Counterculture of The 1960s - Background

Background

The Cold War between communist states and capitalist states involved espionage on a global scale, along with political and military interference in the internal affairs of less powerful nations. Poor outcomes from some of these activities set the stage for disillusionment with, and distrust of, post-war governments. Examples included harsh Soviet Union responses to popular anti-communist uprisings, such as the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and Czechoslovakia's Prague Spring in 1968, as well as the botched U.S. Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba in 1961. In the U.S., President Dwight D. Eisenhower's initial deception over the nature of the 1960 U-2 incident resulted in the government being caught in a blatant lie at the highest levels, and created a backdrop for a growing distrust of authority among many who came of age during the period. The Partial Test Ban Treaty divided the establishment within the U.S along political and military lines. Internal political disagreements concerning treaty obligations in Southeast Asia (SEATO), especially in Vietnam, and debate as to how other communist insurgencies should be challenged, also created a rift of dissent within the establishment. The Cuban Missile Crisis brought the nation, and the world, to the brink of nuclear war in October, 1962. The assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy in November, 1963, and the attendant conspiracy theories concerning the event, led to further diminished trust in government, especially among young people.

Several factors distinguished the counterculture of the 1960s from the authority-opposition movements of previous eras. The post-war "baby boom" constituted an unprecedented number of young, affluent, and potentially disaffected people as prospective participants in a rethinking of the direction of American and other democratic societies. Widespread use of marijuana and psychoactive drugs contributed to this reevaluation, and a confluence of events and issues served as an intellectual catalyst for exceptionally rapid change during the era.

In the western world, the ongoing criminal legal status of the recreational drug industry was instrumental in the formation of an anti-establishment social dynamic by those coming of age during the counterculture era. The explosion of marijuana use during the era, in large part by students on fast-expanding college campuses, created an attendant need for increasing numbers of people to conduct their personal affairs in secret in the procurement and use of banned substances. The pharmaceutically-false classification of marijuana as a narcotic, and the attachment of often outrageous criminal penalties for its use, drove the simple act of smoking marijuana, and experimentation with substances in general, deep underground. Many began to live largely clandestine lives only because of their choice to use certain substances, and their fear of retribution from their own governments. In a recapitulation of the American alcohol prohibition disaster, otherwise law-abiding citizens in democracies worldwide became nominal criminals as a result of their private behavior. Meanwhile, older citizens with political influence directed law enforcement officials to fight drug wars against a generation of young people whose values and motives were often misunderstood. The increasingly-sophisticated underground drug trade grew to provide haven for the concurrently growing network of anti-war and other activists also operating in fear of government reprisal.

Other sociological issues fueled the growth of the larger counterculture movement. One was an influential nonviolent movement in the United States seeking to resolve Constitutional civil rights illegalities, especially regarding general racial segregation, the lack of voting rights among Southern blacks, and the existing segregation in the purchasing of homes or rental housing in the North. On college and university campuses, student activists fought for the right to exercise their basic Constitutional rights, especially freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. Many counterculture activists became newly aware of the ongoing plight of the poor, and community organizers fought for the funding of anti-poverty programs, particularly within inner city areas in the United States.

Environmentalism grew from a greater understanding of the ongoing damage caused by industrialization, resultant pollution, and the misguided use of chemicals such as pesticides in well-meaning efforts to improve the quality of life for the rapidly growing population. Authors such as Rachel Carson played key roles in developing a new awareness among the world's population of the fragility of planet earth, despite resistance from elements of the establishment in many countries

The need to address minority rights of women, gays, the handicapped, and many other neglected constituencies within the larger population came to the forefront as an increasing number of primarily younger people broke free from the constraints of 1950s orthodoxy in a desire to create a more inclusive and tolerant social landscape.

The availability of new and more effective forms of birth control was a key underpinning of the sexual revolution. The notion of "recreational sex" without the threat of unwanted pregnancy radically changed the social dynamic and permitted both women and men much greater freedom in the selection of sexual lifestyles outside the confines of traditional marriage. With this change in attitude, by the 1990s the ratio of children born out of wedlock rose from 5% to 25% for Whites and from 25% to 66% for African-Americans.

