Tuesday, July 15, 2008
The myths of the sixties, by Richard Martineau
10/07/2008 08h53 
There is much talk of the sixties, these days. Forty years on May 68, the murder of Martin Luther King, the assassination of Robert Kennedy, leaving the white album of Beatles, and so on.
If you're fed up with always hear the same stories on this sacred period, I strongly advise you to read The Sixties Unplugged, Gerard J. DeGroot.
This test exciting you will see this decade another eye.
A MINORITY
Professor of modern history at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, DeGroot takes pleasure in demolishing the myths surrounding the sixties. Myth number one: the youth was against the establishment. "Completely false," said DeGroot.
When you look at documentaries about the sixties, one has the impression that all young people demonstrating on campus, smoked pot and preached free love. However, revolutionaries and hippies were a minority.
Most were young conservatives. They worked, studied ... In 1967, Newsweek magazine commissioned a national survey to find out what was the political organization the most popular among young people. The answer? The youth wing of the Republican Party!
The hippies, DeGroot said, have made much noise, but unlike what we constantly repeat the babyboomers, they were not representative of all American youth.
It's like the French in 40 years: this is not true that they were all in the Resistance!
RIGHT, EVERYONE!
Myth number two: California was the bastion of culture-cons. Who was elected governor of California in 1966? Ronald Reagan, with 58% of votes. In 1970? Even Ronald Reagan, with 53% of votes.
Far from having all screwed up, Californians have paved the way for one of the most governments on the right of the history of USA ...
A SPONTANEOUS GENERATION?
Myth number three: sixties have made a break. "A stupidity," says DeGroot. Baby boomers like to say they have broken history in two, but it is completely false. The sixties were that the continuity of what had happened before.
Take marriage. The veterans of the sixties take their crown, saying they have revolutionized the family. Before, they say, people need to marry to sleep together and have children. But it has changed everything ...
However, between 1941 and 1964, the number of children born out of wedlock has increased by 150% in the USA.
In short, American baby-boomers are not invented. They just followed the course, that's all ...
ENJOY THE CONSUMER!
For DeGroot, against the culture of the sixties has not destroyed the consumer society. She strengthened.
Not surprise to found a Gap store at the corner of legendary Haight and Ashbury in San Francisco. The counter was first and foremost a capitalist revolt.
It allowed the system to enrich themselves by clearing and exploiting a new market: the youth.
The old people were buying a Ford to show their commitment to traditional values? The young people buy a Volkswagen!
It's like the far leftists who criticize capitalism in buying T-shirts of Che Guevara.
The consumer society is dead? Long live the consumer society!
Labels: Elections, Richard Martineau, Sixties
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