Friday, September 30, 2005
THE COLLAPSE OF AMERICA: THE PEAK AND UNRAVELING (1964-1972)
The decade referred to as the "sixties" was approximately 1963 to 1973. The economic prosperity continued. The working class lived well with good secure union jobs making things. Goods. The country also achieved its greatest accomplishment: Putting men on the Moon and getting them back safely. This was done within ten years of the first man in space and a dozen since man sent anything into orbit. Amazing.
Yet all was not pretty. Most of those older than the Boomers have always seen it as turmoil and the loss of much of what really mattered in the country. And they were right. It's funny that the unraveling began when the society was peaking, but the world is complex.
There has always been dissenting voices, but in the post-war period, it was growing in two groups, academia and the drop-outs. The Student Movements on campus began to question issues such as racism and poverty. A fracture line formed between the boomers and those older than them.
Vietnam also formed further fracture lines in the nation. Old vs. Young. Even among the young adults the college kids and drop-outs turned on the combatants and vets of Vietnam.
Political violence became a more common occurrence. Protesters were gassed and beaten by police. Radical groups bombed buildings. JFK, MLK and RFK were all murdered. The 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago was a disaster. Young people started to lose hope in the system. Many Blacks lost hope as well and strengthened separatist movements like Nation of Islam and violent groups like The Black Panthers
An implicit assumption was shared by the new movements that destroying the old structures would allow something much better to naturally grow in its place. Drop acid to scramble your perceptions and be enlightened. Skip the discipline and the kids will grow up gentle. Forget marriage and "love" freely. So we ended up with drug burn-outs, VD, broken homes, unwed mothers and a crime epidemic.
The era had some very positive aspects. Civil rights. Medical advances. The Space Program. And a questioning that needed doing.
However, the stage was set for further decline in the years to come.
Yet all was not pretty. Most of those older than the Boomers have always seen it as turmoil and the loss of much of what really mattered in the country. And they were right. It's funny that the unraveling began when the society was peaking, but the world is complex.
There has always been dissenting voices, but in the post-war period, it was growing in two groups, academia and the drop-outs. The Student Movements on campus began to question issues such as racism and poverty. A fracture line formed between the boomers and those older than them.
Vietnam also formed further fracture lines in the nation. Old vs. Young. Even among the young adults the college kids and drop-outs turned on the combatants and vets of Vietnam.
Political violence became a more common occurrence. Protesters were gassed and beaten by police. Radical groups bombed buildings. JFK, MLK and RFK were all murdered. The 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago was a disaster. Young people started to lose hope in the system. Many Blacks lost hope as well and strengthened separatist movements like Nation of Islam and violent groups like The Black Panthers
An implicit assumption was shared by the new movements that destroying the old structures would allow something much better to naturally grow in its place. Drop acid to scramble your perceptions and be enlightened. Skip the discipline and the kids will grow up gentle. Forget marriage and "love" freely. So we ended up with drug burn-outs, VD, broken homes, unwed mothers and a crime epidemic.
The era had some very positive aspects. Civil rights. Medical advances. The Space Program. And a questioning that needed doing.
However, the stage was set for further decline in the years to come.
