Abbie Hoffman

Abbie Hoffman

The 1960’s and 1970’s are an era that will live in infamy in the history of the United States. These have shaped the lives of many to this very day. The events preceeding and during these years shaped the face of American society today. The Vietnam War, and the Civil Rights Movement were great sources of controversy that impacted public opinion at the time. Everybody knows about Hippies and Woodstock, though many of those who were there don’t remember, but much more met the eye when it came to the impact of the subculture in this era. The subculture impacted popular opinions in a big way and created a large social divide that is still with us to this day. Though the Hippies were not know for being the most aggressive of all disenchanted youth, this era brought great civil unrest right into peoples living rooms. Along with this civil unrest back home came the horrors of the Vietnam War overseas. This era was powerful in society and brought important social and political shifts that impact our society to this day.
The hippies, as mentioned before, were not the most violent, aggressive group of individuals. The method of “turn on, tune in, drop out” made it difficult for older generations to grasp their values. The values of their parents came from the good housekeeping generation. Perfection and the outer appearance was key as they grew from a consumer generation. Technology was growing and so were the progressive ideals creating a huge generation gap between children and their parents. Out of the alienated generations peaceful protests grew a much bigger, more powerful movement that took the media by storm. The Yippie party, which stood for the Youth International Party, were nothing short that a media monster. The movement itself was a great contradiction and many of its founders hardly took it seriously. The Yippie movement was jokingly referred to as the anti-movement. The media coverage of this underground movement made it mysterious and...

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