The Protest Generation Cold War
Survey of Events






The Emergence of Ecological Awareness



When my father constructed his house in West Germany 1957, there was no organized communal garbage collection system yet. He used to bury the garbage in a remote corner of the garden, and non-rotting items such as cans and plastics reappeared decades later when I worked the garden.
Consumerism had greatly increased garbage production, especially by much increased amounts of aluminum cans, plastic bags, styrene containers, of pamphlets and books printed in colour (using toxins) etc. Not only the amount of garbage increased greatly, but also its consistency, most disturbingly, toxic and non-rotting substances taking an ever increasing share.
Regular garbage collection services were introduced and garbage disposal administrated, i.e. the garbage was dumped in large landfills, unsorted, out-of-sight out-of-mind.

Immediately after the war peaceful use of NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY was enthusiastically approved. Politicians who did not understand the basics of nuclear physics approved large sums for the establishment of NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS, with limited thought given to security and hardly any thought given to the disposal of burnt-out nuclear fuel. Nuclear energy was perceived as CLEAN ENERGY. The idea was that fossil fuels would not last forever, and an ever-increasing demand of energy had to be satisfied in order to keep the economy growing.

The protest generation targetted both problems, as well as the pollution caused by industry. Polluted rivers, SMOG reappearing again and again, high concentration of polution-caused diseases in the vicinity of certain industrial facilities caused concern, as did disasters such as OIL SPILLS.
There were a variety of organizations, those properly organized and largely operating within the legal system such as GREENPEACE, founded in 1971, more academical organizations such as the SIERRA CLUB, and more radical-anarchist groups organizing violent clashes with security forces/ assaults on nuclear facilities or construction sites.
Existing organizations such as the WWF (World Wildlife Fund, that is) turned ecological.
On the political stage, GREEN parties emerged, taking a significant position within the political landscape of many European democracies.


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This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on July 9th 2001, last revised on November 11th 2004

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