Page 184 - Constructing Craft

In their thinking the proponents of this ‘new’ way of living exhibited many similarities

with the back-to-the-land and craft movements of the nineteenth century. One
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reviewer of a book on the counter-culture movement in America observed:
Clearly Roszak [the author of the book] is in the central tradition
of nineteenth and twentieth century humanism, romantic
variety. In fact, one might think of the book as a long term paper
written at the end of a survey course covering those periods
and bringing up-to-date the rejection of industrialism and
technology that runs from Blake through the romantics to
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Morris, Ruskin, and Arnold.

Amongst the features the two movements share were an interest in crafts, the
return to the land and the desire for a simplified life. In addition, followers of earlier

back-to-the-land and craft movements often practised vegetarianism and naturism,
were interested in eastern religions and wore loose fitting clothes that offered them

more freedom.

A Different Movement

However, there were a number of differences with earlier times. For instance, in
America, where there existed an abundance of wealth, rebellion was breaking out

where it was to be least expected. The younger members of the very bourgeois elite
whose interests were being met by this abundance were rejecting the means by

which it was achieved. That is, the advanced military-industrial complex that largely

allowed Americans businesses t o exploit the rest of the world was considered evil
by many young people. This generation took full advantage of the security permitted

by the general affluence and began to demand levels of freedom, self-expression,
and enjoyment that suggested they saw life as something more than getting and

spending. Instead of thanking those who provided the environment for this freedom

to develop, they mocked them in their songs and poems, and proceeded to raise
issues that suggested severe doubts about the rightness and rationality of urban

industrial society. Some retreated to rural communes, wanting to live lightly on the
earth; others rigged up wigwams and yurts and affected the lifestyle of voluntary

primitives. Earlier movements hoped to change society, not only for their own
benefit, but also for those who were not in a position to influence their own future.

The new movement, in contrast, appeared to be self-indulgent with few altruistic

Constructing Craft