For those born after World War II, the role of television as a source of entertainment and information, as well as the attendant massive expansion of consumerism afforded by post-war affluence and encouraged by TV advertising, were key components in youthful disillusionment and the formulation of new social behaviours. In America, near-real-time TV news coverage of the civil rights era's Birmingham Campaign, the "Bloody Sunday" event of the Selma to Montgomery marches, and largely unedited news footage from Vietnam brought the bloody reality of armed conflict into living rooms for the first time.

The breakdown of enforcement of the American Hays Code concerning censorship in motion picture production, the use of new forms of artistic expression in European and Asian cinema, and the advent of modern production values heralded a new era of art-house, pornographic, and American mainstream film production, distribution, and exhibition. The end of censorship resulted in a complete reformation of the western film industry. With new-found artistic freedom, a generation of exceptionally talented "New Wave" film makers working across all genres brought realistic depictions of previously prohibited subject matter to neighborhood theater screens for the first time, even as Hollywood film studios were still considered a part of the establishment by some elements of the counterculture.

Previously under-regarded FM radio became a focal point for the explosion of Rock and Roll music, and youth-oriented news and advertising for the counterculture generation.

Communes, collectives, and intentional communities regained popularity during this era. Early communities, such as the Hog Farm in the United States and Findhorn in Europe were established as straightforward agrarian attempts to return to the land and live free of interference from outside influences. As the era progressed, many people established and populated new communities in response to not only disillusionment with standard community forms, but also dissatisfaction with certain elements of the counterculture itself. Some of these self-sustaining communities have been credited with the birth and propagation of the international Green Movement.

The emergence of an interest in expanded spiritual consciousness, yoga, occult practices and increased human potential helped to shift views on organized religion during the era. In 1957, 69% of Americans polled by Gallup said religion was increasing in influence. By the late 1960s, polls indicated less than 20% still held that belief.

The "Generation Gap," or the inevitable perceived divide in worldview between the old and young, was perhaps never greater than during the counterculture era. A large measure of the generational chasm of the 1960s and early 1970s was born of rapidly evolving fashion and hairstyle trends that were readily adopted by the young, but often misunderstood and ridiculed by the old. These included the wearing of very long hair by men, the wearing of natural or "Afro" hairstyles by Blacks, the donning of revealing clothing by women in public, and the mainstreaming of the psychedelic clothing and regalia of the short-lived hippie culture. Ultimately, practical and comfortable casual apparel, namely updated forms of T-shirts (often tie-dyed, or emblazoned with political or advertising statements), and Levi Strauss-branded blue denim jeans became the enduring uniform of the generation. The fashion dominance of the counterculture effectively ended with the rise of the Disco and Punk Rock eras in the later 1970s, even as the global popularity of T-shirts and Levis has continued to grow.

The often violent confrontations between college students (and other activists) and law enforcement officials became one of the hallmarks of the era. Many younger people began to show deep distrust of police, and terms such as “fuzz” and “pig” as derogatory euphemisms for police became part of the counterculture lexicon. This distrust was based not only on fear of police brutality during political protests, but also on generalized police corruption — especially police manufacture of false evidence, and outright entrapment, in drug cases. The social tension between the counterculture and law enforcement reached the breaking point in many notable cases: the Columbia University protests of 1968 in New York City, the 1968 Democratic National Convention protests in Chicago, the arrest and imprisonment of John Sinclair in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the Kent State shootings at Kent State University in Ohio.

The Vietnam War, and the protracted national divide between supporters and opponents of the war, were arguably the most important factors contributing to the rise of the larger counterculture movement. The widely-accepted assertion that anti-war opinion was predominantly held only among the young is a myth, but enormous war protests consisting of thousands of mostly younger people in every major American city effectively united millions of Americans against the war, and against the war policy that prevailed under five congresses and during two presidential administrations. The era essentially commenced in earnest with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. It ended with the termination of U.S. combat military involvement in the communist insurgencies of Southeast Asia and the end of the military draft in 1973, and ultimately with the resignation of disgraced President Richard M. Nixon in August, 1974.

Many key movements were born of, or were advanced within, the counterculture of the 1960s. Each movement is relevant to the larger era. The most important stand alone, irrespective of the larger counterculture.