Timothy Leary "Turn on, tune in, drop out." That saying has turned into the slogan of Timothy Leary’s mind-expanding movement. Although a graduate of both West-Point and Berkley, and a Harvard professor, these were not his greatest lifetime achievements. Throughout his publicized life, he became the spokesperson of the psychedelic age. His devotion to the belief that LSD and marijuana were gateways to enlightenment resulted in a new church, numerous prison sentences, and a following of both celebrities and the general public. When people think of Timothy Leary their immediate response is "Turn on, tune in, drop out," his trademark line, although the meaning of it has often been misinterpreted. Playboy Magazine had thought that his message was advocating, "getting high and dropping out of school," (Marwick 311). When asked by the magazine to explain the meaning of the phrase he responded, " ‘Turn on’ means to contact the ancient energies and wisdoms that are built into your nervous system. They provide unspeakable pleasure and revelation. ‘Tune in’ means to harness and communicate these new perspectives in a harmonious dance with the external world. ‘Drop out’ means to detach yourself from the tribal game." (Marwick 312). This was not the first time his methods were questioned. Leary was first publicly noticed, and criticized by then fellow Harvard professors, for his interest in LSD when he and friend, Robert Alpert, wrote an article for the Bulletin of Atomic Scientist. In the article they described a circumstance that in the event of war, the Russians might try to lace the American water supply with LSD. Then, when everybody in America is stoned, the Russians would seize power. They explained that in order to prevent the scenario from happening, everyone should take a dose of LSD so they can get used to the effects (Sterns 278). Although the article shocked the Harvard staff, it didn’t cause him to get fired. Leary was dismissed from Harvard in 1962, only four years after he began teaching there. Leary had experimented with psilocybin, a mind-altering chemical, on his own and the university repeatedly asked him to stop, he refused (Brash 139). Although it angered university 2. authorities, they couldn’t do anything more about the subject since it was a legal substance. While conducti...
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...eary was dying of cancer and believed that death should be a happy occasion rather than a sad one. His last words were "Why not?" and after his death his long time friend, John Barlow, wrote, "Timothy Leary died unashamed and having, as usual, a great time. He made good on his promise to ‘give death a better name or die trying.’ " (Marwick 345). Timothy Leary has influenced many people throughout his life by his contribution to society. Whether he advocated the use of drugs or not doesn’t make a difference, although the are what stuck out in people’s minds. The greater message that his life taught was the will of man, and the lengths a person will go to in order to get the point across to the masses. His focus was not money, he gave that up when he lost his job at Harvard, but in his belief that he was right. He truly believed that LSD could enlighten people, and his intentions were to help.
Bibliography
Works Cited Brash, Sarah. Turbulent Years The 60s. Alexandra: Time-Life Books Inc., 1998. Marwick, Arthur. The Sixties. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. Sterns, Jane And Michael. Encyclopedia of Pop Culture. New York: HarperCollins, 1992.
The 1960’s changed the world in an explosion of sex, drugs, and rock and roll, for the first time women and men where declaring freedom and free love. The sexual revolution of the 1960’s saw changes in the way the world saw its self, and the way we saw each other. It changed what we wanted to buy, how we bought it and how we sold it to each other. Artistic free thinkers began to push boundaries everywhere they could. This is reflected in the music of the times, the notable events and the fashion.
Comparing the Books, Destructive Generation: Second Thoughts About the Sixties and The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage
Pop culture in the 1950s and 1960s began to spread and infest the nation from front to back through radio shows, books and magazines, television programs, and even motion pictures. Whether it is culture in terms of political affairs, clothing or the latest musical sensations, the United States has always played the dominant role when it came to who knows what is best, first. Some cases of Americanizati...
Psychedelic drugs were an icon of the 1960s, its role embedded within the rising counterculture in response to the economic, social, and political turmoil throughout the United States. As a means to impose a central power and control social order, federal authorities were quick to ban the recreational and medical use of psychedelic drugs without consideration of its potential benefits. The recent state laws on the legalization of marijuana in Oregon and Colorado with others soon to follow, is a sure sign of an eventual collective shift in the perceptions of psychedelic drugs. Not only does Daniel Pinchbeck document his reflections on the personal consumption of psychedelic drugs in his unconventional novel Breaking Open the Head, he also advances several assertions on modern Western society in his exploration of polarized attitudes on this controversial topic.
