drugs
If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." - Henry David Thoreau In 1967, Timothy Leary persuaded America's youth to "tune in, turn on, and drop out." Thousands of young adults literally heard the "far away music" and, to the dismay of their parents, marched away. America's children grew their hair, burned their bras and draft cards and permanently changed their wardrobes. To their delight, these individual cultural refugees discovered they were not alone. These countercultural groups coalesced, establishing norms and values so attractive, flexible and adaptive that finally, society could not deny them a place in the American landscape. Because Deadheads typify how mainstream American society generates groups of people with divergent core ideals, ultimately making room for them, the Deadhead phenomenon can be shown to illustrate counterculture as well as subculture, and even a latter-day assimilation into mainstream American society. Deadheads form a group with an identifiable onset and about which there is substantial literature. Also, A Deadhead, according to the authors of Skeleton Key: A Dictionary
for Deadheads, is "someone who loves -- and draws meaning from -- the music of the Grateful Dead and the experience of Dead shows, and builds community with others who feel the same way" (Shenk 60). To elaborate on this in more objective terms, research shows the top four characteristic influences on the life of Deadheads are (in order): The Dead, Friends, Love, and Family. In this same survey, below the mean are: Money, Work, and Sex, (Scott 343). From 1965 to 1995 the rock group, The Grateful Dead, has attracted a group of people known as Deadheads who follow the band everywhere they go. Large numbers of them live in their vans and cars and travel from show to show, even without tickets, or any means to get them. They make their money in the parking lot (outside the shows), selling self-made tie-dies, beaded necklaces and bracelets, food and beverages, and other random items. They have their own little portable community which, from within, has become peopled with doctors and teachers. To emphasize that Deadheads as a group are separate from mainstream American society, we need only to review the profiles documented in the literature: "46% of Deadheads are single, 28% married, and only 5%(!) divorced; politically, 69% of Deadheads are either left of center (23%), liberal (36%), or radical (10%)" (Scott 482). This illustrates a consistency in the literature showing that Deadheads are, indeed a separate group, no matter how measured. Compare this to the statistics of the mainstream: in American society, approximately 50% of those who marry, get divorced. In mainstream American society, the number of people who vote 'left of center' is significantly lower than 69%. Regarding religion, compare the following datum with mainstream American society: in a survey, 46% of Deadheads report "None" for religion; 11% report "My Own" (Scott 482). Res ipsa loquitur. Having established that they are a separate group, the argument then becomes, where on the sociological spectrum does this group fit. In the beginning, Deadheads were countercultural. According to Zellner himself, a leading authority on countercultures, "a counterculture is one deliberately opposed to certain aspects of the larger culture" (Zellner vii). If this "deliberate opposition" this rebellion, to what their parents, teachers, society, government, and religious leaders had been forcing on them did not exist, then Deadheads would never have formed such an identifiable group with such staying power. Youths used music to express independence from their elders, to demonstrate their distrust of and disgust for society as their parents embodied it....[Their] 'counterculture' peaked in the late 1960s, when people under 30 rebelled against American life, the Vietnam War, money, materialism and everyone over 30 (Folkers 6). In their rejection of society, they seem to march forward with a sense that everything would be okay: "Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts. God will see
Some common words found in the essay are:
Grateful Dead, Vietnam War, Timothy Leary, Armani Volkswagon, According Zellner, Establishment Lyman, Amendment Congress, Amish Gay, Vietnam McNamara, Times A-Changin', american society, mainstream american society, mainstream american, grateful dead, staying power, deadhead phenomenon, america's youth, kkk militia movements, scott 482, threat deadheads, bob dylan, subculture gelder,
Approximate Word count = 1986
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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