Regarding Gregg Casad's request for info. on "youth rebellion:"
First, I would use the term "youth movement" instead of "youth rebellion."
Secondly, Gregg, IMHO, drugs, literature, and music were secondary to the
main impetus behind the youth movement/rebellion which was the _War in
Vietnam._ About 1966 & 1967, students mounted marches, petitions, and
protests to the war. The activity escalated. Note especially that in 1968
Lyndon Johnson decided NOT to seek a second term because of the
widespread opposition to the War.
I believe that your academic paper must included some kind of mention of
the War in Vietnam, even if you choose to focus on the other areas
mentioned above.
Elizabeth Manny
em@laplaza.taos.nm.us
(2)
Sender: DMCFADDEN@fair1.fairfield.edu
Subject: Re: Question (fwd)
I can't resist responding to Gregg Casad's project of attempting to explain 60s
and 70s youth rebellion in 3 doublespaced pages by focusing on drugs, poetry,
and music. Please do not forget that there were political as well as cultural
reasons for rebellion. How about the VietNam War, a political system that
seemed closed, if not resistant, to young or different voices, the impact of
the free speech movement and civil rights activities on college age youth, etc.
It always bothers me when anyone tries to separate culture from politics in the
60s. Dave McFadden, Department of History, Fairfield University, Fairfield CT
06430 (203) 254-4000; dmcfadden@fair1.fairfield. edu.
(3)
Sender: tuckerpf@sprynet.com
Subject: "Causes" of rebellion
On Mon, 8 Apr 1996, Gregg Casad wrote:
> My name is Gregg Casad and I am a cadet at the United States Coast
>Guard Academy. I have come upon a complex task of trying to sum up the
>reason for youth rebellions in the 60's and 70's in less than 3 double
>spaced pages. I have decided to focus on drugs, litature (poetry), and
>music. What I was wondering is if I you might have some information that
>is either available over the web or via e-mail which could supply some meat
>to my paper.
My two cents worth is that in targeting drugs, poetry, etc., you may be
focussing a little too much on symptoms rather than causes. You can get deep
into the heart of the sociological/psychological enterprise with a simple
question like this, I know, (what social fact "caused" what other social fact,
etc.) But my own view is that you might do as well taking a look at something
like Robert Samuelson's The Good Life and its Discontents or David Halberstam's
The Fifties. That is, why not place the sixties in some historical frame?,
e.g., as growing out of the unprecedented affluence of the postwar period and
flowing perhaps more naturally than one might ordinarily assume from a World War
II generation which was tired of the old world and was desperately seeking to
create a shiny new one?
Jeff Apfel