The Counter Culture and Social Revolution of the 1960s - Research Paper Example

? The Counter Culture and Social Revolution of the 1960s The 1960s had been a great part in the development of thesociety and culture of today as many events had happened in that decade. People come into knowing regarding several issues that had impacted the lives of many around the world. Prominent people in the 60s had launched the great changes that people enjoy today. That decade served as the basis for further changes and advancement that contributed to the progress of people globally. The whole decade of 1960s had significant events that led to a less rigid and limiting social system in the next decades. The fight for changes occurs around the world and some of those efforts were done violently and with confusion. The reaction of the people of that decade was filled with anger as they expressed their insights on the stiff societal system. Farrell then stated that the 1960s can stand out among other decades as it staged the rebellion of people especially the youth from the rigid 1950s. He also said that the root of that rebellion was the progressive modernism that started before the emergence of World War (16). The fight against the rigid social system did not only take place physically but also intellectually as literature had been used as an avenue for opening the eyes of the public about the issues being faced by the society in that time (Cart 21). Cart also added that popular writers of 1960s detailed the events that made people take action as they fight for their complicated desires and motives (21). Those motives drove people as they did not give up for the fight they had. Hammond took notice of the critical thinkers that came out also in that decade as they thought of ways on how to prevent themselves from having too much of everything (175). She also added that balance had been sought in the pursuit of knowing the identity of own selves (Hammond 175). Despite of the pursuit for balance and self-identity, rigid rejection occurred against the dictated standards set forth by the older generation (Rielly 21). The 1960s also prevented the prevalent status quo to influence them by using rage that might have led to violence. People were unashamed and fearless as they brought out the sensitive topics that were once considered taboos. On top of that, the strength shown by those people came from the earlier fights against discrimination and conventional social system that were recorded in history (Bell 120). It can be rooted from the 1895 and 1914 modernist revolutions (Riley 58). Artistic revolution then occurred in that period as visual artists, musicians, poets and novelists went out of the traditional rules of making their own genre as they explore freely with their own form of art (Rielly 127). The self-image was also a prominent ideology in the 1960s as new point-of-views came out in the process as Roger Shattuck identified the ideology and process through his work called The Banquet Years as traditions discriminated people and how those people coped up with their situation (Bell 121). That decade focused on the welfare of the commoners like the youth and oppressed as they fought for their rights within the strict norms of the society. The paper would focus on the cultural changes and social revolutions of the 1960s especially the massive efforts and resistance that people had done in that decade. After all, the people of the latter decades and generations owe the freedom being enjoyed to the people behind the events in the 60s that influenced the adjustments upon the social system. The 1960s was also named as the Swinging Sixties as many ups and downs took place in that decade that created many innovations and long-lasting effects to the lives of people worldwide (Palmer 179). The awareness in the global arena came to existence in the same decade as the younger generation did not conform to the beliefs and customs created by the older generations (Curran and Seaton 185). The whole decade then had produced the technological advancement that catered the needs of the people and give them the greater understanding about their surroundings and themselves like space exploration and heart transplant surgery (Farber and Bailey 305). The remaining countries under the Western powers also achieved their freedom as changes in leadership occurred among the members of the United Nations despite their inability to prevent the occurrence of Cold War (Fardon 79). That also gave way to the culture clash since the values considered by the young people conflicted with the norms of those generations born between the World Wars as differences among cultures were not settled (Merz and Browne 26). The youth saw the world differently in that decade as compared to the elderly that led to the intergeneration misunderstandings and conflicts. As stated, 1960s had been marked with several conflicts and outrages that had led to various wars. Those wars had happened as conflicts and differences were not settled through proper talks and had been rooted from the major wars that existed in history (Farrell 15). Berlin Wall was then created as a result of the Cold War. Trommler found out that the interest of people slowly went out of the Cold War as the disadvantage of war and West-East ideological clash were depicted by the Wall (257). He also added that both Berlin Wall and Cold War had caused a global cultural transformation as they inspired people around the world to change (258). Reconstruction then followed the Cold War that taught the global people about the importance of lives, traditions, norms, politics, culture and beliefs (259). Those were the products of both the Berlin Wall and Cold War that also gave way to the improved knowledge foundation