A New Look at 1968

By: Hayley Turner 

I never realized the drastic changes that took place in 1968 until I read the introduction to 1968: The year that Rocked the World by Mark Kurlansky. To begin it is important to know that I live in 2010 and grew up in a world with seemingly limitless communications and transportation options, essentially the world has always been in my pocket. I have never thought about how it got there, I just assumed that it was always there for everyone.

This introduction showed me how wrong I was. In 1968 the world was still a very large place, the nations and cultures of the world were all still very separated. However, there was a “spontaneous combustion of rebellious spirits around the world” (xvii). The spirit to rebel was the same for all people but what to rebel was specific for nation, culture and/or individual. Kurlansky states that fours factors merges to create 1968: 1) The civil rights movement was an example for future rebellions – at the time the movement was so new and original. 2) There was a generation that felt so different and alienated that is rejected all forms of authority and challenged them. 3) The Vietnam was, which was universally hated around the world. 4) The coming of age of the television and for the first time having same-day broadcast on events around the world.

These factors lead to a far smaller world, and causes people to know and understand what is happening around the world instantly. American discovered there similarities with other nations and vice versa. These similarities went beyond the communal rebellious spirit and thus created a dialogue among people that changed the world forever and created the ‘Global Village’. The ‘Global Village’ that I have in my pocket today.