1968.

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           1968 was a year that brought people around the world together by protest. 1968: The Year That Rocked the World by Mark Kurlansky took an in-depth look at this year and proved to me why there will never be another year quite as revolutionary. There will never be a time where anything was this new; this was the beginning of same day broadcast, satellites, videotapes, and new technology that would change the world forever. This was making the world seem so much smaller as we were all able to communicate easier and know exactly what everyone was doing at any given time. Today as Americans we just expect things that would have been a privilege to have in 1968. It is amazing how far we have come in 40 years, but also scary how jaded we have become and technologically reliable. I cannot imagine living in this era; everything would be so much harder.

        

         This was a revolutionary time. A beginning of a new generation and exploration of sex, drugs, music, technology, and especially one’s self. The era of hippies, beatniks, peace, and love. There was an inner connection between this generation of revolting and change. There was an inner feeling of discontent. There was such a generation gap that no one really understood, but there was much exploring this gap and trying to fill it. The older generation unsuccessfully tried to change these youth to become like them and carry on their ways. This generation, because they did not change, shaped the world forever and has affected where our world is today. I personally feel this was for the better, but I am sure everyone has their own opinion. Before this generation the society was repressed by social boundaries, there were nuclear families and a lack of rights to women and African Americans. You were expected to be socially acceptable. This generation freed America. There was a shift from a sexually repressed community to a sexually obsessed. Everything was about the exploration of pleasure and intensifying it. The music and drugs were based on having better sex. Ed Sanders gave this era the claim of being “the Golden Age of Fucking.” (190)

       

          This generation also changed a lot of things that the social, education, and government systems set up a bit wrong according to them, like same sex dormitories, which they quickly changed to co-ed. They staged sit-ins to achieve what they wanted. A prime example would be Mark Rudd who was able to stand up and lead Columbia to their “liberation.” He was a twenty year old student from New Jersey who was able to stage a sit-in and protest to change what he and his fellow students did not feel was right of the university, like taking over Harlem and making the residents homeless. But, they also fought for something bigger. They fought for the change of the university’s system. They fought to make them liberal and not such a business that wanted to take your money and to encouraging critical thinking and challenging opinions. If they could change Columbia they could eventually get to other schools. They staged sit-ins and kidnapped buildings. They were beaten and injured by the police and even arrested. But, in the end they never gave up and succeeded. I think they greatly influenced why Wagner College is the way it is now.

Ashley Burger