Causes of the Counter-Culture

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Causes of the Counter-Culture As the 1950’s rolled along and the 1960’s came into effect, the world was thrown into a topspin that would soon define every generation of youths. As the trends changed and the music got more complex a deeper metamorphosis was taking place inside every city and every person. To develop a counterculture in the 1960’s there had to be new ideas circulating that were counter-norm. These ideas were not developed right away for any one reason, though. Just like the times, the causes for this counter-culture were far more complex than anyone had seen before in the 20th century. Some could say it was because of a civil rights call or say it was because of the drugs, but I just don’t know if anyone could really pin it to one key cause. World War II was happening as the 1950’s were happening and it soon drew to a close. This brought more men home from the army and thus led to the “Baby boom.” The baby boom was started as part of a security aspect for if there was another war there would still be a child to carry on the name. However, many men from the army just missed their wives and decided to have a few kids. This was a big impact on the 1960’s because those youths involved in the baby boom were starting to become adolescents and young adults as the 1960’s counterculture ideas started. Another aspect of this baby boom was that they didn’t really recognize the hard work that their father had to endure to provide them with a good life. They saw everything getting better, but never understood that things would fall apart if you let it get that way. MacArtheism, an idea in the United States history when everyone was suspected to be a communist, sparked paranoia in everyon... ... middle of paper ... ...an that everyone from this culture could actually experience love, peace, and community for three days. Despite the rain, lack of toiletries and toilets, and lack of food most of the youth at the festival stayed throughout the whole thing. This along with many other things had opened up the youths’ eyes about a near perfect generation and about love. Each generation after the 1960’s has been compared to that generation. Most generations are trying to rekindle those feelings brought around by the 1960’s. Unluckily it has brought around a resurgence of those hard drugs that remain prevalent in the 21st century now. The music has also had a resurgence that has brought around the Grateful Dead and bands influenced by them like Phish, Moe, and Acoustic Hooka. All generations wish to strive to be more like that age when things seemed golden or was it a flashback?

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