Ted Morgan wrote an interesting piece about "generations" and the sixties -
snipped to save bandwith- but a reply:
Ted,
An interesting idea that you advance. Perhaps the real "generation"
is the generation of young people that came of age AFTER WWII - although I
don't know if there is some other magic date. I say this because most of
the early instigators (positive term) in SDS, SNCC, etc. were not really
baby boomers by the definition of the term - they were born from the late
1930s through the mid-1940s. But they came of age in the 1950s. I'd argue
that their disillusionment, because of the contradiction between US ideals
and reality, was sharper than that of most boomers because of their
proximity to the Depression and WWII. By the time the leading edge of the
boomers came of age (18 in 1964) many of the sixties movements were
underway. More important, perhaps, there was a strong critique of the
1950s/conformity/McCarthyism/etc. available--the Beats, folksongs, civil
rights discussions. The post-WWII world had already been transformed, with
the Soviet bomb, the Chinese and Cuban Revolutions, Sputnik. Even
mainstream intellectuals were critical of the US and urged that we do more.
Of course, they did not mean what they ended up getting, but that's another
story.
John
John Andrew email: J_ANDREW@ACAD.FANDM.EDU
Department of History fax 717-399-4518
Franklin and Marshall College
Lancaster, PA. 17604-3003
"Fantasy Will Set You Free" - Steppenwolf
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