Jack Paul

The 60’s was an entirely separate decade consisting of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. The country had completely altered its ways of life, and young people everywhere were drastically changing. The drug craze of the 60’s was something that was never seen before in America, and it created a totally different culture of people. The United States experienced a time where people were out of control and not conforming to societies usual ways. The mentality of those in the country changed drastically. The Vietnam War created upheaval throughout college campuses and young people across the country. People appeared to be living in the moment, and not thinking about the next step in life. Joan Didion writes, “The center was not holding. It was a country of bankruptcy notices and public auctions announcements and commonplace reports of casual killings and misplaced children and abandoned homes…”(84) The economy was in a good state and it didn’t make much sense why the country was in this state of turmoil. Something was in the air; the culture changed.
Teenagers were looking for a change in their lives and California was the place to go. California had this aura that portrayed both rebellion and excitement. Abandoned children and rebellious teenagers constantly flocked to different parts of California to experience some of this excitement everyone had been talking about. LSD and marijuana took over the scene; people were constantly living in an alternate state of mind. The sentiment of the people in California was that they were going to live life day to day and see where it takes them. Didion writes about a girl Debbie who left her home after having too many responsibilities, “’ everything’s in the future, you can’t pre-plan it. First we get jobs, then a place to live. Then, I dunno.”’(92) Kids everywhere abandoned their goals and focused on getting high and listening to the smooth music of the Grateful Dead.
The idea of being in the scene and experiencing something exciting encapsulated the minds of many. The Hells Angels were one of the fiercest motorcycle gangs that were constantly in the spotlight. Young hipsters believed that the Hell’s Angels Maltese crosses meant that they both rebelled against American society and the government. This caused a fascination with the group but as Hunter Thompson puts it “ the only problem with the Angel’s new image was that the outlaws themselves didn’t understand it.”(214) The kids that were following the Angels were complete opposites of them. These rebellious teens believed that since they did drugs and lived life in a careless manor that the Angels and them truly shared the same beliefs. What they didn’t understand was that the Angels were pro U.S.A and hated the hipster anti-America beliefs.
Hipsters constantly wanted to attend parties with the Angels or simply be in their presence, but the main difference between the two groups was that many of the kids were going through a phase whereas the Angels was a lifestyle. The only agenda for the hippie kids was to get high and experience something exciting, and the Angels presented that opportunity. They were just kids and didn’t fully understand where their lives were going while the Angels were violent men who simply didn’t want to be reckoned with. The 60’s presented a new type of culture, but it wasn’t one that lasted. Many of the people involved in the drug craze of this era returned to society not long after it begun. Phases occur in every generation, and this phase was simply more prominent.