Counter Culture
“My generation’s apathy. I’m disgusted with it. I’m disgusted with my own apathy too, for being spineless and not always standing up against racism, sexism and all those other -isms the counterculture has been whining about for years.” – Kurt Cobain.
Some people think that the 1960s was a time where the youth of America rebelled. These people believe this was a time of disobedient humans who hugged trees and spun around to loud music. They believed this was a place where every life was lived through sayings of “go with the flow, man” and “far out, dude.” These people may be partially right about this 1960s culture, but they are missing the big part of the picture that founded this movement called The Counter Culture.
“A lot of the public thinks of us as dope-smoking, drunk hippies and we’re not.” – Darrin Walters.
He is referring to the common stereotype that the hippies of the ’60s get labeled with whenever this era is brought up. Well, a lot of these people are sadly mistaken. According to Answer.com, counterculture means, “A Culture, especially of young people, with values or lifestyles in opposition to those of the established culture.” The Counter Culture was a time when young America became fed up with our country’s government and demanded the truth. They rebelled towards acceptance of individuality and freedom.
The Counter Culture was a movement that was tired of the white picket fence, “Leave It to Beaver” kind of lifestyle. They wanted complete independence and equal rights. These hippies weren’t just about music festivals and hallucinogenics, they were about living a life of unity and peace with one another. The Counter Culture opposed the Vietnam war and refused the Draft if it came their way. This wasn’t just to disagree with the establishment, but to live by what they preached… PEACE. What made the Counter Culture era such a moving experience was the loud music, the political protests, and the united idea of young Americans truly living a life of freedom.
1st reason: Music reflected this rebellion of social liberties and freedoms that the counter culture lived by. This was a free thinking era that relied on music as a basic form of communication. They wanted freedom of expression to be the primary language of this culture. Music festivals are 2 or more days of camping outside to live music with a community of people who shared the same taste. These Festivals were a cool and common way people united, no matter their political or social views. Not only was the music a big part of this culture, but the peace protests were also. The biggest concert in our country’s history was Woodstock 1969. It was an arts & music festival who’s organizers only prepared for 50,000 and ended up with over 400,000 hippies walking and hitchhiking there. This was the biggest peace rally our country has every held. There were 2 deaths caused by self-induced overdoses, but there were also 2 births.
One of the creators of Woodstock said, “Musicians and audience members pulled together as a near-communal whole, and what easily could have been a disaster, turned into perhaps the most important validation of the hippie lifestyle of the entire counterculture.”
The final reason defining the counter culture as a moving experience was the overall lifestyle these individuals came together to live. Everyone was searching for their own individuality, while working on uniting a culture of freedom. Hippies formed a foundation of truth to live their lives, and this honest routine reflected what the true meaning of “moving to your own drum beat” really was. This was the culture of difference and change. The Counter Culture.
M. Mc. Rawls
