Was a change in consciousness fueled by many things, including the literature and poetry of the day (hard to believe, isn't it?), movies, music, working class kids going to college for the first time in large numbers, TV (they really did broadcast some serious and thought-provoking programming in the 50s and early 60s, as well as upsetting footage of racial horrors in the South) and, yes, psychedelic drugs, which I think had a very powerful and mostly positive impact on the era. Everything was being questioned and exploration was everywhere, in every area of endeavor.

So when the Viet Nam war escalated, everything was in place for a long and varied confrontation with the war machine and all the thinking that supports it.

At the core of the movement was a very strong streak of anti-materialism and anti-consumerism. To me, overcoming this orientation was one of the most effective ways corporate culture wormed its way back into prominence. If you are addicted to consumer goods, you won't be questioning much, you'll just be shopping and buying into the whole paradigm.