Contraindications and fragmentations which ultimately defeated sixties utopia - Book Report/Review Example

Running head: CONTRAINDICATIONS AND FRAGMENTATIONS Contraindications and fragmentations which ultimately defeated sixties utopia Utopia Utopia is the name for an ideal community or society. The book Island written in 1962 by Adous Huxley is about a fictional island named Pala. The island is inhabited by a people that practice the Buddhist lifestyle and are essentially happy. It is an oasis shut off from the rest of the world. There were things that fragmented the society in Pala and like Pala many of the struggles were the same in the 60's. This island possessed a perfect sociopolitical system or so they thought. The sixties were about designing the ideal society or (Utopia). This paper will trace the 60's as they were and discuss the issues that fragmented this culture or this Utopia. The sixties was a time of youth. There were 70 million children from the post war baby boom that became teenagers during this time. It was a time in which everything moved away from the conservatism of the 1950's. Young people wanted change and they got it. There were revolutionary ways of thinking about things and doing things. These changes affected everything around them including education, values, lifestyles, law and entertainment, change was in the air but it became quickly obvious that some of that change would be painful. Artistic style was upheaval art or assemblage and kinetic abstract. This was socially different and more colorful than art that came before it. It showed the times, drugs, free living, and psychedelic colors (Kimmelman, 1994). Literature reflected what was happening in the political and social arenas. Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird reflected race relations and the many problems that came with it. Maya Angelou became popular for the first time and so did Margaret Alexander. The feminists were protesting and Mary McCarthy wrote the Feminine Mystique. Then there was Catch 22 and One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest which attempted to show the disillusionment of the times. It becomes clear from this that even in the literature and art there was some fragmentation. Utopia is perfect but to read To Kill a Mockingbird will tell you that things were not perfect. The goal of course was to make it that way and the youth of this day would attempt it (Jeffries, 2006). Young people far outnumbered the adults of the day and they were not in any way happy with the establishment. This showed in the writings of Marshall McLuhan in the Global Village and n Gutenburgs's Galaxy and the Understanding Media. The Peter Principle, of course had to come out in the 60's, it would only make sense. It was written by Lawrence Peter and showed the incompetence of business as he saw it in 1963. Children's books that were written in the 60"s are still famous. Where the Wild Things Are, Island of the Blue Dolphins, and a Wrinkle in Time were all written during that time. Of course, there is much discourse on what they really mean (Pescosolido, Grauerholtz, Milkie, 1997). Music by Bobby Darin, Neil Sedadka, Jerry Lee Lewis, Paul Anka and Frankie Avelon were popular. Then there was Joan Baez, Smoky Robinson, James Brown and Jimi Hendrix. Peter Paul and Mary, the Beach Boys and the Beatles followed as well as psychedelic rock, Jefferson Airplane, and The Grateful Dead (Moore, 1997). Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds was a very popular song by the Beatles in which the story of a young woman on a trip with LSD is told. It seems during the song that the world is probably better by using the drug. The sixties brought wide spread use of illicit drugs, primarily hallucinogenic, marijuana, and LSD. LSD was actually still legal in this country until 1966. There were acid Gurus such as Timothy Leary and Ken Kesey who told of how minds would be released for better things and the function of learning would be worlds better (Cranshaw, 2005). They also talked of a new society, one where capitalism was no longer important. One where people could live the way the wanted to and be happy. It is noted that in Island, the Pala's also believed that hallucinogenic drugs helped in the attempt to educate and be happy and certainly in all of his books and essays, Huxley did. Overnight LSD and marijuana were common place. Many of the Hippies and kids on campus looked to the Native Americans and their ceremonies with Peyote as good reasoning for the drugs they used. They believed there was a higher more powerful way to live and the drugs would help and drugs helped them believe they were living for today. Part of the drug culture was the music of Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. Both died of drug overdoses. The slogan for the 60's was sex, drugs, and rock and roll. However, with the drug movement was the belief that Utopia did exist and the irony is that drugs were part of the reason it did not happen. Conflict comes to all people. Huxley said, "In framing an ideal we may assume what we wish, but should avoid impossibilities" (Huxley, 1989). In other words perfection is impossible. In Island, Huxley discusses education, culture and the uniqueness of humanness in pursuiting a visionary experience and self transcendence. The underlying theme is the importance of coupling the strengths of and omitting the weaknesses of Western and Eastern cultures. This meant to keep only the best of both. However, in all of this freedom and happiness, a member of the society of Pala says, "suffocating freedom of a telephone booth". Possibly this kind of freedom is not what it seems. The major conflict noted in Pala is the struggle of the laymen of Pala to maintain their Buddhist lifestyle while the Rani seeks to create economic gain for his country through industrialism and militarism. Could this be the struggle of the 1960's Was Huxley so astute as to figure this out so early There were certainly conflicts in what is often thought of as the perfection of the 60's. What is it that created the greatest conflict in this real world The Vietnam lottery drawing was the first since 1942 and was held the first time on December 1st 