ABSTRACT
The craving for the new was by itself among the most powerful sources of social criticism and the rejection of existing society, its institutions and values. The daily images of personalized and vivid suffering lent great moral authority to the war protest and indirectly helped to legitimate all critiques of American society. The view that Vietnam was both a catalyst and independent source of social criticism is also supported by the experience of other contemporary Western societies. The American mass media and entertainment industry of recent times also provide many examples of this tradition with their portrayal of the criminal as tragic hero, victimized by a variety of social forces or circumstances. Marcuse was the main spokesman and theorist of the spiritual horrors of the combined effects of mass production, mass culture, high technology, capitalism, and Western-style political institutions.
