Essay On The Counterculture

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“Make love, not war”, a very popular anti-war slogan that emerged during the 1960’s, represented a principle belief that ultimately created the counterculture, and explained the simplicity of ideals that the counterculture era encompassed. The counterculture was comprised of many parts of society which encouraged the transformation in attitudes towards society in middle class, mostly white, young Americans. The characteristics which supported the counterculture movement included hippies, drug culture, sexual revolution, music, and literature. When combined, these creative aspects formed the counterculture and caused people to think and act differently than they had before. People during this period lived by similar ethics, and expressed it through a variety of ways, changing their appearances and overall daily life as war progressed and obtaining a different perspective of violence. During the 1960’s, Americans began to see the unfair horrors of war, thus developing a feeling of restlessness toward the government. The Vietnam War (1959-1975) was one of the main contributors to the counterculture. Initially, many thought the war and intervention in Vietnam was necessary, but as it progressed people began to see the inequitable destruction. Due to their change in attitudes regarding the war and violence in general, people held protests and other anti-war movements and took it to further promote peace and love, which lead into other ideas of the counterculture. This movement greatly influenced America because the transformation in beliefs regarding war and violence had caused great social unrest, and impacted all other parts of people’s lives. The birth of the counterculture essentially established different ideologies that emphasize...

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Throughout the 1960’s, the counterculture era emerged from American society. Drug culture, hippies, sexual revolution, literature, and music all greatly contributed to influencing the attitudes and ideals of the late twentieth century. Each aspect of the counterculture influenced people’s ideologies and lifestyles. They developed a new sense of creativity which was never found in previous years in the United States. People experimented beyond their comfort levels and developed a ideals which contradicted the restricting ones prior to the movement. Counterculture left an everlasting impact. The emphasis on hippies and drugs and the other aspects of the society during the 60's has diminished, but towards the end of that century, long hair and colorful clothes became a trend, and the overuse of drugs led to overdose and addictions, including many Vietnam War veterans.

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