FREE ESSAY ON SOCIAL ISSUES OF THE 1960'S

SOCIAL ISSUES OF THE 1960'S

SOCIAL ISSUES OF THE 1960s
MANY SOCIAL CHANGES THAT WERE ADDRESSED IN THE 1960s ARE STILL THE ISSUES BEING
CONFRONTED TODAY. THE '60s WAS A DECADE OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL UPHEAVAL. IN SPITE OF ALL
THE TURMOIL, THERE WERE SOME POSITIVE RESULTS: THE CIVIL RIGHTS REVOLUTION, JOHN F.
KENNEDY'S BOLD VISION OF A NEW FRONTIER, AND THE BREATHTAKING ADVANCES IN SPACE, HELPED
BRING ABOUT PROGRESS AND PROSPERITY. HOWEVER, MUCH WAS NEGATIVE: STUDENT AND ANTI-WAR
PROTEST MOVEMENTS, POLITICAL ASSASSINATIONS, AND GHETTO RIOTS EXCITED AMERICAN PEOPLE AND
RESULTED IN LACK OF RESPECT FOR AUTHORITY AND THE LAW. 
THE DECADE BEGAN UNDER THE SHADOW OF THE COLD WAR WITH THE SOVIET UNION, WHICH WAS
AGGRAVATED BY THE U-2 INCIDENT, THE BERLIN WALL, AND THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS, ALONG WITH
THE SPACE RACE WITH THE USSR. THE DECADE ENDED UNDER THE SHADOW OF THE VIET NAM WAR,
WHICH DEEPLY DIVIDED AMERICANS AND THEIR ALLIES AND DAMAGED THE COUNTRY'S SELF-CONFIDENCE
AND SENSE OF PURPOSE. EVEN IF YOU WEREN'T ALIVE DURING THE '60s, YOU KNOW WHAT THEY MEANT
WHEN THEY SAID, TUNE IN, TURN ON, DROP OUT. YOU KNOW WHY THE NATION CELEBRATES MARTIN
LUTHER KING, JR.'S BIRTHDAY. ALL OF THE SOCIAL ISSUES ARE REFLECTED IN TODAY'S SOCIETY:
THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT, THE STUDENT MOVEMENT, SPACE EXPLORATION, THE SEXUAL
REVOLUTION, THE ENVIRONMENT, MEDICINE AND HEALTH, AND FUN AND FASHION, THE CIVIL RIGHTS
MOVEMENT.
THE MOMENTUM OF THE PREVIOUS DECADE'S CIVIL RIGHTS GAINS LED BY REV. MARTIN LUTHER KING,
JR. CARRIED OVER INTO THE 1960s. BUT FOR MOST BLACKS, THE TANGIBLE RESULTS WERE MINIMAL.
ONLY A MINUSCULE PERCENTAGE OF BLACK CHILDREN ACTUALLY ATTENDED INTEGRATED SCHOOLS, AND
IN THE SOUTH, JIM CROW PRACTICES BARRED BLACKS FROM JOBS AND PUBLIC PLACES. NEW GROUPS
AND GOALS WERE FORMED, NEW TACTICS DEVISED, TO PUSH FORWARD FOR FULL EQUALITY. AS OFTEN
AS NOT, WHITE RESISTANCE RESULTED IN VIOLENCE. THIS VIOLENCE SPILLED ACROSS TV SCREENS
NATIONWIDE. THE AVERAGE, NEUTRAL AMERICAN, AFTER SEEING HIS/HER TV SCREEN, TURNED INTO A
CIVIL RIGHTS SUPPORTER. 
BLACK UNITY AND WHITE SUPPORT CONTINUED TO GROW. IN 1962, WITH THE FIRST LARGE-SCALE
PUBLIC PROTEST AGAINST RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, REV. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. GAVE A
DRAMATIC AND INSPIRATIONAL SPEECH IN WASHINGTON, D.C. AFTER A LONG MARCH OF THOUSANDS TO
THE CAPITAL. THE POSSIBILITY OF RIOT AND BLOODSHED WAS ALWAYS THERE, BUT THE MARCHERS
TOOK THAT CHANCE SO THAT THEY COULD ACCEPT THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF FIRST CLASS CITIZENS.