1969. It determined the order in which young men would be called to duty to serve in a war that no one seemed to understand, in a time when this was not supposed to happen in this society. There were 366 blue plastic containers with day of birth placed in large glass containers and drawn by hand (Poole, 2010). Call numbers were assigned to young men between the ages of 18-25. Most of them went, some dodged the draft, and some were released for various reasons. The war was a direct contradiction to the belief of these students who wanted to build Utopia and to the beliefs of the hippies and flower children of the time. Hippies completely opposed any violence and Zen Buddhism was very popular. The centers for Hippie culture were Haight Ashbury in San Francisco and East Village in New York. In both places Hippies lived in communes within these communities. In conflict with that was, similar to Pala, the conflict of militarism and the capitalistic reasons for that. The sixties generation were then and many are now isolationists. They believed their world could be maintained better in isolation from the rest of the world. The Hippie generation wanted nothing more but to live for today but the Vietnam War happened despite all this. This war created conflicts between family members and generations and certainly between the government and the people. Who was right Who knows It was the beginning of the crack in the Utopian society. The Viet Nam War actually began its move forward into history in 1945. Then Truman committed troops to Korea in 1953, followed by the first battle in Vietnam by Americans in 1965. 200,000 young American troops joined the battle. In 1968, General Westmorland requested 206,000 more troops (Poole, 2010). Robert Kennedy was assassinated in 1968 and Richard Nixon became President. In 1969, Nixon began secretly bombing Cambodia. Then in 1970, the Kent State incident occurred. National Guard troops opened fire on a group of students on Kent State campus after student's hurled rocks and empty canisters from the tear gas that had been shot at them. Four students were killed and eight others were wounded. Nixon stated in response, "when dissent turns to violence it invites tragedy." Here we see a second conflict. This generation is torn between the compensation of education and doing what is expected and the love of the new lifestyle of living for today. War and death on campus forces an unrest in the thought so of this group. Can you die in protest and die in war and continue to believe that your world is, live for today, and all is perfect The third conflict follows at its heals in the sense of living away from the effects of the rest of the world. How do you do this in a world at war or even a world in conflict 1966 saw forced busing for integration. The Civil rights movement with Martin Luther King and Stockey Carmichael leading the sit ins and peaceful protests were happening. Malcolm X on Black Nationalism and Cesar Chavez organized Hispanics in the United Farm Workers Association. American Indians asserted themselves in the courts. The Presidents Commission on the status of women happened in 1963 (Klinger, 2009). This all changed the fabric of society and still echoes in the minds of the public today. Civil Rights could probably be seen as moving toward Utopia or a rightful society but it was also a bloody and violent time in this country. Peaceful protestors like Martin Luther King were there but so were those that hung young black men just for being black. In conclusion, the sixties was a time of great conflict. Many of the questions posed then by many of the greats including Aldous Huxley and others still have not been resolved. The generation that struggled with those conflicts continues to struggle with them even so many years later. This is an age that housed the Hippies with Peace and Love and live for today, the use of psychedelic drugs, and Zen Buddhists. At the same time there was the Vietnam War, Feminism and Civil Rights. .Marianne DeKoven in Utopia Limited (2004), describes it as "while the sixties represents, on the one hand, the attempt of people to live free from the constraints of society and to fight for justice and equity, it also means, on the other, the experiences that the impulses to live out emancipation create new or similar forms of constraint.". Utopia, in Island disappears in a nightmare and in the 60's it disappeared among the misgivings of conflict. How does one go to war and maintain the Eastern philosophy How does one support themselves and live only for today and how does one realistically approach the world when their mind is affected by psycodelic drugs The sixties grew up and with it so did Utopia. In the minds of most that lived those times, Utopia still exists and so do the struggles and conflicts. Bibliography Brunwasser, M. (2009). Digging the Age of Aquarius. Archeology. 62(4). 30-33. Cranshaw, J., Gupta, k., Cook, J, (2005). Drugs and the 60's. American Sociological Review. 72(6). 320-26. DeKoven, M. (2004). Utopia Limited: The Sixties and the Emergence of the Postmodern. Durham NC: Duke University Press. Alexander, M., (1967). The sexual Paradise of LSD. North Hollywood. Brandon House,. Kimmelman, M. (1994). Three 60's Art Stars Rise and Shine Again. New York Times p. 15. Kliger, S., (2009).The aging of Aquarius. USA today. Available at http://www.ebsco host.com Kovach, J. (2009). Hippies need soft skin too. Archeology. 62(5). May, K. (1993). Accepting the Universe: The "Rampion-Hypothesis" in Point Counter Point and Island. Brigham Young Polytecnic. 418. More, Thomas (1516). New Island Utopia. Elbron Classics series. Published 2005 with Original publish 1895 by Cassel & Co: London-Paris-Melborne. Moore, D., (1997). From the 60's American Record Guide 62(6). 244 Pescosolido, B, Grauerholtz, e. Milkie, M. (1997). Culture and conflict; The portrayal of Blacks in U.S. childrens books through the mid and late twentieth century. American Sociological Review. 62(3). 443-464. Poole, R. (2010). The Last Unkown. Military History. 26(5). 44-49. Jeffries, J. (2006). One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest: A portrait of despair in one dimension. Film Criticism. 1(1) 23-26 Read More