The Hallucinatory Effects Of The Counterculture In The 1960s

During the 1960s, the society was going through an enormous change in every aspect. A few of these include movements related to counterculture, drugs, youth movement, and generation gap. As the course material implies, “the counterculture refers to a movement against the way of life represented by mainstream culture” (1). It gave birth to a new generation of people like the hippies, who were mostly into drugs and it also gave birth to a new genre of music called “”folk and rock”. A few songs which illustrate the sixties are “The Times They Are a-Changin” by Bob Dylan, “For What It’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield, “Heroin” by The Velvet Underground, and “The Pusher” by Steppenwolf. These songs portray a clear indication to what was happening

John Storey’s text, Rockin’ Hegemony: West Coast Rock an Amerika’s War in Vietnam, outlines the West Coast counterculture movement in 1960’s. Storey divides the movement into three sections including counterculture, resistance, and incorporation and puts forth the blueprint that resulted in the movement’s failure, plus the later rebirth of legacies all while using Gramsci’s theories of hegemony. The West Coast counterculture was a social movement with students and cultural groupings ranging in age from eighteen to twenty-five, from a middle class background, who attempted to establish a non-competitive, non-aggressive ‘alternative’ community from 1965 to 1970. The movement was built on dual parts of political attitudes, generally on war, more

The counterculture movement started in the 1960s causing California to start another trend. The countercultural movement rejected the “Establishment’s” business-world values, and urged a mix of non-materialism, Asian religions, “free love,” and experimentation

The early 1960’s to mid 1970s was the start of the counterculture of youth culture. During the 1960’s, there were revolutions including a sexual revolution, a cultural/ racial revolution, a rights revolution, and student revolutions. In addition to revolutions, there also a focus on the transition to adulthood, popularity, consumption, anxiety, and the media. However the movie, American Graffiti, which was set in the 1962 (1960s)–before the peak of 1960’s counterculture–and released in 1973 (1970’s) displays an environment more focused on the anxiety of transitioning to adulthood, dating, and consumerism--music and cars. American Graffiti compared to the set and release dates share similarities with the counterculture, but are depicted in

Three key events that can be related to the dramatic change in views towards societal mores is the ‘Beat Movement’, the Nuclear Arms race and increased college enrolment. Firstly, the ‘Beat Movement’ was a movement during the 1950s that was initial conspired by writers and artist of the time and criticized American society’s values of “conformity over independence and financial gain over spiritual and social advancement,” (). Alongside these voiced opinions against society a new recurring uneasiness towards the future was being shared amongst the youth as American Government raced against Russia in the Nuclear Arms Race. Finally, a newly favoured sense of freedom and independence occurred as an increase in college enrolment created an environment in which the baby boomers shared similar fears and feelings towards society and its future. These three key events alongside advance in media and events such as the Tet Offense (Vietnam War) and release of the Pentagon papers allowed for people to begin question the government especially “by the end of the decade… [as] Americans… lost much of their innocence and optimism…. The escalating Vietnam War, which was taking the lives of thousands of American soldiers and countless Vietnamese every

Hippie drug use was more than just use, it was the practice of psychedelic drugs, in order to spread love and happiness. Some of the many drugs hippies used were LSD (acid), mushrooms, DMT, marijuana, amphetamines, and narcotics. Hippies most often used the drugs and others that fall into the psychedelic hallucinogenic category. Hippies were referred to as “drug using counterculture shared belief in better living through chemistry” (Wesson). The hallucinogen drugs were for mind-expansion, seeing the world through colors. All in order to get crazy high to spread love, peace, and happiness. This was more of a spiritual practice for hippies. The easiest and most common way for them to use these drugs was by rolling them in paper and smoking them. As one can see, the drug use in the hippie culture was a very important toll for the peace, love, and happiness aspect of the culture.

The primary drug user in the 1960s was the male college student involved in politics. Richard Flacks states "The increasingly common use of marijuana and psychedelic and mood-manipulating drugs on college campuses and among youth in general needs no documentation."8 Lance Christie, a drug researcher, said "A student who bought into the drug culture in the 1960s was buying into an elitist high-performance group."9

For the first time in American history, a large population of people of all ages, classes, and races came together to challenge the traditional institutions, traditional values in society, and "the establishment" in general. Youth, women, ethnic minorities, environmentalists, migrant workers and others caused the emergence of the counter culture. This cultural movement from 1960 to 1973 was caused by many factors. This era was one that was filled with many important events that shaped the way that Americans viewed life. Those who were unhappy with what was going on around them and took part in this social phenomenon reflected and demonstrated their attitudes, values, and ideals in many ways. Various things from

As the 1950’s rolled along and the 1960’s came into effect, the world was thrown into a topspin that would soon define every generation of youths. As the trends changed and the music got more complex a deeper metamorphosis was taking place inside every city and every person. To develop a counterculture in the 1960’s there had to be new ideas circulating that were counter-norm. These ideas were not developed right away for any one reason, though. Just like the times, the causes for this counter-culture were far more complex than anyone had seen before in the 20th century. Some could say it was because of a civil rights call or say it was because of the drugs, but I just don’t know

     Counterculture in the 1960’s sprung from a desire of primarily young people to rebel against the conformities of the

On the one hand, the civil rights movement was a must priority; and on the other, the hippies were well aware of the costs to society. This created a "counterculture" that sparked a social revolution throughout much of the Western world. It began in the United States as a reaction against the conservatism and social conformity of the 1950s, and the intervention of the U.S. government into Vietnam. The youth involved in the popular social aspects of the counterculture movement became well known and publicized in music, media, and the arts. As groups (the hippies) created a movement toward liberation in society, including the sexual revolution, questioning authority and government, and demanding more freedoms and rights for women and minorities. The Underground Press, a widespread, diverse assortment of newspapers served as a unifying medium for the counterculture. The movement was also marked by the first widespread, socially accepted drug use (including LSD and marijuana) and psychedelic

The peaceful life of the English society of the 1960s was struck by the clashes between the Mods and Rockers. Both Mods and Rockers were called “gangs”, which is a “structure sharing the same ideas, attachments and solidarity” [7]. Every gang usually has its own “interests, activities, membership, and status” [7]. Usually such groups appear spontaneously. Both gangs - Mods and Rockers - “represented opposite tastes with regard to a number of social conventions such as clothing, grooming, music, and so on” [7]. For example, the Mods (modernists) preferred to wear suits and pointed shoes, listen to Jazz and Rhythm & Blues style of music and ride scooters. In their

The author is a young man who obliviously is not self-effacing about his own usage and enjoyment of drugs. He used LSD, which in the fall of 2001 he realized that he had not seen the drug in ages and it was nowhere to be found; not for others or even for himself and statistics showed the decrease of the acid and its usage also. Dissatisfied with the situation He went to see his friend, Professor Peter Reuter who is a

Throughout American history, the countercultures have greatly influenced the societies of their respective eras. The Quakers, the Harlem Renaissance participants, and the Hippies have had an immense impact on American culture. This impact is especially apparent in the political actions and art一audio and visual一of the countercultures’ respective times.

The “hippies” of the 1960s had many effects on the American society. The visual appearance and lifestyle of the hippies were in sharp contrast to the conservative nature of the older generation, which defined them as a counterculture. The hippie lifestyle was based on free love, rock music, shared property, and drug experimentation. They introduced a new perspective on drugs, freedom of expression, appearance, music, attitudes toward work, and held a much more liberal political view than mainstream society.