THE NEGRO, KING SAID IN THIS SPEECH, LIVES ON A LONELY ISLAND OF POVERTY IN THE MIDST OF
A VAST OCEAN OF MATERIAL PROSPERITY AND FINDS HIMSELF AN EXILE IN HIS OWN LAND. KING
CONTINUED STOLIDLY: IT WOULD BE FATAL FOR THE NATION TO OVERLOOK THE URGENCY OF THE
MOMENT AND TO UNDERESTIMATE THE DETERMINATION OF THE NEGRO. THIS SWELTERING SUMMER OF THE
NEGRO'S LEGITIMATE DISCONTENT WILL NOT PASS UNTIL THERE IS AN INVIGORATING AUTUMN OF
FREEDOM AND EQUALITY. (BURNSTIEN P.176) WHEN KING CAME TO THE END OF HIS PREPARED TEXT,
HE SWEPT RIGHT ON INTO AN EXHIBITION OF IMPROMPTU ORATORY THAT WAS CATCHING, DRAMATIC,
AND INSPIRATIONAL. I HAVE A DREAM, KING CRIED OUT. THE CROWD BEGAN CHEERING, BUT KING,
NEVER PAUSING, BROUGHT SILENCE AS HE CONTINUED, I HAVE A DREAM THAT ONE DAY ON THE RED
HILLS OF GEORGIA THE SONS OF FORMER SLAVES AND THE SONS OF FORMER SLAVEOWNERS WILL BE
ABLE TO SIT DOWN TOGETHER AT THE TABLE OF BROTHERHOOD. I HAVE A DREAM, HE WENT ON,
RELENTLESSLY SHOUTING DOWN THE THUNDEROUS SWELL OF APPLAUSE, THAT EVEN THE STATE OF
MISSISSIPPI, A STATE SWELTERING WITH PEOPLE'S INJUSTICES, SWELTERING WITH THE HEAT OF
OPPRESSION, WILL BE TRANSFORMED INTO AN OASIS OF FREEDOM AND JUSTICE. I HAVE DREAM, CRIED
KING FOR THE LAST TIME, THAT MY FOUR LITTLE CHILDREN WILL ONE DAY LIVE IN A NATION WHERE
THEY WILL NOT BE JUDGED BY THE COLOR OF THEIR SKIN BUT BY THE CONTENT OF THEIR CHARACTER.
(GARRATY P. 278) EVERYONE AGREED THE MARCH WAS A SUCCESS AND THEY WANTED ACTION NOW! BUT,
NOW! REMAINED A LONG WAY OFF.
PRESIDENT KENNEDY WAS NEVER ABLE TO MOBILIZE SUFFICIENT SUPPORT TO PASS A CIVIL RIGHTS
BILL WITH TEETH OVER THE OPPOSITION OF SEGREGATIONIST SOUTHERN MEMBERS OF CONGRESS. BUT
AFTER HIS ASSASSINATION, PRESIDENT JOHNSON, DRAWING ON THE KENNEDY LEGACY AND ON THE
PRESS COVERAGE OF CIVIL RIGHTS MARCHES AND PROTESTS, SUCCEEDED WHERE KENNEDY HAD FAILED.
HOWEVER, BY THE SUMMER OF 1964, THE BLACK REVOLUTION HAD CREATED ITS OWN CRISIS OF
DISAPPOINTED EXPECTATIONS. RIOTING BY URBAN BLACKS WAS TO BE A FEATURE OF EVERY LONG,
HOT, SUMMER OF THE MID-1960s. IN 1965, KING AND OTHER BLACK LEADERS WANTED TO PUSH BEYOND
SOCIAL INTEGRATION, NOW GUARANTEED UNDER THE PREVIOUS YEAR'S CIVIL RIGHTS LAW, TO
POLITICAL RIGHTS, MAINLY SOUTHERN BLACKS' RIGHTS TO REGISTER AND VOTE. KING PICKED A
TOUGH ALABAMA TOWN TO TACKLE: SELMA, WHERE ONLY 1% OF ELIGIBLE BLACK VOTERS WERE
REGISTERED TO VOTE. 
THE VIOLENCE, THE MARCH, THE EXCITEMENT ALL CONTRIBUTED TO THE PASSAGE OF THE SECOND
LANDMARK CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF THE DECADE. EVEN THOUGH THERE WAS HORRENDOUS VIOLENCE, REV.
