New Age Movement Research Paper

The 1950 census found that the number of elderly peoples over the age of 60 living in Southern California had swelled. San Diego and Long Beach’s population of elderly grew to well over 88,000. While in Los Angeles, the population was even higher standing at about 260,000. Combined these numbers swell at approximately 348,000. This is a large number of elderly in a few of the main cities in Southern California. These numbers may shine light on to why the elderly were such a large factor as to the direction that the state was going to when talking about public opinion and government intervention. The elderly were such a strong force in the area and in order to properly address situations that affected people who were struggling due to The Great

Although, “the origins of the New Age Movement date to at least the 1950s, a decade in which a notable segment of the population rejected the materialism the of the American Dream and sought out new meaning and new ways of interpreting life,” it is not until the 1960s and 1970s that many youth who were fed up with the social conditions in which they were living in start to vocalize about these conditions. This allowed for the breeding of new ways of thought. During this time there was a large counter-culture movement that was coming together to question the stability and the need for popular organized religion and social constructs. This wave allowed for the understanding of the world through a new perspective, this new perspective opened their minds to alternative views on society and religion, and with their minds completely free from the constraints of popular organized religion. Distancing themselves from these thoughts only left an empty space ready to be filled with newfound

During this time an author by the name of Aldous Huxley wrote essays entitled, “The Doors of Perception” and “Heaven and Hell.” Which is viewed by many as the “first popular effort to tie together two erupting trends: the attraction to Eastern ideas and the use of psychedelic drugs.” While self-proclaimed gurus and spiritual guides Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert (Ram Dass) went on to popularize said ideas for a mass American audience. This introduction immediately made it possible not only to “sanctify experimentation with drugs” but also to “interpret one’s personal drug experience in terms of Eastern spirituality.” In that way the counterculture became inextricably connected to strands of Eastern philosophy and