"Our lifestyle—our clothing, our hair, our music, our communal living, our drugs—is our revolutionary strength. The old order cannot understand this. They think politics is merely about elections, political parties, and congressional bills. For us, politics is about how we live our lives every day, in total defiance of their corporate conformity and their military ventures abroad. By dropping out of their institutions, we are dismantling the consensus that sustains their power."
— Adapted from a counterculture activist manifesto, 1969
In the context of the political and social climate of the late 1960s, the sentiments expressed in the excerpt most directly reflect which of the following developments?
- The rejection of middle-class social conformity and the Cold War foreign policy consensusAnswer
- BThe growing influence of a conservative 'silent majority' that actively supported the counterculture's anti-war efforts
- CThe efforts of the 1920s 'Lost Generation' to establish self-sufficient rural communes in opposition to suburbanization
- DThe containment policy's success in maintaining a unified domestic public consensus behind military operations in Southeast Asia
Answer
The rejection of middle-class social conformity and the Cold War foreign policy consensus
The correct answer is correct because the counterculture of the 1960s rejected both the socio-cultural norms of post-World War II America (such as conformity, materialism, and traditional lifestyle choices) and the bipartisan political consensus that supported the Cold War and the Vietnam War.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
Counterculture and Youth Rebellion
Estimated Time:2m 0s