KING ANNOUNCED THAT AS A MATTER OF CONSCIENCE AND IN AN ATTEMPT TO AROUSE THE DEEPEST
CONCERN OF THE NATION, (GARRATY P. 357) HE WAS COMPELLED TO LEAD ANOTHER MARCH FROM SELMA
TO MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA. THE FOUR-DAY, 54-MILE MARCH STARTED ON THE AFTERNOON OF SUNDAY,
MARCH 21, 1965, WITH SOME 3500 MARCHERS LED BY TWO NOBEL PRIZEWINNERS, THE REV. MARTIN
LUTHER KING, JR. AND RALPH BUNCHE, THEN U.N. UNDER SECRETARY FOR SPECIAL POLITICAL
AFFAIRS. IN THE MARCH, WHITES, NEGROES, CLERGYMEN AND BEATNIKS, OLD AND YOUNG, WALKED
SIDE BY SIDE. PRESIDENT JOHNSON MADE SURE THEY HAD PLENTY OF PROTECTION THIS TIME WITH
1000 MILITARY POLICE, 1900 FEDERALIZED ALABAMA NATIONAL GUARDSMEN, AND PLATOONS OF U.S.
MARSHALS AND FBI MEN. WHEN THE MARCHERS REACHED THE CAPITAL OF ALABAMA, THEY WERE TO HAVE
PRESENTED A PETITION TO THEN GOVERNOR GEORGE WALLACE PROTESTING VOTING DISCRIMINATION.
HOWEVER, WHEN THEY ARRIVED, THE GOVERNOR'S AIDES CAME OUT AND SAID, THE CAPITAL IS CLOSED
TODAY. 
ABOUT THIS SAME TIME, THE TERM, BLACK POWER WAS COMING INTO USE. IT WAS MEANT TO INFER
LONG-SUBMERGED RACIAL PRIDE IN NEGROES. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. SPECIFICALLY SOUGHT TO
REBUT THE EVANGELISTS OF BLACK POWER. IT IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY FOR THE NEGRO TO GAIN
POWER, BUT THE TERM BLACK POWER IS UNFORTUNATE, BECAUSE IT TENDS TO GIVE THE IMPRESSION
OF BLACK NATIONALISM. WE MUST NEVER SEEK POWER EXCLUSIVELY FOR THE NEGRO, BUT THE SHARING
OF POWER WITH WHITE PEOPLE, HE SAID. (GARRATY 456)
UNFORTUNATELY, THE THING THAT REALLY MOVED THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT ALONG SIGNIFICANTLY
WAS THE MURDER OF REV. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. IN LATE 1965. CRUELTY REPLACED HARMONY
WITH NIGHTMARISH SUDDENNESS. RIOTING MOBS IN THE NEGRO SUBURB OF WATTS, CALIFORNIA,
PILLAGED, BURNED AND KILLED, WHILE 500 POLICEMEN AND 5000 NATIONAL GUARDSMEN STRUGGLED IN
VAIN TO CONTAIN THEIR FURY. HOUR AFTER HOUR, THE TOLL MOUNTED: 27 DEAD AT THE WEEK'S END,
NEARLY 600 INJURED, 1700 ARRESTED, AND PROPERTY DAMAGE WELL OVER $100 MILLION. THE GOOD
THAT CAME OUT OF ALL OF THIS, IS THAT THOUSANDS OF NEGROES WERE FLOCKING TO REGISTER IN
THE NINE COUNTIES IN ALABAMA, LOUISIANA, AND MISSISSIPPI WHERE THE GOVERNMENT POSTED
FEDERAL EXAMINERS TO UPHOLD THE VOTING LAW. IN FOUR DAYS, 6,998 NEGRO VOTERS WERE ADDED
TO THE ROLLS IN COUNTIES WHERE THERE HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN ONLY 3,857. IN THAT TIME OF