of art to stage the clash between the modernism and socialist realism. Those two ideals were represented by the ideologies set forth by East and West (Pope and Neubauer 611). Political system also adapted the innovations together with the transformations of arts and culture (Rielly 189). The enlightened ones like the philosophers and artists made great contributions in the new genre of freedom of expression without any influence of the past as they continuously transform (Merze and Browne 83). The spark of the culture of freedom catered the rebellion of the younger generations as they set that culture forward while trying to dismiss the discrimination in the society (Bell 120). Reich then emphasized that Communist concept was then talked about as the East made its efforts to change. On the other hand, changes were pursued by the West through its adjustments on the concept of modernism (90). Despite of the changes that occurred, conflicts still occupied the political arena worldwide that sparked the Vietnam War as a substitute to other peaceful ways of settling conflicts and differences in human values (Trommler 258). The Wall then represented the struggle for identity and for proving the values and beliefs as positive. Conflicts then occurred despite of the Wall to settle those differences in beliefs. In addition, the Cold War emphasized the Swinging Sixties upon the countercultures and ideologies that came into conflict with one another. Protests occupied the American roads as people made efforts to end the war in Vietnam as part of the counterculture flourishing together the civil rights movement and Black Nationalism in the United States (Rielly 128). Feminism also made its advancements as women fought for gender equality (Cohen 10). The unbearable situations of the decade filled with violence occupied America. Under the leadership of Reagan, the traditional values of the 50s were dared to be brought back in the 60s as they held firmly to the mythical beliefs and conservatism (Rielly 158). The Sixties was held to be problematic in the eyes of the Conservatives as various divergences from the norms of the American social life prevailed. The 1970s then sought for the deviance in values of 60s as that decade did not follow the rigid rules of the 50s (Ferber and Bailey 3). The long term results of the dream of a united and peaceful society were seen as important parts of the American history despite of the beginnings marking the decade with the rebellion against the norms. The impacts of The Sixties even influenced the 1990s in the historical event of USA when the case of Rodney King came into conclusion (Donals 232). Cold War also existed as fight for beliefs. People reacted to the existence of the war as they would prefer peace and harmony (Ferber and Bailey 3). Several assassinations then followed against the activists who wanted to uplift the status quo for those who were oppressed. In line with the rage of the 1960s, several political assassinations existed as those prominent people fought for various kinds of equality (Rielly 101). Patrice Lumumba of Congo was the first to head of that nation when he was murdered in 1961. It was speculated that Belgian government used the Congo rebels and sought the USA assistance to conduct the assassination (Schmitt 326). Another figure killed was Grigoris Lambrakis who was a Greek activist murdered killed in a peace rally in front of many people. It was said that two murderers hit Lambrakis on his head that killed him almost instantly from bleeding (Dubin 441). Another activist was Medgar Evers who was killed in the 60s for being a civil right promoter. He was then assassinated inside his house. He was murdered by those who hated the poor African Americans for joining the civil rights movement (Rielly 11). He got the public attention upon the Emmitt Till murder case and the other African American victims (Todd 20). Another assassinated activist was Ngo Dinh Diem who served the Republic of Vietnam as its president from 1954 to 1963 (Manning and Wyatt 665). The murder then took place at a Catholic Church altar in Saigon as John F. Kennedy allowed the military to commence on the killing of Diem together with the creation of military base in Vietnam (Yee 14). The next victim on the list was Marcom Little also known as Malcolm X who was also an African American human rights activist like Lambrakis (Rielly 11). He was in front of four hundred people talking about human rights when he was killed by the assassin named Talmadge Hayer who was hired by the government (Gaither 249). All of those people mentioned died for the rights and equality among men. All those events coincided with the prevalence of the counterculture in the Swinging Sixties. Counter culture is the interconnection of various beliefs that do not stick to the general norms of the social system and tends to challenge the societal beliefs as a whole (Rielly 33). It is different from a subculture as the subculture does not fight against the prevalent culture despite of its characteristic of being unique. Subculture unites the unique people with unique culture without destroying other culture or main beliefs (Schermerhorn et. al. 350). The youth of the Sixties made their own sets of beliefs and counterculture to freely live the way they like without allowing the traditional standards of the older generation from taking over their lives. As it gained popularity in The Sixties, the term gained additional meanings in the context of various organizations around the world. The details of the counterculture were elaborated by two writers namely Theodore Roszak and Charles Reich under their respective literatures namely The Making of a Counter Culture and The Greening of America (Schnell 23). Roszak pointed out that the