1.) Hal Beers, the father featured in Blue Sky Dreams, appears in this film as a commentator. Of what is he representative? How does the depiction of Hal Beers in this film compare to the depiction offered by his son David in Blue Sky Dreams?

2.) The Beers family idolized John Kennedy. Why was he such a powerful symbol for Californians in the early 1960s? How was the veneration colored by gender (in other words, what did the woman see and what did the men see)? What was the influence of the Kennedy years in the later development of California? Compare the attachment of certain Californians to Kennedy with the attachment of others to another American President: Ronald Reagan? In what ways were the attachments similar and in what ways different?

3.) Hal Beers celebrates the California lifestyle that aerospace and the Cold War created. In what ways was it indeed positive? What were the negative aspects that either he overlooked or ignored?

4.) At one level, the 1960s counterculture was a revolt of the young against the values of their parents. But how did the movement draw upon the successes of the older generation as well?

5.) List the key values of the 1960s counterculture. In what ways were these values compatible with the Silicon Valley culture that had emerged by 1965? In what ways were they opposed? Similarly, in what ways were these values compatible with the values that had built the electronics and computer industry before 1965? In what ways were they opposed to it? Which is a more accurate statement in your opinion: "Before 1965, Silicon Valley helped spawn the counterculture in California" or "Before 1965, Silicon Valley was the antithesis of the California counterculture?"

6.) The counterculture and the Anti-War movement were distinct phenomena that became entangled after 1965. How did each support the other? In what ways were they at cross purposes? Was one more compatible with Silicon Valley than the  other? Why or why not?

7.) Neither the counterculture nor the Anti-War movement ever attracted the support of a majority of Americans, yet the influence of each was tremendous. Why did these fringe movements exert such a wide influence on mainstream American society? Does it matter that these movements never attracted majority support? Why or why not? California also played a particularly prominent role in the development of each. Does this fact help us to understand the peculiar influence of California upon mainstream American society?

8.) Consider the various calls for revolution that were common within the counterculture and the Anti-War movement. Did everyone mean the same thing by the term "revolution?" What was the place of technology in each of the programs for revolutionary change? Which notion of revolution was most compatible with Silicon Valley? Which was least compatible? Can you account for the differences?
 

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