Influence of the 1960s The sixties were the age of youth, as 70 million children from the post-war baby boom became teenagers and young adults. The movement away from the conservative fifties continued and eventually resulted in revolutionary ways of thinking and real change in the cultural fabric of American life. No longer content to be images of the generation ahead of them, young people wanted change. The changes affected education, values, lifestyles, laws, and entertainment. Many of the revolutionary ideas which began in the sixties are continuing to evolve today (Bradley & Goodwin, 2010). Because of the sixties, I was able to grow up in a neighborhood where different cultures live harmoniously. Before the sixties, non-white people were not allowed to mixed-in with the white families. It is because of the 60s that one neighborhood can include a Hispanic family, and Asian family and an African-American family (Carter, 2010). The Civil Rights Act of 1965 gave more people the right to vote and took down the obstacles which prevented many people from participating in democracy and exercising their full rights as citizens. This enabled me to exercise my right as an individual living in the United States. The Civil Rights Act provided not only me but a lot of people the right to be vote, be heard, and express their opinion (Farber, 1994). The legacy of the 1960s can be seen including society and family structure in America. America. American society is more open now and could be described as being more flexible because, for example, there are now many more definitions of family (Carter, 2010). Unlike previous decades, the two-parent nuclear family is no longer the only model of ideal family life in the twenty-first century. Many citizens now live with extended family or are single parents, and adopted children are largely treated the same as biological children in today’s society. This relates to me because when my mother remarried, my sister and I were adopted by my stepfather and we became a family. He treated us nicely and we became one family that loves each other. My father helped support my education when I was in high school. It is because of him that I was able to attend an International School abroad (Farber, 1994). Feminists of the late sixties fought for equality in the work place and saw the creation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (Carter, 2010). This is very important to me because it enabled my mother to work and earn money to support our family. When I was growing up, my mother was the breadwinner for our family. She is a registered nurse and her occupation helped pay for our food, housing, and education. Before, women are only allowed to stay at home and take care of the family because it was viewed that it was the men’s duty to get a job and be the breadwinner. The rise of feminism changed the definition of the family. Women were no longer relegated to the roles of only wife and mother. Many married women began working outside of the home in the sixties, and now women are a vital part of the work force (Farber, 1994). Now that I’m an adult, I’m trying to get a degree in business administration so I can further my career. The two theories that can be applied in my major discipline are the theories of positivism and structure (Dye & Harrison, 2008). One of the major events that occurred during the 1960s is the Ruby Bridges incident. She was an African American girl who played an important part in the Civil Right Movement in the United States. In 1960, she integrated to an all white school in New Orleans. She was the first black child to attend William Frantz Elementary School, as well as the first African American child to go to an all white elementary school located in the southern states. This incident was a huge nationwide and important step that enabled many more children from different races to integrate into white schools and be provided with the same opportunities and resources (“Decades of change,” 2008). The theory of positivism is applied because if Ruby Bridges did not have the courage and positive attitude to attend her school, then who knows when and if schools would have become integrated. Her courage led to schools being integrated and had an impact on racial relations and acceptance (Dye & Harrison, 2008). Another theory that can be applied is structure. The Women's Liberation Movement of the 1960s drew inspiration from the Civil Rights Movement. Additionally, it was caused by the sexual revolution of the 1960s (Decades of change,” 2008). Sexual assault and domestic violence became central targets of women's activism. NOW-National Organization for Women was founded with the goal of bringing about equality for women. There was even the Equal Pay Act of 1963. President Kennedy was also involved in women's issues. If the Women's Movement did not happen, society would probably have kept viewing women in their closed spheres of filling their roles as housewives and mothers (Farber, 1994). The movement educated more women and gave them more power throughout society. This movement gave more definition to the “structure” in our society. Everybody was granted to have freedom and exercise their rights as individuals. This created structure within American society (Dye & Harrison, 2008). My career path changed because of these events because before, companies only prefer to hire white applicants in their organization. If you are non-white, it was difficult to get to top management. Now, however, everybody is treated equally in the workforce. Also, business now is becoming global. Before, only a few countries are conducting business to each other. Unlike today, most of the countries, first world and developing nations are becoming global and trading to each other. Because of the Ruby Bridges’ optimistic attitude to get an education, it enabled everyone to have access to education which enabled me to study Business (“Decades of change,” 2008). Lastly, the Civil Rights Movement gave everyone the right to practice trade. The event not only changed America but it also widespread all over the world. The events of the 1960s have also helped create a “global village.” The counterculture of the 1960s helped open up lots of new ideas not just in American society but also around the world (Farber, 1994). Because of the counterculture, globalization was created. Globalization is the integration of ideas, of cultures and of values. People are moving from one country to another, the trade restrictions are reducing, domestic markets are opening up for foreign investments, telecommunications are better established and the countries that are leading the innovations are passing on their know-how to the countries who are not (Shepherd, 2007). In short, the people are no longer bound by territorial restrictions any more, getting the world closer. It's no longer about “my country and me,” it's now more like, “the world and us.” People are no longer bound by territorial restrictions, unless of course, there are security issues. The businesses are expanding, the horizons are widening, and the people are coming together to form one homogeneous unit – humanity (Kulkarni, n.d). There are positives and negatives of globalization. The positive effects of globalization and the positive impacts they have had on so many demographic segments of society are increased competition, employment, investment and capital flows, foreign trade, spread of technical know-how, spread of culture and education, legal and ethical effects, and organizations for environment and social concerns (Kulkarni, n.d). Globalization has created the concept of outsourcing. Work such as software development, customer support, marketing, accounting and insurance is outsourced to developing countries like India. So the company that outsourced the work enjoys the benefit of lower costs because the wages in developing countries is far lower than that of developed countries. The workers in the developing countries get employment. Developing countries get access to the latest technology. Additionally, increased competition forces companies to lower prices. This benefits the end consumers. Lastly, increased media coverage draws the attention of the world to human right violations. This leads to improvement in human rights (Pillai, n.d). The negative effects of globalization are developed nations have outsourced manufacturing and white collar jobs. That means fewer jobs for their people. Globalization has led to exploitation of labor. Prisoners and child workers are used to work in inhumane conditions. Safety standards are ignored to produce cheap goods. There is job insecurity. Earlier, people had stable, permanent jobs. Now people live in constant dread of losing their jobs to competition. Increased job competition has led to reduction in wages and consequently lower standards of living. Further, terrorists have access to sophisticated weapons enhancing their ability to inflict damage. Terrorists use the Internet for communicating among themselves. Moreover, companies have set up industries causing pollution in countries with poor regulation of pollution. Lastly, fast food chains like McDonalds and KFC are spreading in the developing world. People are consuming more junk food from these joints which has an adverse impact on their health (Pillai, n.d). Overall, the legacy of the 1960’s has left America and the world with many positive changes. It is because of the sixties that people today believe that one person can make a difference, that one person can change the world. Women and minorities are involved in politics and democracy today because of the sixties. Women have the right to choose their own path in public such having careers and running for political office and in private such abortion, breast-feeding, and relationships because of the feminist activists of the sixties. It is because of the 1960’s that elementary schools are no longer segregated. It is because of the 1960’s that one neighborhood can include all different type of people from different cultures. It is because of the 1960’s that a woman can raise a family, have a career, and make her own health and medical decisions. Therefore, American life, and the personal lives of many of its citizens, would be unbelievably different if it were not for the lasting legacies of the sixties.

References:
Bradley, B. & Goodwin, S. (2010). American cultureal history. Retrieved January 14, 2011 from http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/decade60.html
Carter, T (2010). Legacy of the 1960s in America. Retrieved January 14, 2010 from http://www.suite101.com/content/the-legacy-of-the-1960s-in-america-a187369
“Decades of change,” (2008). The rise of cultural and ethnic pluralism. Retrieved January 14, 2011 from http://www.america.gov/st/educ-english/2008/April/20080407123655eaifas0.7868769.html
Dye, T. & Harrison, B. (2008). Power and society. Mason, Ohio: Cengage Learning.
Farber, D (1994). The age of great dreams: America in the 1960s. New York: Hill and Wang.
Kulkarni, A. (n.d.). Positive effects of globalization. Retrieved January 15, 2011 from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/positive-effects-of-globalization.html
Pillai, P. (n.d). Negative effects of globalization. Retrieved January 15, 2011 from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/negative-effects-of-globalization.html
Sheperd, S. (2007). How has the world changed since the 1960s. Retrieved January 15, 2011 from http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/402299/how_has_the_world_changed_since_the.html