SORROW AND GUILT WHEN KING WAS MURDERED, THERE WAS AN OPENING FOR PEACE BETWEEN THE RACES
THAT MIGHT OTHERWISE NEVER HAVE PRESENTED ITSELF. PRESIDENT JOHNSON PLEADED, I ASK EVERY
CITIZEN TO REJECT THE BLIND VIOLENCE THAT HAS STRUCK DR. KING. (WARRENP. 53) HE WENT ON
TO SAY THAT TO BRING MEANING TO HIS DEATH, WE MUST BE DETERMINED TO STRIKE FORCEFULLY AT
THE CONSCIENCES OF ALL AMERICANS IN ORDER TO WREST FROM TRAGEDY AND TRAUMA, THE WILL TO
MAKE A BETTER SOCIETY. THE STUDENT MOVEMENT AMERICANS WHO WERE YOUNG IN THE 1960s
INFLUENCED THE COURSE OF THE DECADE AS NO GROUP HAD BEFORE. THE MOTTO OF THE TIME WAS
DON'T TRUST ANYONE OVER 30. ANOTHER, TELL IT LIKE IT IS, CONVEYED A REAL MISTRUST OF WHAT
THEY CONSIDERED ADULT DEVIOUSNESS. YOUTHFUL AMERICANS WERE OUTRAGED BY THE INTOLERANCE OF
THEIR UNIVERSITIES, RACIAL INEQUALITY, SOCIAL INJUSTICE, THE VIET NAM WAR, AND THE
ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL CONSTRAINTS OF EVERYDAY LIFE AND WORK. ONE GROUP THAT FORMED
DURING THIS TIME WAS S.D.S. (STUDENTS FOR A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY). OPPOSED TO IMPERIALISM,
RACISM, AND OPPRESSION, THE S.D.S. FOUND THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY GUILTY OF ALL THREE.
THEY DID DO SOME GOOD AT THE BEGINNING LIKE ORGANIZING NORTHERN GHETTO DWELLERS IN
PROJECTS SUCH AS CHICAGO'S JOBS OR INCOME, NOW (JOIN). BUT THE VIET NAM WAR LED TO A
CHANGE IN THEIR TACTICS. THEY BECAME AN INDEPENDENT RADICAL FORCE AGAINST SOCIETY. THE
DELUGE OF DISORDERS MADE IT HARDER AND HARDER FOR MOST AMERICANS TO KEEP EVENTS IN
PERSPECTIVE. THEY TENDED TO FORGET THAT MOST OF THE NATION'S 6,700,000 COLLEGIANS WERE
STUDYING HARD AT SCHOOL AND NOT CAUSING TROUBLE. AN UNDERLYING PATTERN EMERGED IN THE
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY. THE UNIVERSITY SUDDENLY BECAME A POLITICAL ARENA. THE STUDENTS
WANTED TO ADDRESS THE NATIONAL PROBLEMS OF WAR, RACE, AND POVERTY. AS A RESULT, THE
UNIVERSITY LOST SOME OF ITS NEUTRALITY. STUDENTS CREATED A NEW U.S. INSTITUTION: THE
POLITICAL UNIVERSITY. HOWEVER, ANOTHER ELEMENT AMONG YOUTHS WAS ALSO EMERGING. THEY WERE
CALLED HIPPIES. THIS MOVEMENT MARKED ANOTHER RESPONSE TO THE DECADE AS THE YOUNG
EXPERIMENTED WITH MUSIC, CLOTHES, DRUGS, AND A COUNTER-CULTURE LIFESTYLE. IN 1967,
HIPPIES PREACHED ALTRUISM AND MYSTICISM, HONESTY, JOY AND NONVIOLENCE. THEY HAD A
CHILD-LIKE FASCINATION FOR BEADS, BLOSSOMS, AND BELLS, STROBE LIGHTS, EAR-SHATTERING
MUSIC, EXOTIC CLOTHING AND EROTIC SLOGANS. THEY WANTED TO PROFESS FLOWER POWER AND LOVE.
