We, and the intelligentsia (such as it is) think of the sixties in
terms of the various left and counter-cultural movements. Because of
OUR disdain for the mainstream culture, we then ignored it and still
tend to. But given a little distance, the rise of fundamentalsm at
the grass roots -- and its fusing with right-wing politics -- may be
just as important in defining the sixties.
An anecdote: I met a guy whose kids keep pigs as part of a Future Farmers
of America project. I told him that I myself once had pigs. He wanted to
know more about that so I told him about living on a commune in Vermont and
having cows, pigs, haying, making maple syrup, etc. He wanted to know what
a commune was. I said, "ya know in the sixties, the counter-culture, the
protests, the hippies." "Oh yeah," he nodded. "I think I read about that
once in Time."
And we thught we were at the center of everything!
Marty J.
Author:
Stuttering: A Life Bound Up in Words (Basic Books)
Abbie Hoffman: American Rebel (Rutgers University Press)
The Dark Ages: Life in the USA, 1945-1960 (South End Press)
Rachel Carson [American Women of Achievement Series] (Chelsea House)
Check out my web page (under construction) at http://www.sover.net/~mjez