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Difficulty: Very hardCounterculture and Youth Rebellion

"The young, miserably educated for the most part, but possessing a healthy survival instinct, have parsed the situation and chosen to drop out. What they are dropping out of is the technocracy: that society in which those who govern justify themselves by appeal to technical experts who, in turn, justify themselves by appeal to scientific objectivity. The technocracy is not a shield against the barbarism of the past; it is the barbarism of the future, organized and sanitized under the sign of efficiency."
— Theodore Roszak, *The Making of a Counter Culture*, 1969

The critique of "technocracy" expressed in the excerpt most directly challenged which of the following elements of the post-World War II consensus?

  1. The belief that centralized corporate planning, scientific expertise, and federal management could ensure endless progress and social stability.Answer
  2. B
    The advocacy by the 1920s "Lost Generation" for strict isolationism and unilateralism in global diplomatic and economic affairs.
  3. C
    The grassroots mobilization of the "silent majority" to launch a conservative backlash aimed at restoring traditional social order.
  4. D
    The efforts of the 1950s "Beat Generation" to align their search for spiritual liberation with the federal programs of the Great Society.

Answer

The belief that centralized corporate planning, scientific expertise, and federal management could ensure endless progress and social stability.
The correct answer is correct because the post-World War II consensus relied on the belief that scientific planning, economic management, and corporate-state cooperation could maintain stability and secure progress. Theodore Roszak and the counterculture rejected this reliance on experts and technocratic efficiency, viewing it as dehumanizing and morally bankrupt.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the stimulus context and central argument.
Theodore Roszak's 1969 text criticizes 'technocracy,' defined as a society ruled by technical experts who justify their decisions through scientific objectivity and efficiency rather than humanistic values.
Understanding the target of the counterculture's critique is necessary to link it to the broader historical context of the post-war consensus.
2
Connect the critique of technocracy to mid-twentieth-century US developments.
The post-war consensus relied on the assumption that technical management, corporate cooperation, and government intervention could eliminate economic instability and resolve social problems.
This links the specific critique in the excerpt to the dominant political and social ideology of the era.
3
Evaluate the options to identify the correct response and rule out distractors.
The correct response accurately identifies the target of the critique as the belief in expert-led corporate and federal planning. The distractors are ruled out because they incorrectly associate the counterculture with the 1920s Lost Generation, the 1950s Beat Generation, or the conservative backlash.
Applying the error taxonomy ensures that common historical misconceptions (such as generational conflation or confusing the counterculture with the conservative backlash) are isolated.

Key Concept

The youth counterculture of the 1960s rejected the conformity, materialism, and technocratic consensus of post-World War II American society, advocating instead for individual liberation and alternative lifestyles.
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Topics

Counterculture and Youth Rebellion

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