The Sixties

20.1 The Student Movement and the Counterculture

Today’s Agenda

• 20.1 (The Counterculture)

• Homework

• Work on Term Paper

• Test on the Sixties Thurs or Fri

When we think of the Fifties, what words come to mind?

• List Five• Conformity• Consumeris

m• Levittown• Rock and

Roll• Baby Boom• Child-

Centered Society

What is a paradigm? What is a weltanschauung?

“Keep up with the Jones”

Father Knows best

A woman’s place is in the

home.

Conform and be like

everyone else

Move to the suburbs

Trust and Obey

Authority

1950s Paradigm

Assassination of JFK

November 22, 1963

1964Paradigm Shift

What is the Counter Culture?

• Social & Political movement from mid to late 60s

• Culture of the Baby Boomers

• Rejected values of parents, authorities, 1950s Conformists America

• Valued individuality, nonconformity, peace, racial equality

• Voiced discontent in music– Rolling Stones’

Satisfaction

What is the Counter Culture?

When I'm drivin' in my carAnd that man comes on the radioAnd he's tellin' me more and moreAbout some useless informationSupposed to fire my imaginationI can't get no, oh no no noHey hey hey, that's what I sayI can't get no satisfaction

The Stones

What is “The Establishment”?• “The Establishment”

– middleclass values of previous generation

– People that represented power, authority, status quo

– Parents, police, teachers, authorities, The Government• Disparagingly referred to

as “The System”, “The Machine”

• Believed American culture of the 1950s was racist, materialistic

• Division exacerbated by Vietnam War

The Counterculture v. The Establishment

Describe the differences between Counterculture and the Establishment.

Values of Establishment– Conformity

• Product of 1950s– Hardworking

• 9-5 jobs– Materialistic

• Consumerism– Trusted science,

government

Values of Counterculture– Freewheeling

• “Do your own thing.”

– Unconventional occupations

– Minimalist• Take what you

need, share– Trusted inner feelings

over intellect– Deep distrust of

authority

Country Joe and the Fish

What are the origins of the Counterculture?• Free Speech Movement (1964)

– Student protest in Berkley, CA which demanded free speech on college campuses

– Leader Mario Savio claimed universities were part of “The Machine”

• Corporate controlled gov. & universities that taught conformity, obedience

• Typical College Students– White-upper middle class background– Affluent– Idealistic

• Joined Peace Corps, Civil Rights movement

• Became part of the New Left– Radical student political movement– opposed Established authority, racial

discrimination, Vietnam War

There's a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part! You can't even passively take part! And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels…upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop! And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all!

Free Speech Movement 1964

What is the SDS?• Student for a Democratic Society

– Core of radical New Left from University of Michigan

• Port Huron Statement– SDS mission statement– Written by Tom Hayden– Said US was controlled by

governmental, corporate machine that attempted to program the individual

• Called for– Civil Rights & End of atomic

bomb– Greater democracy, free speech

on college campuses, – Later called for end of Vietnam

War

Who were the Hippies?• Most visible and shocking

group of the counterculture• Believed in “free love”

– Sex without love– Encouraged by “The Pill”

• Advocated – Drug use

• Followed guru Timothy Leary’s call for experiments with LSD

• “Turn on, tune in, drop out.”

• Believed drugs opened mind to other realities

– Public nudity

Today’s Agenda

• Finish 19.3

Let’s Review

• Why is November 22, 1963 a paradigm shifting movement in US history?

• What is the Establishment and what are its values?

• What is the counterculture and what are its values?

• What is the Free Speech movement?

Hangouts

Describe City Hangouts.• Most famous

– Haight-Ashbury • Section within San

Francisco– East Village

• Section of NY• coffee houses provided an

empty room with mattresses (Pad)– Anyone could “crash”

there– No regard for sexual or

marital status• “Diggers” operated store with

free clothing• Music, open drug use, street

performances common

Describe Rural Communes.• Isolated counterculture

communities– Tried to set up their “utopian”

society

• Rejected technology, materialistic values of mainstream America

• Praised spontaneity• Rejected rules, order, etc.• Unsuccessful• Overcrowded with

“Weekend Hipsters• No money, no privacy

How did the Counterculture affect Mainstream America?

• Vietnam War– Protest movement

• Diet– Health food, vegetarian, yogurt,

organically grown• Fashion

– Long hair, tied-dyed, patched clothing, beads, sandals

• Music– Rock & Roll

• Folk- Early 60s• Electric- Late 60s

– Beatles, Dylan, Hendrix, The Supremes

• Dance– No partner but within a group

• Reflected counterculture stress of individuality within a group

What was Woodstock?• A Music and Art festival

held in Woodstock, NY (August, 1969)

• Culmination of the counterculture

• Meant to show Establishment greatness of counterculture

• Three Days of Peace and Love

• 32 of best known performers appeared

• Tickets were $24 but concert became free

• 400 thousands attended

The Music

Hendrix at Woodstock

How did the Counterculture affect Art.• Purpose was to

entertain• Poked fun at

Establishment• Andy Warhol

– Created Pop Art– Reproduced

“mass produced” images over and over

– The “gods” of the modern era

– Mocked consumer society

"In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes"