The book by author Abbie Hoffman titled Revolution for the Hell of It was originally published in 1968. Abbie Hoffman is known for being a political/social activist and co-founder of Youth International Party that he referred to as YIPPIE. Abbie Hoffman is also called an anarchist but he would never believe in such an idea because everything he did was on a whim or impulse. Hoffman openly admits his drug use and “trips” throughout the book; adding a dimension to his perspective and experiences. This book revolves around the years 1967 and 1968 and the many protests that happened during those years. These are Hoffman’s accounts and beyond the LSD in his system there is an overwhelming sense of chaos during these protests. Hoffman does not believe in war, politics, government, or any form of establishment. Hoffman says, “you bet your ass this country is involved in an evil war. I’d never have to leave my seat to know that, never have to read a …show more content…
Some of the groups he mentions in his book Revolution for the Hell of It would be the Flower Brigade (which marched in the Support Our Boys in Vietnam parade), a group called Diggers (that fought against racial inequality), and of course YIPPIE that Hoffman helped create. Hoffman utilized each group to find areas that he could fight in defense of what he believed in- often against racism and police brutality due to racism. Hoffman created the group YIPPIE (Youth International Party) to draw the media’s attention to these protests which would spread the information across the country easily. Not every protest was as large as the Pentagon protest, some were simply about being allowed in the park until curfew without police violently removing people based on race. The issue of race is an important detail of this book and in Hoffman’s encounters, he points out the direct inequalities that are being subjected on himself and
Comparing the Books, Destructive Generation: Second Thoughts About the Sixties and The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage
The book we read in class was called Anthem by Ayn Rand. This book is about a society that is corrupt in many ways. A couple of ways it’s corrupt is because there is no individualism and they are a very slowly moving society. It took them a long time just to make candles, nowadays candles are made very fast and simple. The government has made it so that the progress of technology is slow and not progressing. None of the people in the town have an actual name, they are known as robots or as a group. Like one of the main characters name is Equality 7-2521. Equality is a street sweeper in this society and is not like any of the other people. He is smart, strong, self-centered and curious. Another character that Equality falls in love with is Liberty 5-3000. She is a peasant that gives Equality water when they are not supposed to talk to each other. Equality’s best friend and only friend is International 4-8818. He helped Equality find the tunnel and kept it a secret from the rest of the society. Equality later names himself Prometheus and Liberty, The Golden One and later on at the house Gaea. Ayn Rand renames them Prometheus and Gaea because they are very much like these gods from Greek mythology. Later on, they run into the Forbidden Forest together to start a new life for them and for the future. They find a house with many books and Equality reads them to discover “I”. That is when Equality 7-2421 renames himself Prometheus and Liberty 5-3000, Gaea.
The Sixties, by Terry H. Anderson, takes the reader on a journey through one of the most turbulent decades in American life. Beginning with the crew-cut conformity of 1950s Cold War culture and ending with the transition into the uneasy '70s, Anderson notes the rise of an idealistic generation of baby boomers, widespread social activism, and revolutionary counterculture. Anderson explores the rapidly shifting mood of the country with the optimism during the Kennedy years, the liberal advances of Johnson's "Great Society," and the growing conflict over Vietnam that nearly tore America apart. The book also navigates through different themes regarding the decade's different currents of social change; including the anti-war movement, the civil rights struggle, and the liberation movements. From the lunch counter sit-in of Greensboro, N.C. in 1960 and the rise of Martin Luther King, Jr. to the Black Power movement at the decade's end, Anderson illustrates the brutality involved in the reaction against civil rights, the radicalization of some of the movement's youth, and the eventual triumphs that would change America forever. He also discusses women's liberation and the feminist movement, as well as the students' rights, gay rights, and environmental movements.
First, the city was run by Mayor Richard Daley, an old style political boss, who controlled the state Democratic Party system with unchallenged authority. Second, several groups planned to organize demonstrations against the war and called upon supporters to join them in Chicago for the convention. Finally, the Chicago convention became a symbolic forum for the conflict. Four main groups were the National Mobilization to End the War in Vietnam, led by David Dillinger and Ronnie Davis; the Yippies, led by Jerry Rubin and Abby Hoffman who attempted to combine the counter Coulter life style of hippies with a political statement against war. Some McCarthy supporters also came to Chicago, despite the senator's warning to stay away.
The 1960’s was a happening decade. It was a time when many people came together for a common good and stood against injustice. The 60’s is often recalled as the era of the peace sign, one ridden with hippies, marijuana and pacifism. While true of much of the era, some of the movements calling for immense social change began as non-violent harbingers of change and later became radicals. The reason for this turn to radicalism, as seen in the case of the Students for a Democratic Society, and as suggested by the change between this organizations earlier Port Huron statement and the later Weatherman Manifesto, is due to the gradual escalation of the Vietnam war.
It is a rare conception where a human being is completely and utterly alone. One problem we tend to overlook due to our primitive ideals of staying as a group, is the fact of us becoming solely to that group. In the book Anthem ,by Ayn Rand, a man named Equality 7-2521 sees this problem evolve and how it becomes a nuisance to his society. The book has made me open my mind up to the ideals of doing things for yourself and not always for those around you. The feeling of the story showing a world where many are brought down for being unique and talented hurts me as I imagine a time where all are mere specs of the world. The book hits the hard points of what can easily go wrong with our society if we decide to go over the line. I can see a life
The late sixties was a time of turmoil in the United States. It was a transition period between the psychedelic sixties and the revolutionary seventies. The youth of the United States was becoming increasingly aware of the politics of war, the draft and other general misuses of governmental power. With the Democratic National Convention being held in Chicago during 1968, political tensions were running high throughout the city. Numerous protests were held during the time surrounding the convention in protest of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s policies on the Vietnam War. Most notably, the group of Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, David Dillinger, John Froines, Lee Weiner and Bobby Seale...
“The creator served nothing and no one. He lived for himself” (Soul of an Individualist). The novel, Anthem written by Ayn Rand, creates a dystopia where individual impression is prohibited, and all citizens are forced to put their fellow citizens, called brothers, before themselves. In this strictly collectivist society the word ‘I’ is replaced with the word ‘We’, and personal thought is considered a transgression. Anthem follows the life of the main protagonist, Equality on his journey to break free from this society. To liberate himself from his collectivist society and altruistic way of life, Equality must think only for himself, and become an egotist.
In today’s ever changing world people must adapt to change. If an organization wants to be successful or remain successful they must embrace change. This book helps us identify why people succeed and or fail at large scale change. A lot of companies have a problem with integrating change, The Heart of Change, outlines ways a company can integrate change. The text book Ivanceich’s Organizational Behavior and Kotter and Cohen’s The Heart of Change outlines how change can be a good thing within an organization. The Heart of Change introduces its readers to eight steps the authors feel are important in introducing a large scale organizational change. Today’s organizations have to deal with leadership change, change in the economy,
Gloria Steinem, a renowned feminist activist and co-founder of the women’s rights publication Ms. Magazine, gives a commencement speech at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, on May 31, 1970. Steinem’s speech “Living The Revolution” is delivered to the graduating class of Vassar College, founded in 1865 as a liberal arts college for women and then became coeducational a year before the speech was delivered in 1969. The intent of this speech is to inform the listeners and to shed light on the fact that women are not treated equally to their white male counterparts, though society has been convinced otherwise and to argue that it is crucial for all minorities, and even white males, to be relieved of their “stereotypical” duties in order for balance to exist. Steinem executes her speech’s purpose by dividing it up into four parts to explain the four different “myths” put against women while using a few rhetorical strategies and logical, ethical, and emotional appeals.
Shaskolsky, Leon. “The Negro Protest Movement- Revolt or Reform?.” Phylon 29 (1963): 156-166. JSTOR. U of Illinois Lib., Urbana. 11 Apr. 2004 .
Eva Hoffman’s memoir, Lost in Translation, is a timeline of events from her life in Cracow, Poland – Paradise – to her immigration to Vancouver, Canada – Exile – and into her college and literary life – The New World. Eva breaks up her journey into these three sections and gives her personal observations of her assimilation into a new world. The story is based on memory – Eva Hoffman gives us her first-hand perspective through flashbacks with introspective analysis of her life “lost in translation”. It is her memory that permeates through her writing and furthermore through her experiences. As the reader we are presented many examples of Eva’s memory as they appear through her interactions. All of these interactions evoke memory, ultimately through the quest of finding reality equal to that of her life in Poland. The comparison of Eva’s exile can never live up to her Paradise and therefore her memories of her past can never be replaced but instead only can be supplemented.
Throughout history dictators such as Hitler, Mussolini and Kim Jong-Iland have used fear to manipulate thousands, if not millions, of people. Anthem by Ayn Rand explores a dystopian world where man is completely controlled. He complies to every order and demand without hesitation and is wholly satisfied with the way life is because it is all he knows. It is said to fully dominate a man, dictators must not only enslave his body but also destroy his mind. The manipulation in Anthem is far past fear alone; the leaders in Anthem also strip individuals of their identities, turn people into “robots” and leave the population naïve.
The Vietnam War was well on its way by the time the Democratic Convention of 1968 rolled around, and so were the anti-war protests. After the Tet Offensive in the spring of 1968 and the famous Broadcast of Walter Cronkite, the American public had begun to lose trust in the plans of Lyndon Johnson for Vietnam, and was protesting for peace. The Democratic Convention was an important time and place for protestors to display their displeasure with the Vietnam War, as many important decisions were to be made. The Chicago Seven was made up of radical protestors from two main groups, the MOBES (National Mobilization to End the War in Vietnam) and the YIPPIES (Youth International Party). MOBE was the more politically focused of the two while the YIPPIES engaged in promoting an uninhibited lifestyle.
In the 1960s, the anti-war movement grew rapidly in America. The party reached the summit in 1968 by collecting members of various age ranges throughout the country 6. The song "Revolution," produced by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, expresses the irony of the political group. Although the party is against...