1960s COUNTERCULTURE

What is Counterculture?

• A way of life or set of attitudes
• At variance with the mainstream
• Usually youthful
• Usually challenging
• Usually instigates change

The Mainstream

• Survivors of WWII
• 1950s mentality
• Plenty of fear
• Critical of youth
• Concerned about technology

Where did the counterculture come from?

• The Beats
• 1940s-60s underground scene
• New York, Denver, San Francisco
• Spurned social norms and materialism
• Zen, Literature, Drug use, Travel

The Beats Disappear

• Couldn't cope with publicity
• Moved to Mexico, Russia, etc
• Drug problems
• Disappeared by 1965-ish

Hippies

• Red Dog Saloon, Nevada
• Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters
• Timothy Leary and the Acid Tests
• Anti-War Protests
• Festivals - Family Dog, Trips Festival, Happenings

Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters

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Timothy Leary

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How did hippies rebel?

• "Turn on, tune in, drop out"
• Events e.g. Human Be-In
• Free love and personal freedom
• Natural and simple lifestyle
• The Summer of Love (1968)

Politics

• Anti-war
• Anti government, business, religion
• Yippies - Political arm of counterculture
• 1967 march on Washington - levitation
• Biggest protest in US history in 1969

Locations

• Started in New York - folk music
• Moved to Laurel Canyon Los Angeles
• Then to San Francisco - Haigh Ashbury
• Died out here by 1970 - heroin
• Many communes in surrounding areas

The Reaction

• Critiqued by older generations and real radicals
• Survivors of Depression and WWII
• Hippies did not work or contribute
• Raising children without structure
• No real political or revolutionary understanding

Questions

• What changed in the 1960s?
• Who changed it?
• How?
• Who resisted change? Why?
• Which changes had the most lasting impact?