The Counterculture

In the late 1960s, the historian Theodore Roszak described the rise of these idealistic youths as the "counterculture ." It was a culture, he said, so different from the mainstream "that it scarcely looks to many as a culture at all, but takes on the alarming appearance of a barbarian intrusion ." The so-called alarming barbarians were mostly white middle-class college youths . And while they indeed did create a culture different from the mainstream, their lack of organization and direction-as well as the devastating effects of drug use-led to the counterculture's eventual collapse

The counter culture was composed mostly of

What led to the eventual collapse of the counter-culture (hippie) movement?

"TUNE IN, TURN ON, DROP OUT" Members of the counterculture, known as hippies, shared some of the beliefs of the New Left movement, namely that American society-and its materialism, technology, and war-had grown hollow. A number of hippies even participated in various New Left demonstrations, including its many protests against the Vietnam War. However, a majority of hippies chose to protest against society by leaving it. Influenced heavily by the nonconformist beat movement of the 1950s, hippies eagerly embraced the credo voiced by Harvard psychology professor and counterculture philosopher Timothy Leary: "Tune in, turn on, drop out." Throughout the mid- and late 1960s, tens of thousands of idealistic young Americans left behind their established worlds of school, work, or home to live with one another in the streets, parks, and group homes . Their goal was to create, in the midst of what they viewed as a cold and cruel nation, an idyllic setting of peace, love, and harmony.

Having a good job, owning your own home and car, and living the good life is sometimes called, “materialism.” How did the hippies (counter culture) feel about materialism?

What does, “tune in, turn on and drop out,” mean?

The counter-culture hippie generation was

HIPPIE CULTURE The creation of this peace and love, which some called an Age of Aquarius, usually involved three things : rock 'n' roll music, colorful clothing and appearance, and the liberal use of drugs-both marijuana and a new hallucinogenic, or mind-altering, compound called LSD, or acid. Timothy Leary, an early experimenter with LSD, promoted the drug as a "liberating" and "mind-expanding" aid in the search for greater self-awareness and inner peace. Aside from illegal drug use, hippies showed their rejection of the establishment by wearing what were then considered outrageous clothes . Many young men and women wore ragged jeans and tie-dyed T-shirts, as well as surplus plus military garments. In addition, many hippies enhanced their outfits with beads and Native American ornaments. Men grew long hair and beards. To many hippies, long hair symbolized the freedom to "do your own thing." To the older generation, long hair symbolized a lack of respect for social conventions . Signs went up across the country saying "Make America Beautiful-give a hippie a haircut ."

Hippies also turned their backs on conventional home life. Many chose to live together in communes-group living arrangements in which the members renounced private property to live together in cooperation and harmony. For some, this meant establishing rural communes; for others, it meant crowding together in urban "crash pads." Scores of hippies flocked to Chicago's Old Town, Atlanta's Fourteenth Street, New York City's Greenwich Village, and especially San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district. By the mid-sixties, Haight- Ashbury had become the hippie capital, mainly because of the availability of hallucinogenic drugs, which California did not outlaw until late 1966 .

Why did the hippies choose the Haight Ashbury district of San Francisco as their capital in the 1960s?

Which statement is true

Many disillusioned youths also sought fulfillment through new and different religious experiences . Rejecting traditional forms of worship, scores of young men and women turned to the teachings of such Eastern religions as Zen Buddhism. According to the Zen philosophy, people attain enlightenment through meditation, self-contemplation, and intuition, rather than through the reading of scriptures . Influenced by the preaching of spiritual gurus, such as Maharishi Mahesh Yogi of India, thousands of Americans began taking informal courses in mystical meditation and forming groups to practice what they learned. In 1968, the news media declared that more than 10,000 of the nation's youths had become "transcendental meditators." Later that year, Life magazine proclaimed 1968 to be the "Year of the Guru."

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

What did the Year of the Guru mean?

DECLINE OF THE MOVEMENT After only a few years, the counterculture's peace and harmony gave way to violence and disillusionment . The urban communes eventually turned seedy and dangerous, as they became havens for muggers, drug dealers, and runaways . "It got very ugly very fast," Alex Forman recalled. "There were ripoffs, violence . . . people living on the street with no place to stay." In 1969, two episodes of counterculture violence shocked America. In August, commune leader Charles Manson and his "family" murdered actress Sharon Tate. Four months later at the Altamont Raceway in California, the Hell's Angels motorcycle gang beat a man to death in front of the stage where the Rolling Stones, a British rock band, were playing . By 1970, the widespread use of drugs had further eroded the counterculture movement . Many young people fell victim to the drugs they used, experiencing overdoses, drug dependence, and mental and physical breakdowns. The popular rock singer Janis Joplin and the legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix both died of drug overdoses in 1970.

More than anything else, however, the hippies eventually discovered that they could not sustain themselves outside of mainstream America. Even though they tried to reject conventional society, many hippies found themselves ultimately  dependent on it. Numerous hippies ended up panhandling on street corners and lined up at government offices, collecting welfare and food stamps to help them survive the trials of natural living. "We were together at the level of peace and freedom and love," said one disillusioned hippie. "We fell apart over who would cook and wash the dishes and pay the bills."