THEY WERE PREDOMINANTLY WHITE, MIDDLE-CLASS, EDUCATED YOUTHS, RANGING IN AGE FROM 17 TO
25. PERHAPS THE MOST STRIKING THING ABOUT THE HIPPIE PHENOMENON, IS THE WAY IT TOUCHED
THE IMAGINATION OF THE STRAIGHT SOCIETY. HIPPIE SLANG ENTERED COMMON USAGE AND SPICED
AMERICAN HUMOR. BOUTIQUES SPRANG UP IN URBAN AND SUBURBAN AREAS TO SELL THE PSYCHEDELIC
COLOR CLOTHES AND DESIGNS THAT RESEMBLED ART NOUVEAU. A MAJOR DEVELOPMENT IN THE HIPPIE
WORLD WAS THE RURAL COMMUNITY, WHERE NATURE-LOVING HIPPIE TRIBESMEN ESCAPED THE
COMMERCIALISM OF THE CITIES IN AN ATTEMPT TO BUILD A SOCIETY OUTSIDE OF SOCIETY. ANOTHER
DEVELOPMENT WAS THE ILLICIT USE OF DRUGS, CREATING THE SLOGAN, TUNE IN, TURN ON, DROP
OUT. BETTER LIVING THROUGH CHEMISTRY WAS ANOTHER ADVERTISING SLOGAN THAT WAS A SLY JOKE
TO THE YOUNG, BUT A REAL WORRY TO THEIR PARENTS. MARIJUANA (POT, GRASS, MARY JANE, WEED)
WAS THEIR FAVORITE PREPARATION. HOWEVER, SOME WERE SMOKING HASH, TAKING MESCALINE,
PEYOTE, LSD, BARBITURATES AND SEDATIVES. THE LIST GOES ON AND ON. AND IT WAS ONLY THE
BEGINNING. DRUG USE WAS EVERYWHERE. ROCK MUSICIANS USED DRUGS FREQUENTLY AND OPENLY.
THEIR COMPOSITIONS WERE RIDDLED WITH REFERENCES TO DRUGS, FROM THE BEATLES' I GET HIGH
WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS TO THE JEFFERSON AIRPLANE'S WHITE RABBIT. SPACE
EXPLORATION AT THE END OF 1968, AMERICANS BECAME THE FIRST HUMAN BEINGS TO REACH THE
MOON. SEVEN MONTHS LATER, THEY WERE THE FIRST TO ACTUALLY WALK ON THE MOON. THEIR
TELECAST GAVE EARTHBOUND VIEWERS AN UNFORGETTABLE VIEW OF THE MOON. ASTRONAUT LOVELL
REPORTED, THE MOON IS ESSENTIALLY GREY, NO COLOR. WE CAN SEE QUITE A BIT OF DETAIL. THE
CRATERS ARE ALL ROUNDED OFF. ON CHRISTMAS EVE, THE ASTRONAUTS OF APOLLO 8 (BORMAN,
LOVELL, AND ANDERS) GAVE THEIR BEST DESCRIPTION OF THE MOON IN A MOST IMPRESSIVE
TELECAST. THIS IS APOLLO 8 COMING TO YOU LIVE FROM THE MOON, REPORTED BORMAN, FOCUSING
HIS CAMERA ON THE LUNAR SURFACE. THE MOON IS A DIFFERENT THING TO EACH OF US, SAID
BORMAN. MY IMPRESSION IS THAT IT'S A VAST, LONELY, FORBIDDING-TYPE EXISTENCE......IT
CERTAINLY WOULD NOT BE A VERY INVITING PLACE TO LIVE OR WORK. LOVELL AGREED, BUT ADDED,
THE VAST LONELINESS UP HERE IS AWE-INSPIRING, AND IT MAKES YOU REALIZE JUST WHAT YOU HAVE
BACK THERE ON EARTH. IN APOLLO 11, THE ASTRONAUTS LANDED ON THE MOON ON JULY 25, 1969.
