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Essay / Moonshiners: Counterculture - 1064
A counterculture is a group that disobeys society as a whole by not following its norms, values and practices and inventing its own (Thomas). An example of counterculture would be the moonshiners in the 1920s when they illegally made alcohol during Prohibition because the rest of society had to follow the law against making alcohol, but the moonshiners rejected this law and created their own (Rosenberg). ). In the 1920s, after the American Revolution, most people completed their weekend activities by consuming alcohol (Rosenberg). Societies organized a temperance movement in which they tried various techniques to try to dissuade citizens from drinking because they believed that alcoholics were the cause of society's tribulations such as crime; However, they did not work very well and so they began to focus on completely banning all alcohol consumption (Rosenberg). The 18th Amendment was ratified in 1919, making it illegal to sell and manufacture alcohol, and it came into effect in the 1920s (Blumenthal). Many people were outraged by this new amendment; however, they began to find loopholes, for example in the fact that the amendment never specified that they were prohibited from consuming alcohol (Blumenthal). Some people did not follow this amendment and began finding ways to make and sell alcohol to various citizens; these people were called moonshiners and they made alcohol and sold it illegally to people. (Grabianowski). Moonshiners existed before the 1920s, primarily in Tennessee and states further south, but they were not as popular until Prohibition took effect (Saloon). People who made alcohol were worried about the quality of the alcohol, but middle of paper they were doing it so people could enjoy something they love. Ultimately, I disagree with this counterculture because of the law they were breaking. I don't think anyone should oppose the government or circumvent it in any way. I think every law is made for a reason and if one culture doesn't follow it, others might follow it, and then there would be no order in our society. Also, while I agree with the manufacturing, I don't believe in the fact that they don't care about the quality of their alcohol, which has caused many long term illnesses (Saloon). Careless people only cared about the money they received rather than the health of the citizens to whom they gave alcohol. Everyone should follow the law, otherwise it could cause many different countercultures and we would not be one society or have the same norms, values or practices as a whole..