Nation of Rebels: Why Counterculture Became Consumer Culture

The hippies, for instance, were intensely entrepreneurial with their love beads and tie-dyed T-shirts. Ironically, their rejection of the consumerism of American society simply spawned new markets for goods. Punk rockers, too, have criticized the capitalist system but failed to upset it. In their first chapter, Heath and Potter raise the question, "Who Killed Kurt Cobain?" Their answer: The counterculture. The notion that "alternative" rockers could not be authentic and popular, too, did him in. Cobain committed suicide rather than risk "selling out."
Next, the authors analyze the psychological underpinnings of the counterculture in their chapter "Freud Goes to California." Freud, they say, believed in the importance of civilization even though it limited individual freedom. The counterculture, on the other hand, chose to elevate individual freedom over civilization. They condemn the widespread individualism of the counterculture for making it difficult to organize social movements. Engaging in guerrilla theater might be fun, they say, but it does not solve serious problems.
With biting wit, the authors expose what they see as the hypocrisy of anticonsumer critiques of capitalism. Arguments against consumerism, they say, are merely snobbish putdowns of what other people buy. Budweiser is bad, single-malt liquor is good; hamburger is bad; risotto good; Chryslers bad, Volvo good; and so on.
In actuality, they argue, the anticonsumer movement has found its most fertile ground in the United States. Antimaterialism has become a cash cow, they say, offering expensive handmade goods to those willing to afford them. But does buying "all-natural organic tea" make you more virtuous? No, they say, it just helps a new market grow.