ASTRONAUT NEIL ARMSTRONG CALLED OUT THE WORD EVERYONE WAS WAITING FOR.......HOUSTON, HE
CALLED. TRANQUILITY BASE HERE. THE EAGLE HAS LANDED. ALL OF AMERICA WAS ON THE EDGE OF
THEIR SEATS. IT WAS A VERY EXCITING TIME; CHEERS, TEARS AND FRANTIC APPLAUSE WENT UP
AROUND THE NATION. THAT'S ONE SMALL STEP FOR MAN, ONE GIANT LEAP FOR MANKIND, BECAME THE
WATCHWORD WHEN U.S. ASTRONAUT ARMSTRONG SAID THIS AS HE PLACED HIS FOOT FIRMLY ON THE
FINE-GRAINED SURFACE OF THE MOON. AFTER CENTURIES OF DREAMS AND PROPHECIES, THE MOMENT
HAD COME. MAN BROKE HIS TERRESTRIAL SHACKLES AND SET FOOT ON ANOTHER WORLD. THE NEW VIEW
COULD HELP MAN PLACE HIS PROBLEMS, AS WELL AS HIS WORLD, IN A NEW PERSPECTIVE. THE SEXUAL
REVOLUTION THE MEDICAL INTRODUCTION OF THE PILL CHANGED THE INTERACTION BETWEEN THE SEXES
DRAMATICALLY IN 1964. AMERICANS DISCOVERED THAT THE FREEDOM FROM FEAR OF UNWANTED
PREGNANCY WENT HAND IN HAND WITH OTHER KINDS OF SEXUAL FREEDOM. IT BECAME AN ERA IN WHICH
MORALS WERE HELD TO BE BOTH PRIVATE AND RELATIVE, IN WHICH PLEASURE WAS BEING CONSIDERED
ALMOST LIKE A CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT RATHER THAN A PRIVILEGE, IN WHICH SELF-DENIAL BECAME
INCREASINGLY SEEN AS FOOLISH RATHER THAN VIRTUOUS. THE PILL IS A TABLET THAT CONTAINS AS
LITTLE AS ONE THIRTY-THOUSANDTH OF AN OUNCE OF CHEMICAL. IT USED TO COST 1 1/4 CENTS TO
MANUFACTURE AND A MONTH'S SUPPLY SOLD FOR $2.00, RETAIL. YET, IN A MERE SIX YEARS, IT
CHANGED AND LIBERATED THE SEX AND FAMILY LIFE OF A LARGE SEGMENT OF THE U.S. POPULATION.
DID THE CONVENIENT CONTRACEPTIVE PROMOTE PROMISCUITY? ARE AMERICANS PAYING THE PRICE
TODAY FOR THE DECLINE IN MORALS AND VALUES? THE ENVIRONMENT A BOOK WRITTEN BY RACHEL
CARSON, SILENT SPRING, EARNED HER A REPUTATION NOT ONLY AS A COMPETENT MARINE BIOLOGIST,
BUT AS A GIFTED WRITER. THE VILLAINS IN SILENT SPRING ARE CHEMICAL PESTICIDES, AGAINST
WHICH MISS CARSON TOOK UP HER PEN IN ALARM AND ANGER. MANY READERS WERE FIRMLY CONVINCED
THAT MOST OF THE U.S. WAS ALREADY LACED WITH POISON THAT WOULD SOON START TAKING A
DREADFUL TOLL. THE ONLY WAY TO FIX THE SITUATION WAS TO STOP USING CHEMICAL PESTICIDES
AND LET THE BALANCE OF NATURE TAKE CARE OF THE INSECTS. ANOTHER ACTIVIST OF THE DAY WAS
LADY BIRD JOHNSON, PRESIDENT JOHNSON'S WIFE. SHE ENVISIONED BEAUTIFICATION ALL OVER
AMERICA. SHE IS GENERALLY CREDITED WITH INSPIRING THE HIGHWAY BEAUTIFICATION ACT OF 1965.
THIS IS THE DECADE WHEN SCIENTISTS WERE BECOMING MORE VOCAL ABOUT THE OZONE LAYER,
POLLUTION, AND SMOKING CIGARETTES. AMERICANS BECAME AWARE OF THE DANGERS THEY ENCOUNTERED
EVERYDAY AND WOULD PERHAPS HAND DOWN TO THEIR CHILDREN. THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS
COMMISSION VOTED 6 TO 1 TO BAN CIGARETTE ADVERTISING ON RADIO AND TV. EVENTUALLY, WITH
CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL, CIGARETTE PACKAGES HAD A NEW WARNING ON THEM: CAUTION: CIGARETTE
SMOKING MAY BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH. MEDICINE AND HEALTH MISTAKES MADE IN THE PAST
CAUSED GREAT SOCIAL AND HEALTH PROBLEMS TO CHILDREN AROUND THE WORLD WHEN IT WAS
DISCOVERED THAT USING A TRANQUILIZER CALLED THALIDOMIDE CAUSED SEVERE BIRTH DEFECTS.
