Question by Stephanie: What exactly do they mean by counterculture?
I am reading a book about the sixties and I have to write an essay, in the essay I have to answer the question “Do you believe the counterculture had a positive or negative impact on our culture during the sixties” what exactly do they mean by this and what exactly is considered the ‘counterculture’
Best answer:
Answer by Frosty
counterculture is a culture that is the opposite of the generally accepted culture. The counterculture of the 60’s had a negative impact on our culture because it introduced drugs to the mainstream of young people. It invited them to “tune out, turn on” and drop out. You can look up articles on this phenomenon to flesh out your essay. Check out Jimi hendrix, Janis Joplin, hippies, flower children, etc.
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
The phrase “tune in drop out” was by Timothy Leary, he was probably CIA. So in fact, what appears to be counterculture in that instance, was actually planned. The CIA were extremely interested in the effects of drugs such as LSD and the effects they caused on individuals. The use of psychedelic drugs has long been implemented throughout civilisation, to give the individual greater insight into themselves and the world. Of course, in the wrong hands, these drugs can be abused for insidious purposes.
In terms of the music created however, I would say that was profoundly beneficial. Musicians of the 60s continue to have a profound impact upon music of today.
The influence of Artists such as Andy Warhol can still be found today also, much has been adopted by today’s mainstream, in particular by advertisement companies.
Terrence Mckenna once said “Culture is your operating system”
The conscientious objectors to The Vietnamese war, could be seen as the counter culture, for they dodged the supposedly “patriotic” draft, in favour of peace. When you consider how poorly the troops were to be later treated, one may consider the actions of the counterculture were Right On.
Books such as The Electric Kool Aid Acid Tests are a good point of research.
I recommend reading about:
The Merry Pranksters
Timothy Leary
Woodstock
Here is a quote from Wikipedia
“Although distinct counter cultural undercurrents have existed in many societies, here the term refers to a more significant, visible phenomenon that reaches critical mass, flowers, and persists for a period of time. A counter cultural movement expresses the ethos, aspirations, and dreams of a specific population during an era—a social manifestation of zeitgeist. It is important to distinguish between “counterculture,” “subculture,” and “fringe culture”.”
Counterculture: a culture, as that of many young people of the 1960s and 1970s, manifested by a lifestyle that is opposed to the prevailing culture…
I always looked at the counterculture as one big party of young people from the middle class being supported by mommy and daddy. The were suppose to be getting an education, but were have way to much fun smoking pot, dropping acid, rioting on and off campus, and having sex. It all came crashing down about 1973/75. Mommy and daddy got tired of paying for the fun and all that free love had produced a bunch of little babies that had to be fed and kept in diapers. Suddenly the kids had to pay for all those material things they pretended to disdain, but were never forced to live without and mommy and daddy’s old fashioned values started looking better and better. In less then a decade the hippie generation of peace and love became the “me” generation of yuppies.
The counter culture was not really organized, per se.
They felt they were non-conformist for the most part and basically adopted blue jeans as their uniform. (If you are a non-conformist, then any uniform – even if denim – is not really being non-coforming.) Music – especially the genre called ‘protest’ music decried the sins of the then ‘older generation’. Protests were made against the draft in the United States, and the War in VietNam. There were some who were Marxist in persuasion and extremely utopian in outlook.
Possibly one outcome was in race relations where you see people of all ethnic backgrounds engaging in projects (protests) as one.
Also, women were among them and had a voice as well as listeners to that voice.
There were those who used such drugs as LSD and marijuana, but by no means did every member of the ‘counter culture’ so engage.
Some religious cult leaders such as David Berg took advantage of naive members of the counter culture, especially women and convinced them he (and his theology) were offshoots of all they already stood for.