veered from this course. Instead, Roosevelt recognized that the world was changing and that new ideas and concepts were necessary. Within a few days of being inaugurated, Roosevelt set about bringing radical change in America. Initiating programs such as the Civilian Conservation Corps, the National Recovery Act, and the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, Roosevelt attempted to infuse the federal government into the lives of the general public in a way that was totally new. Unlike the hands-off approach that had been utilized by Hoover and most prior presidential administrations, Roosevelt represented a progressiveness that had begun with his distant cousin, Theodore Roosevelt, and furthered, in a moderate degree, by Woodrow Wilson. With Franklin Roosevelt, modernism took full flight in American politics and culture and the return to traditionalism was abandoned.

Roosevelt's presidency ushered in America's participation on the world stage. Following the end of the First World War America had largely withdrawn from world affairs and returned to its traditional isolation. Industrialization and technological improvements had caused America to modernize in many other aspects of life. The introduction of electricity, modern transportation, and new communication devices had caused major changes in the American lifestyle but, politically, the….....

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