BABIES WERE BORN WITH HANDS AND FEET LIKE FLIPPERS, ATTACHED CLOSE TO THE BODY WITH
LITTLE OR NO ARM OR LEG. AS RESULTS OF USING THALIDOMIDE BECAME APPARENT, EVERY COMPOUND
DRUG CONTAINING THALIDOMIDE WAS TAKEN OFF THE MARKET. THERE WERE ALSO GREAT STRIDES MADE
IN MEDICINE. DR. CHRISTIAN BARNARD WAS THE WORLD'S FIRST DOCTOR TO PERFORM A HEART
TRANSPLANT. THE PATIENT WAS LOUIS WASHKANSKY, WHO LIVED FOR ONLY 18 DAYS AFTER THIS
HISTORIC OPERATION. BUT BARNARD'S SECOND TRANSPLANT RECIPIENT, DENTIST PHILIP BLAIBERG,
RECOVERED FULLY, WROTE A BOOK ABOUT HIS EXPERIENCES AND DISPLAYED SUCH ZEST FOR LIFE THAT
HE WENT SWIMMING ON THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF HIS OPERATION. BLAIBERG LIVED ANOTHER 594
DAYS WITH ANOTHER MAN'S HEART. FUN AND FASHION THE MINI SKIRT WAS THE GREATEST RAGE IN
FASHION DURING THE '60s. IT WAS IMPORTED FROM PARIS AND ADOPTED BY U.S. TEENAGERS AND
COEDS AS THE PERFECT COMPLEMENT TO PATTERNED STOCKINGS AND LEATHER BOOTS, USUALLY WHITE.
GIRLS REVEALED MORE THIGH THAN THEY HAD STOCKING TO COVER AND AMERICAN MALES WERE
SCRAMBLING FOR THE BEST VANTAGE POINT! BY NECESSITY, THE FEMALE FORM HAD TO BE PENCIL
THIN TO WEAR THE STYLES OF THE DAY. AND IF THEY WEREN'T PENCIL THIN, FOR BETTER OR FOR
WORSE, THERE WAS A LOT OF THIGH SHOWING AND EVEN BOSOMS, WHEN THE TOPLESS BATHING SUIT
WAS INTRODUCED BY RUDY GERNREICH. FOR MEN, FASHIONS DIDN'T MAKE SUCH DRAMATIC STATEMENTS.
THE TURTLENECK SWEATER WORN UNDER A SPORT JACKET, EVEN BY PRESIDENT JOHNSON, WAS VERY
POPULAR. PERHAPS THE BIGGEST FASHION STATEMENT WAS THE NEHRU JACKET. IT IS A LONG,
MANDARIN-COLLARED JACKET WITHOUT LAPELS. IN THE FIELD OF SPORTS, SURFING ON THE COASTS
BECAME OBSESSIONS OF YOUNG MEN, IN PARTICULAR. USING 7 FT. OR 12 FT. BALSA OR
POLYURETHANE BOARDS, AN ESTIMATED 100,000 SURFERS STRUGGLED UPRIGHT AGAINST NATURE TO
BALANCE AS THEY CAUGHT THE BIG WAVES OR BREAKERS COMING IN. THE DISCOTHEQUE WAS THE PLACE
TO BE FOR DANCING AND SOCIALIZING. PEOPLE DANCED THE FRUG, TWITCHING SEXILY FROM SIDE TO
SIDE WHILE THEIR HANDS MADE SLOW AND SENSUOUS GESTURES. THE WOBBLE AND THE HULLY-GULLY
WERE GROUP DANCES USING GESTURES IN A CHARADE-STYLE. OF COURSE, IN ORDER TO SUPPLY THE
DEMAND FOR ALL THESE NEW ITEMS ON THE AMERICAN MARKET, THEY HAD TO BUILD STORES. IN TEN
YEARS, THE NUMBER OF SHOPPING CENTERS QUADRUPLED. THEY ACCOUNTED FOR 39% OF ALL RETAIL
SALES. MALLS WERE BORN. BY COMBINING GLAMOUR AND CONVENIENCE, MALLS FOCUSED NOT ONLY ON
RETAILING ACTIVITY, BUT ON THE COMMUNITY CULTURE AND RECREATIONAL LIFE. THEY WERE LIKE
LITTLE COMMUNITIES WITH RESTAURANTS, BANKS, A POST OFFICE, MOVIE THEATERS, AND OFTEN
CENTERS TO PUT ON FASHION SHOWS, HOLD CONTESTS, AND SHOW EXHIBITS. BY THE END OF THE
'60s, THE COMMERCIALISM INSPIRED BY MALLS AND CONSUMERISM USHERED IN THE DECADE OF THE
'70s. NEVER DID AMERICA RETURN TO THE RELATIVE NAIVETY OF ITS FORMER YEARS. 
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