counterculture came from the avoidance of the youth from the influence of the elderly (287). They did not allow the norms to stop them from achieving happiness. On the other hand, Reich said that counterculture is the result of the way the young people understand their surroundings and their own identity as they faced 1960s with acts and beliefs that conflicted with the established norms (90). Counter culture then differs from contraculture as the latter focuses on the conflict between the subculture and the bigger culture. Counterculture then is more related to the 1960s youths who created their culture to reject the prevailing thought. It attempted to replace the dominating bigger culture (Schnell 24). Sixties then was represented by counterculture as rebellions in various forms came out in that decade. Many other problems in the society came out in the 1960s as the counterculture grew. To address the problems, various movements existed in that decade. The 1960s became the mark for the voting rights of African Americans. It was not an ordinary peaceful fight since the young African Americans started a massive nonviolent protest rooted from the efforts of four students in Woolworth who started the campaign against racial inequality (Gates and Higginbotham 503). As the African Americans fought for racial equality, they were also supported by other group through various forms of protests done by the civil rights activists in the next five years and getting different kinds of support from the opposite color (Horsnby 609). The movement slowly changed the laws to end the decades of racial discrimination observed in the USA. Originally, the civil rights movement started when the African Americans fought for their freedom as slaves centuries ago as historical records proved that to happen (Farber and Bailey 12). It was only in the 60s that the African Americans organized peaceful rallies to express their need for equality and freedom from discrimination in the United States. The same movement also had its roots upon the existence of the Second World War as the Blacks fought for equality and freedom from fascist foreigners and local racists (Farber and Bailey 13). The White-Black relationship in the Sixties was slowly shifted toward equality as the African Americans fought for their rights. Another movement that made its huge impact in the Sixties is the anti-war movement in Vietnam. It existed due to conflicting reasons based upon the inferences made by the critics and scholars. The US military joined the war between the Leftists and Rightists during the war in Vietnam. Kimball then considered the issue of parties involved to be a big hit (129). Kimball said that the America made the interference to impress and get the approval of European countries. Other thinkers who studied the war made a further analysis and connect the anti-Vietnam War with the resistance on the Terror War. It was suggested that the elitists in America desired to showcase themselves to the world as cosmopolitans and global influencers (Heineman 203). North Vietnam then won the war because of the American efforts to make peace with both sides. The left then showed its efficiency as the war was stopped that surprised the history of warfare. On the other hand, the Right was pleased as the army of United States was close to impossible to defeat. The existence of the antiwar movement set forth by the USA had actually lengthened the war as the public had noticed and criticized the behavior of the militants. Those happenings led to Lyndon Johnson to receive more failure time as more American military men get killed each year as a result of wars. That rendered the movement to be ineffective in halting the war (Young 236). Another societal issue that came out is the rights of women. Women in that decade became activists to provide equality and stop the oppression of the patriarchal society. The version of the movement in the sixties flourished in America together with the civil rights movement (Carden 1). The traditional people especially the older generations were shocked by the existence of feminist movements. In response, the mass media did not seriously go through with the issues presented by those movements as they bombarded those women with negative commentaries (Farber and Bailey 129). They were labeled by the society as men haters and wanted them to become subordinates. They were also considered as women who do not give importance to marriage and motherhood as they did not like the experience of laboring their children (Carden 2). Their fight was done just to compensate for their lowness in life as the traditional people believed them to be. Then two groups of feminists came out called Women’s Liberation and Women’s Rights and they were both formal organizations that seek for reforms and progress of gender equality (Carden 3). They wanted to remove the biases toward women and gave equal favor to them the way men enjoy their rights. The advancement for gender equality was not only done by the feminists but also by the gay movement. The gay movement started from the Mattachine Society and Daughters of Bilitis of the 1950s which provided exclusive membership (De Leon 253). The group wanted to get the support of the professionals as they educate them regarding the existence of homosexuals. Since the 1960s slowly diverge from the rigid norms, the movement of the third gender came out. They went out in public and established the groups like The Furies and Gay Liberation Front who fought for societal restructuring (Goodwin and Jasper 271). The environmental movement also sprouted at the same decade as those gender movements and civil rights movement. The environmentalist groups pointed out the negative impacts of industrial capitalism to the