American Cultural and Political Movements

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that these events illustrate the kind of society cultivated in America, the rise of individualism and modernism, the defilement of traditional values and customs, dirty politics and espionage, nuclear crises, and continued fear for new ideologies challenging America's advocacy for capitalism and democracy. The author uses the work of Tom Wolfe to explore the hippie movement and two political documentary videos to demonstrate that the 1960s served as a transition point from the radical behavior of the hippies to conservatism, which once again became the norm, and the prevalence of public activism in socio-political issues. The paper relates that "Reagan's Shield" illustrates the conservative, yet rash decision, which then-President Ronald Reagan adopted in order to compete against Russia's supposedly advanced state of nuclear technology, and the "Summer of Judgment" summarizes the Watergate hearings, illustrating how the powerful position of President became vulnerable and susceptible to public scrutiny due to the society's active involvement in American politics and governance.

From the Paper:

"In the "Electric Kool-Aid", Wolfe illustrates in hippie language and description the life of the novelist and hippie culture leader Ken Kesey, who wrote the radical and influential novel, "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest". As part of the group called "Merry Pranksters", Kesey embodies the typical American hippie of his time: an LCD user, happy-go-lucky, non-ambitious individual who lives the present and does not think about the past or the future. Wolfe's narration shows Kesey riding with his group, the "Merry Pranksters," in a bus, adopting the group name, "Intrepid Travelers". The bus, colored with Day-Glo paints, symbolizes the psychedelic movement of the 1960s, where dropping-out of school, LCD and alcohol addiction, and expression of one's self (that is "expression for expression's sake) are the norm."

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