I don't disagree about their respective influences, and cited early fringe groups only as presenting problems in establishing a date for the beginning of the Western Cultural Revolution. I don't date that beginning from the later time when nearly half the American people went along with it.
Also, most persons were never hippies. A good many ended up looking almost exactly like them, though, and sharing many of their characteristics, and the hippies came along way before the 1980s.
I think we must date the start of the cultural revolution to a period well before the 80s, probably the late 60s, early 70s. Didn't pop culture, at least, change then? And when the counterculture students of that time became politicians, teachers, and school administrators, education changed too.
As I stated, the FRINGE, whether here or in Europe/the UK, has always been part of every nation's history. Just how much or how little influence it has had, is not "subjective"; rather, it should be based on WHEN it became the "NORM" and not just THE FRINGE!
There were a LOT of really STUPID kids who were "weekend hippies", but who outgrew it; though some never did.
The BEATS had almost NO influence on anyone!
Oh, they were "exotic", somewhat "interesting"; but no, they really weren't the forerunners of the STINKING RED DIAPER BABY putch that followed!
One interesting side note...the "FOLK SONG" stuff of the '30s ( RICHARD DYER BENNET excluded! ) included some really nasty COMMIE people ( WOODY GUTHRIE...father of ARLO ),as did the resurgence of THE WEAVERS, in the late '50s through the '60s. The latter course led to the real culture shift.
The BAN THE BOMB lefties had kids who became the COMMIE "leaders" of the late '60s, which then led to the leftward surge that hit decades later.
Movies began to change with the slow death of the long standing "STUDIO SYSTEM" in the late '60s; however, it took quite a long while for it to change completely.
Minus THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS, T.V. ( not talking about the news! )was NOT "radicalized" for quite a while!
Music? Well, that depends....
Yes, there was some radicalization in the late '60s, but it didn't last all that long. But it DID change and not for the better, when it came roaring back with the HIP-HOP and RAP filth.
Broadway?
Excluding HAIR...that took even MORE time to devolve! It was still pretty good well into the '80s, but began to go to utter garbage in the 21rst century.
Historically, major "changes" of all kinds, tend to happen during and especially AFTER major wars. Which makes the current times ( the rise of stinking COMMIES, yet again, whether they call themselves that, or something else ), something quite unusual and strange.