surroundings. According to those groups, the goal of gaining profits encourages exploitation of the natural environment as the resources were being tapped (Graham 57). They even created some nature parks to preserve the environment. On the other hand, capitalists believed that economic growth and profit-driven growth are complement to one another and do not go against each other (L. Roberts 411). The movement then championed their cause as steps toward taking care of the environment occurred in the end of 1960s as pollution act was passed and more bills on the environment were in the process of becoming laws (Boardman 158). Those movements were accompanied by the cultural change known as Hippies and the prevalence of psychedelics that used various forms of illegal drugs. They recreated the culture in rebellion to the traditional ones. Hippies came about in the Sixties as a result of adaptation of the counterculture that started in the 50s called Beat Generation. Both of them surfaced during the Era of Consensus as the writer Mark Lytle labeled the decades of 50s and 60s (Issitt 1). Beat Generation came out as a result of the Cold War and strict control on freedom (Kimball 40). Most of the heads of that group were young intelligent people who preferred to have different culture even though they may look weird at first. Their music were usually jazz and folk revival with rebellious and self-identity themes. They also like the works of Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac who were both promoters of the Beat generation (Rielly 129). That group was interested with third gender rights and peaceful existence. As the time changed, the counterculture movement also changed that gave rise to Hippies that started as a community of blue-collar workers looking for affordable housing. As a community, they were interracial and catered the third gender (Issitt 4). Hippies existed in the Sixties as people expressed their intent to adapt the practices of the Eastern religion that formed a massive psychedelic movement. Despite of the existing differences among people, the massive psychedelic movement reawakened the desire for appreciation of spirituality (Stafford 85). Hippies then were able to revive the spirituality in the midst of non-believers in the concept of God. With the renewal of spirituality comes the deep passion for their country (Rielly 31). The believers then gained the chance to spread harmony with love (Farrell 217). The movement was not a formal organization as it catered various forms and individuality in beliefs in increasing the consciousness from ordinary to the mystical side (T. Roberts 31). The movement encouraged its members to become vegetarians which made those people avoid meat. When it comes to rituals, Hippies used a chemical drug called LSD so the practitioners were able to experience the religious mystery (S. Roberts 31). It became a sensation as it transformed people who were once addicted to alcohol and smoking and other chaotic ways of life by helping those people find their ultimate purpose in life (Stafford 88). The movement became possible through the efforts of the two gurus who introduced the psychedelic experience to the youth of the Sixties. Ken Kesey came from the West Coast while Timothy Leary came from the East coast and both of those gurus made Hippies very popular in the United States (Christensen 13). Kesey was a former Beat generation member and writer who later on traveled the USA using his Furthur bus while Leary studied the chemical side of LSD that was used for inducing the spiritual experience (Issitt 4). In the music scene, Elvis Presley made a grand come back after being with the army to make musical hits again as a rock band named Beatles came out as a group that sensationalized the youth culture of the Swinging Sixties (Callan 70). Joan Baez and Bob Dylan then were also among the popular persons of the music industry in the 60s as they laid the foundation of rock in tune of the prevalent theme of self-identity and confusion (Spence 96). In terms of psychedelic rock, Jimi Hendrix was one of the prominent icons to popularize the genre (Moskowitz 183). In the final years of the Vietnam War, the movie industry showed its big impact on the attitudes of Americans as people like the influence of the famous quote by Jane Fonda regarding the unity with the North Vietnamese through one of her movies (Monteith 84). Social relevance was also seen in the movies of the Sixties. A good example is the movie entitled The Graduate as Dustin Hoffman portrayed a sexual victim who experienced romantic misfortunes that made the movie a box office hit (Rielly 225). That movie reflected the experiences that may occur to the young audiences. Another movie is entitled Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner was created by Stanley Kramer and that film depicted the usual family norms in the United States and catered the issue of racism (Maga 201). Another movie that became popular in the 1960s is Bonnie and Clyde that had Depression as the time setting. The film showed how discrimination, inequality and prejudice occur in the society as the protagonists experienced them (Maga 202). Bonnie and Clyde then had created some importance in the aesthetics. The film was also revolutionary as the characters fought for their rights despite of the existence of the rigid social system (Monaco 182). The Sixties truly was a significant decade in the history as the awareness of people grew during that time. It can be attributed to the “rebellions” the rights and equality being enjoyed by people today. Works Cited Bell, Daniel. The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism. New York: Basic Books, 1978. Print. Boardman, Robert. 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