Title: How did the Vietnam War influence the social structure and lifestyles from the 1960s counterculture? - eNotes.com
Headings: How did the Vietnam War influence the social structure and lifestyles from the 1960s counterculture?
The Vietnam War
How did the Vietnam War influence the social structure and lifestyles from the 1960s counterculture?
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Content: For those who grew up before the war, certain social values and structures were in place, which by the 1960's were considered conservative. The 1960's showed the emergence of that first post-war generation -- those who knew nothing of how life had been before the war (since that's when most of them had been born) and questioned every aspect of the established culture. Furthermore, these first baby-boomers, all near the same age, made their points by their sheer numbers. This explains the more narrow beatnik movement compared to the widespread hippie movement. Had the baby boom not happened after World War II, the "flower power" generation would not have been as unified and as forceful. Additionally, had Vietnam not served as the focus for all they found wrong with the culture, the hippie movement and its impact would have been much less. Approved by eNotes Editorial Team
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Since the U.S.'s involvement in Vietnam was a part of the Cold War struggle, (namely Capitalism vs. Communism), the effect it had was initially ideological. Just like the war today, the social effect was a polarization with the counterculture emerging primarily on the left and the "silent majority" on the right. Reasons that the counterculture seems more prominent during the Vietnam war as opposed to anti-war movements now: there was a draft, the war coincided with the Civil Rights movement, and Vietnam was the first war that was immensely televised, so this was the first time U.S. citizens really saw images of war as they were happening.