The drug counterculture of the late sixties was an interesting time of social change in the United States and elsewhere in western civilization. Although drugs played a part in shaping cultural, social, and political beliefs and ideas during this time, referring to this period of change as the “drug counterculture” may be misleading. Nevertheless, the name has stood the test of time, so let’s go with it.
What I want to discuss here is the “new drug counterculture”, or “modern counterculture” which seems to be a new iteration of the counterculture movement of the late sixties, but with certain variables or characteristics that distinguish the current version from the original. This modern movement is more aptly named the “social justice movement” and exhibits many of the same characteristics of the late sixties movement, but with some important differences – to be discussed later in this post.
The resurgent popularity of Marxism is perhaps new to the current generation, but in my opinion, it’s simply an “everything-old-is-new-again” fad. There have always been counterculture factions among college-age young people, and this is a natural result of new knowledge entering eager minds, with an accompanying need for students to express these newly-acquired thoughts and ideas. But now – as then, hubris abounds, and unfortunately, we now see more angry, vicious examples of protest coming from a variety of grievance groups attached to an arrogant, albeit familiar, leftist ideology. University professors who promote “progressive” or “left-leaning” ideas may be adding to this trend in behavior.
The sixties movement was referred to as the “drug counterculture” movement because drugs – especially hallucinogenic drugs – which helped to provide a “new awareness” or consciousness among the young. I was part of the sixties movement – graduating high school in 1972, and I admit to having had several, apparent spiritual awakenings during those years as a result of my experiences with hallucinogens.
1969 was an era of consciousness expanding among young people, and with the help of LSD, mescaline, psilocybin and other forms of hallucinogenic drugs, many people did undergo a psychic change, for better or worse.
The weaponizing of victimhood has brought us to a point whereby predictable counterculture student groups – predictably full of angst, have been given a kind of power that was not enjoyed by similar groups in the late sixties.
In the sixties, violent protests were met with strong law enforcement response. It seems that these days, law enforcement agencies are hamstrung by political entities to the point that the current response is to simply allow violence and property damage to run its course, then let municipalities deal with the clean-up. In the decade of the sixties, I don’t believe radical, fascist, Antifa-style mobs would have gotten away with the destructive acts they seem to get away with today. This seems to be the result of a “hands off – don’t offend” atmosphere generated by a growing fear of political reprisal.
The existence of the internet and social media platforms has undeniably played an important role in this phenomenon and has in fact become an integral part of it.
Wow… this became a bit incoherent, but I guess my question to the group is:

Do you think the current, left-wing protest culture is simply “hippies trying to be cool”?