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“We are here to make a better world. No amount of rationalization or blaming can preempt the moment of choice each of us brings to our situation here on this planet. The lesson of the 60s is that people who cared enough to do right could change history. We didn’t end racism but we ended legal segregation. We ended the idea that you could send half-a-million soldiers around the world to fight a war that people do not support. We ended the idea that women are second-class citizens. We made the environment an issue that couldn’t be avoided. The big battles that we won cannot be reversed. We were young, self-righteous, hypocritical, brave, silly, headstrong and scared half to death. And we were right.” ~Abbie Hoffman The sixties were the age for youth, as 70 million children from the post-World War II baby boom became teenagers and young adults. (Roszak, 4). The movement of these young people away from their parent’s conservative views resulted in revolutionary ways and thinking. No longer content with being mirrors of their parent’s generation, these people wanted change. These changes brought about a culture unlike any before. They were youth with a voice and some of their ideas were successful. Many of the revolutionary ideas that began in the sixties are still alive today. The attitudes of the 1950’s were democratic, faithful in the all-powerful government and very Christian-centered. (Psychedelic Sixties, 3). The people coming of age with these attitudes, however, were not content with them. (Melville, 10). The economy was booming, fueled by America’s success in the war and the surge for families to provide for themselves. This caused many people to be economically stable enough to want change. Generally, one must be economically stable to care about the stability of others. More teenagers than ever were going to college. This meant a more well-educated generation than ever before was coming of age. “By 1968, 1 in every 2 baby boomers attended some form of higher education” (Roszak, 15). People began to lose faith in the government. This was fueled by the war in Vietnam as well as nuclear testing and civil rights. The war made people question not only the American government, (called the “Establishment”) but also all 20th century democratic views. (Roszak, 21). No one understood why we were pushing democracy on the world. Capitalism and democracy were blamed for the ills of society; pollution, the Vietnam War, and poverty. (20th Century American Culture, 2). Many people became concerned about the health effects of nuclear testing. (20th Century American Culture, 2). They were successful in getting a ban on aboveground testing in 1963. (20th Century American Culture, 3). The radioactive material Strontium 90 was even found in American’s drinking milk, which caused even more distrust. (20th Century American Culture, 3). Even the struggle by African Americans to gain freedom and equality caused a questioning of the authority of the American government. Medical and scientific discoveries also fueled the 60’s counterculture. Medical experiments in Switzerland created the psychedelic drug, LSD, which was popular in the 1960’s. (Wolfe, 11). Musicians used it to create a deeper meaning to their music and people used it to look deeper into themselves. Marijuana, previously a “working class drug,” also became more widely used as youth looked for a way out. (Wolfe, 12). These drugs allowed a person to step outside of themselves and society, so they forced a person to question mainstream society.
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