Which statement is true

A Changing Culture Although the counterculture movement was short-lived, some aspects of it namely, its fashion, fine arts, and social attitudes-left a more lasting imprint on mainstream America and on the rest of the world ART AND FASHION The counterculture's rebellious style left its mark on the worlds of art and fashion . The 1960s saw the rise of popular, or pop, art. Pop artists, led by Andy Warhol, attempted to bring art into the mainstream. Warhol became famous for his bright silk-screen portraits of soup cans, Marilyn Monroe, and other icons of mass culture . To a larger extent, the counterculture's legacy lived on in the way many Americans dressed and groomed themselves . While most Americans did not adopt the out outlandish look of hippies, many came out of the sixties wearing longer hair, more colorful clothing, and blue jeans, which became a staple in nearly every American's wardrobe.

Andy Warhol Self Portrait Hippie Fashion

Some forms of counter culture art and fashion have come to be accepted today

ROCK MUSIC

Perhaps the most lasting legacy of the counterculture movement was its music. During the 1960s, the hippie movement embraced rock 'n' roll-the offshoot of African-American rhythm and blues music that had captivated so many teenagers during the 1950s-as its loud and biting anthem of protest . However, as the years went on, rock music melded into the mainstream and is today one of the more recognizable characteristics of American youth.

The band that, perhaps more than any other, helped propel rock music into mainstream America was the Beatles . The British band, made up of four youths from working-class Liverpool, England, arrived in America in 1964 and immediately took the country by storm . By the time the Beatles broke up in 1971, the four "lads" from Liverpool had inspired a countless number of other bands and had won over millions of Americans to rock 'n' roll .

The Beatles were the best known rock music group of the 60s

WOODSTOCK One dramatic example of rock 'n' roll's exploding popularity occurred in August 1969 on a farm in upstate New York. There, about 120,000 young people were expected to gather for a free music festival called "Woodstock Music and Art Fair, an Aquarian Exposition." More than 400,000 showed up . For three days, the most popular bands and musicians of the time performed, including Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Joe Cocker, Joan Baez, the Grateful Dead, and Jefferson Airplane . Despite the huge crowd, the event, which became known simply as Woodstock, was remarkably peaceful and well-organized. However, not everyone remembered it as three days of bliss. Tom Mathews, a writer who attended the Woodstock festival, later recalled his experience there.

What was Woodstock

CHANGING ATTITUDES

As the counterculture movement faded, its casual, "do your own thing" philosophy left an imprint on Americans' social attitudes. In particular, American attitudes toward sexual behavior became more permissive, leading to what became known as the sexual revolution . During the 1960s and 1970s, mass culture-which included books, magazines, and movies-began to more openly address subjects that had once been prohibited, particularly sexual behavior and explicit violence.

While some hailed the increasing permissiveness as a liberating force, others attacked it as a sign of moral decay. Millions of Americans opposed the country's increasingly permissive social behavior. While the counterculture movement eventually helped prompt many Americans to adopt more liberal attitudes about dress and appearance, music, and social behavior, the movement's immediate impact on the country produced the opposite effect.

In 1968, conservative commentator William F. Buckley announced that his magazine, the National Review, was starting a newsletter to expose rebellious students, antiwar radicals, and Communist forces that he claimed were behind the New Left. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover issued a warning to the nation's police officers that "revolutionary terrorism" was a threat to law and order on campuses and in cities . Other conservative critics warned the public that campus rebels posed a danger to traditional values and threatened to plunge American society into anarchy and lawlessness.

Which statement is true

CONSERVATIVES ATTACK THE COUNTERCULTURE

Conservatives also attacked the counterculture for what they saw as its decadent values : glorification of drug use, indulgent sexual behavior, and indifference toward work. In the view of psychiatrist Bruno Bettelheim, student rebels and members of the counterculture had been pampered in childhood; as young adults, they did not have the ability for delayed gratification .

According to some conservative commentators, the counterculture had abandoned rational thought in favor of the senses and restraint for uninhibited self-expression. The counterculture, they believed, was undermining the capacity of young Americans to debate issues rationally.

The angry response of mainstream Americans to the disorders caused a profound change in the political landscape of the United States . By the end of the 1960s, conservatives were presenting their own solutions on such issues as lawlessness and crime, the size of the federal government, and welfare . This growing conservative movement would propel Richard M. Nixon into the White House-and set the nation on a more conservative course.

As illustrated by the presidential elections, by the late 60s most Americans _____ conservative attacks on the counter culture

It can be said that the counter-culture helped the conservatives to take control of the government because it gave them issues that most Americans agreed with. Because the hippies and the counter-culture were associated with liberal politicians and the democrat party, a majority of Americans gave their support to conservative Republicans

Given the choice, most parents in the 60s and 70s would rather have their children be