The most that has been gained from it is the acceptance for a certain type of weirdo. In many ways, most of a counterculture's impact is limited to style. It is now almost impossible to distinguish the counterculture from the power elite. If the power elite now looks like the counterculture, it's important to remember that it is not. Unions have been broken, pay has not kept up with inflation, the flourishing of temp work means less benefits, and longer hours are common for young professionals no matter if they dress like Peter Fonda or not.
Counterculture exchanges real power for symbolic power and hence gains only symbolic victories.
Jeremy Russell is a freelance writer. He publishes articles, reviews, essays and stories in the San Francisco Bay Guardian , New York Press , Urban View , Spark-online , and Cyber Age Adventures , as well as Bad Subjects . All rights reserved. Permission to link to this site is granted.