The GI Bill of Rights

GI Bill of Rights was a legislation that focused on providing social change on a seismic scale to people despite of their races or ethnic backgrounds. As it assisted several families in the United States to take their positions as the social and economic leaders of the society, this legislation was critical in the formation of the new meritocratic society. Unlike several government programs that were geared towards helping people, the GI Bill of Rights provided individuals with the direct resources to help themselves. This is primarily considered as the greatest feature and achievement of this bill since it didn't have to demand the common social goals and human values through convincing individuals. On the contrary, the bill provided people with the power to decide individually what was appropriate for themselves. Through the use of state resources to encourage the pursuit and acquisition of happiness and security, the GI Bill of Rights contributed to a silent revolution without the use of the force of the state. Actually, the legislation provided people the economic resources to develop their minds, which enabled them to go out and pursue happiness and safety.

Issues Addressed in the Paper:

By focusing on the impact of the bill after its enactment, the author of this article attempts to show the various positive impacts and advantages associated with the GI Bill of Rights. Some of the major advantages of this legislation that are discussed in this article include

Freedom:

The article begins by examining the freedom that came to survivors of the Second World War, which was one of the great rewards of the huge price that had been paid for peace. Under the GI Bill, many people were freed educationally, economically, and socially like never before. During this period, there were a huge number of people that were getting into and leaving the workforce as military enrollment decreased and civilian employment increased. The enactment of the bill enabled World War II veterans to enroll in some kind of training or educational program under the legislation. As many individuals entered the workforce resulting in the growth of civilian employment, it was clear indication that there were many people out of work who were not seeking for jobs before the bill was enacted. The main reason for their inability to seek for jobs was the apparent lack of social, educational, and economic liberty. A critical aspect of freedom under the bill was the power given to people to decide what was best for themselves.

Promotion of Unity:

This was the major social change or transformation that came with the enactment of the GI Bill of Rights. This is considered as one of the major positive impact of the legislation, especially in consideration of the existing prejudices at that time. The bill succeeded in eliminating the religious, ethnic, and anti-Semitic prejudices, especially on campus. As a result, black people from the war came back feeling and walking like free men as the legislation broke down these prejudices. Rather than taking advantage of the bill as members of a specific group, blacks capitalized on the advantages of this legislation in a similar manner like whites. Moreover, it was after the enactment of this bill that black people were given the opportunity to go to college for the first time in their history. This contributed to huge admissions of blacks in colleges and universities that were accompanied by their exceptional academic performance.

Following the removal of racial and ethnic discrimination, the GI Bill of Rights contributed to the development of a new social climate. The changing social climate not only transformed the perspectives of people towards each other but it also enabled them to interact freely. Under this bill, blacks had similar advantages like whites and other races resulting in the ability of these people to relate without prejudices.

Educational Transformations:

As previously mentioned, the GI Bill of Rights brought numerous educational transformations and benefits to the American people. First, a huge number of school admissions were experienced under this bill as many war veterans enrolled for educational and training programs rather than military enrollment. This was mainly because of the change in people's perspective about education and its importance. Under this bill, education and training programs that could transform a person's mind were given more emphasis as part of changing the society. Secondly, colleges, universities, and other learning institutions changed their recruitment and admission strategies to enroll people from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds such as whites. For instance, Harvard University started strong recruitment of students from all ethnic and religious backgrounds under the bill and after the war.