Counterculture is a Fraud

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For nearly half of a century, fragments of our society have continually made outward attempts to create and popularize movements that try to ‘go against’, ‘take over’ or ‘change’ popular culture; in even more far-fetched examples, ‘change’ society as a whole. This idea, as referred to by Roszak in the 1960’s, is commonly known as “counterculture”. A counterculture movement takes one or multiple social norms from established culture that it is in opposition to, and fights said norms. This idea of “culture jamming”, a term coined by the San Franciso area band Negativland, is built on a hope that a counterculture movement can reshape the norms it tries to destroy, into ones which suit its’ needs and ideologies. In the vast majority of cases, the objective of counterculture has not even remotely been reached; in fact, most attempts have failed miserably, unable to attract even the most minute amount of noteworthy attention or following.
However, not all counterculture movements have failed. Perhaps the three most cited examples of counterculture making a more than negligible impact are the rise of rock and roll music and electric guitars in the early fifties; the hippie, anti-war and free love movements of the late sixties; and the rise of grunge music, along with the attitude of rebellion and freedom of youth in the early nineties. These three movements were anything but failures: they all gave rise to icons – the Elvis Presleys, the Jimi Hendrixes, the Kurt Cobains – who are still revered today; and they all had a transformative impact on society, garnering mass media attention, massive followings, perhaps even bringing change among the masses, and creating ripples which emanated throughout society for years afterwards.
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Hatch, Bill. “In Praise of Hippies and the Counter-Culture.” CounterPunch.org. Web. Weekend Edition, April 12 – 14, 2008. 2013.
Heath, Joseph, and Andrew Potter. The Rebel Sell: Why the culture can’t be jammed. Toronto: HarperCollins, 2004. Print.
Japenga, Ann. “Grunge ‘R Us: Exploiting, Co-opting and Neutralizing the Counter Culture.” Articles.Latimes.com. Web. November 14, 1993. 2013.
Negativland. Over the Edge Vol. 1: JAMCON’84. SST, 1985. Cassette.
Roszak, Theodore. The Making of a Counter Culture: Reflections on the Technocratic Society & Its Youthful Opposition. Oakland: University of California, 1969. Print.
“Volkswagen Bus.” HowStuffWorks.com. Web. 2013.
“What is culture jamming?” InformationActivism.org. Web. 2013.

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