yippies, fsm, and punk

The Yippies- the Youth International Party - were a group of youth radicals who protested against the Vietnam war. They were known for their pranks and - levitating the Pentagon, etc. - which were meant mock the social status quo. I think that Marcus is totally like a Yippie because he pulled many pranks in Little Brother, like Operation False Positive and being apart of the concert. He, like the Yippies, were able to create a lot of commotion, which ideally, gave them results that they were looking for. With the FSM, some students from Cal wanted the ban from any on-campus political activity. They wanted to be given free speech as well as academic freedom. This relates to the point in the book where Marcus stands up to the teacher who fills in for his History course. He constantly rebels back with the teacher saying that the Constitution and Bill of Rights gave him the right to do "x, y, and z." With the government, specifically the DHS, in control, Marcus gets in trouble for speaking his mind and debating. Lastly, Punk music originated with anti-establishment, political lyrics, and punk music is the genre chosen for the concert, "Don't Trust Anyone Over 25." Essentially, it was rebellious music that was much more aggressive and rejected mainstream views. This is exactly how the youth was feeling in the book, and I think that's why Doctorow choose this genre because it demonstrates the up-beat, pissed-off, and angry youth, who have been stripped of their rights.