Post #174074 by thejab on Fri, Jul 22, 2005 4:52 PM

I think what Pete was talking about, and what I relate to, was what the 60s counterculture had evolved into by 1969, not what it was like in 1965-67. The violence of 1968 freaked-out the hippie movement and changed it from one of action and protest into one of retreat and denial. "Let's just form a commune in the country, live off the land, and get high without being hassled by the man" feeling that was common at the time. I'm not saying they all ended up that way but a lot of them did, until they decided "if you can't beat 'em join 'em" and became yuppies in the 70s and 80s.

The cultural changes that happened after WWII (the sexual revolution, civil rights movement, women's rights, the beat generation's rejection of traditional values, etc.) all started way back in the late 40s and grew into the mid 60s when the government really started to worry and crack down. By the time of the 1967 "summer of love" the great accomplishments had already been made, and the hippie movement just became a trendy scene.

I would have loved to have been a young man in the 60s, but I would choose London c.1963-66 or the Sunset Strip c.1965-66, not Woodstock c.1969.

The early 80s was damn good too though!