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What does it mean to counter the culture? Our friends at Wikipedia tell us that "it is a sociological word used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day,[1] the cultural equivalent of political opposition."

What can you say about a society that says that God is dead and Elvis is alive? (Irv Kupcinet)

Our well-trained American minds immediately think of hippies smoking weed in the back of the VW, war protesters burning American flags... unproductive actions like that.

But what is culture? "All the values shared by a society" is the key phrase here. Our culture consists of those societal structures, traditions, and values which we accept as normal (thus, right) simply because they are. Everyone around us accepts them; they are familiar and comfortable. We do not question their rightness.

Culture is a particular society at a particular time and place; "early Mayan civilization"; the tastes in art and manners that are favored by a social group acculturation; all the knowledge and values shared by a society. - Princeton Wordnet

Most of us don't question them. The ones who do are the rebels, the weirdos, the hippies. The counter culture. To counter something is to resist or respond in order to show the other side, as in counter argument. To counter the culture is to question what is culturally normal by asking, "Why should this be normal?"

The counter culture is the only way things change. Of course, the changes are not always for the better. Our own 1960s counter culture produced change both bad and good. More liberation, sure, but also more STDs, more AIDS, more unwanted pregnancies, more drug use.

I think that one possible definition of our modern culture is that it is one in which nine-tenths of our intellectuals can't read any poetry. (Randall Jarrell)

The typical response of the culture (the counter-counter-culture, that is...) is to point out the negative changes produced and say, "See, this is why you shouldn't question the system." But we have to question the system. We must, because no system is perfect. When people accept without thought "the way things are," they perpetuate a cultural standard that may be fundamentally flawed. They keep building on that flawed foundation, which will handicap even the most well-meaning, well-thought plan to save humanity.

Being part of a counter culture does not mean disrespecting the culture that exists. It means recognizing that culture is a creation of people who sometimes get things wrong. We, as those who come a little after the culture creators, should look with objectivity on what has been made and determine if it should remain or be changed.