From the outside, the 1950’s was a great time for America. Society revolved around the idea of America being a middle-class nation. Americans worshipped conformity, and materialism satisfied the need to conform. However, the prosperity of materialistic America hid the growing, numerous problems. Dissent in any way was not tolerated; all injustice was stifled by a fear of difference. In “Fifties Society,” Alan Brinkley discusses the truth of the era; that the fear of nonconformity was hidden by the seemingly prosperous middle-class nation. Brinkley argues the Beat movement and “feminine mystique” show that the people who did not fit in reveal the true colors of 1950’s society.
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.
Epstein, Dan. 20th Century Pop Culture: The Early Years to 1949. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 2001. Print.
The documentary “Sixties: Years that Shaped a Generation” illustrates a period in United States history defined by cultural movement. Several citizen led campaigns were developed to challenge long established American institutions and traditions. This age of defiance, cultivated a counter culture which stood against social injustice, racial inequalities, and the war in Vietnam.
The Fifties were a good time to be a white middle class American These years brought an UN-thought of prosperity and confidence to Americans who barely remembered the Great Depression. Popular music of the early fifties mirrored the life of mainstream America: bland predictable and reassuring. Which didn't seem bad after the depre...
Drugs are used to escape the real and move into the surreal world of one’s own imaginations, where the pain is gone and one believes one can be happy. People look on their life, their world, their own reality, and feel sickened by the uncaringly blunt vision. Those too weak to stand up to this hard life seek their escape. They believe this escape may be found in chemicals that can alter the mind, placing a delusional peace in the place of their own depression: “Euphoric, narcotic, pleasantly halucinant,” (52). They do this with alcohol, acid, crack, cocaine, heroine, opium, even marijuana for the commoner economy. These people would rather hide behind the haze than deal with real problems. “...A gramme is better than a damn.” (55).
"American Cultural History - 1960-1969." Lone Star College-Kingwood Library Home Page. Aug. 2009. Web. 28 May 2010. .
Bibliography 1) Friedman, Milton. “Prohibition and Drugs.” Newsweek. 1972 2) Potter, Beverly. The Healing Magic of Cannabis.
Drugs were a subject that Burroughs was asked about in his interview, since it was stated he “believed heroin was needed to turn the human body into an environment that includes the universe.” Nevertheless, despite that he ...
Hallucinogens should be considered for public use as a medical form to treat mental disorders such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, compulsive disorder and dementia. Studies prove hallucinogens have beneficial use, but no treatment has been established, then why should they be placed in such low regard, hallucinogen’s can lend a hand in providing aid for perpetual disorders. The effects of hallucinogen’s can encourage social behavior, while culture dependence on pharmaceutical drugs discredit other drugs so no change in the push to help someone in need for experimental treatment, but to kept them sick and dependent on government funded and approved drugs, while America has trouble wrapping its hypocrisy around itself other cultures around
The sixties was a decade of liberation and revolution, a time of great change and exciting exploration for the generations to come. It was a time of anti-war protests, free love, sit-ins, naked hippie chicks and mind-altering drugs. In big cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Paris, there was a passionate exchange of ideas, fiery protests against the Vietnam War, and a time for love, peace and equality. The coming together of like-minded people from around the world was spontaneous and unstoppable. This group of people, which included writers, musicians, thinkers and tokers, came to be known as the popular counterculture, better known as hippies. The dawning of the Age of Aquarius in the late sixties was more than just a musical orgy. It was a time of spiritual missions to fight for change and everything they believed in. Freedom, love, justice, equality and peace were at the very forefront of this movement (West, 2008). Some wore beads. Some had long hair. Some wore tie-dye and others wore turtle-neck sweaters. The Hippie generation was a wild bunch, to say the least, that opened the cookie jar of possibilities politically, sexually, spiritually and socially to forever be known as one of the most memorable social movements of all time (Hippie Generation, 2003).