When the two young ad boys try to help Don understand the political and aesthetic milieu of young coffee consumers, they read from the 1962 manifesto by the Students for a Democratic Society. You can read the full manifesto here.

To give you a taste for the turbulent times ahead for the men of Madison Ave and the NYC elite, here’s a diagnosis of youth culture from the 64 year old president, Grayson Kirk, of Columbia in 1968. Kirk said:

“Our young people, in disturbing numbers, appear to reject all forms of authority, from whatever source derived, and they have taken refuge in a turbulent and inchoate nihilism whose sole objectives are destruction. I know of no time in our history when the gap between the generations has been wider or more potentially dangerous.”

SDS leader Mark Rudd responded with this letter. He closed it with:

… We, the young people, whom you so rightly fear, say that the society is sick and you and your capitalism are the sickness. You call for order and respect for authority; we call for justice, freedom, and socialism. There is only one thing left to say. It may sound nihilistic to you, since it is the opening shot in a war of liberation. I’ll use the words of LeRoi Jones, whom I’m sure you don’t like a whole lot: “Up against the wall, motherfucker, this is a stick-up.”

2:34am | 15 notes