Fundamentalist Christianity taught them people are bad and God is Punisher/rewarder, Business school taught them that only shareholders count, law school taught them that property is more important than people, politicians taught them that lying works… nobody taught them the power of love….. sick ponds kill the fish.
Many got to Woodstock physically or spiritually. They caught the essence of the movement and believed in it fully. But then the money ran out and they had to get a “real” job. And/or they got married and had children and the nitty gritty complexities of daily life tugged them further and further away. And, because it was still the fact that each generation would do better than the last, they became people staked to property. And, once so seized, it is an almost preternatural impulse to harden one’s shell and so they gradually became more and more conservative in their views. They looked back at the pictures of their youth and the records of a movement that did not exist anymore and felt vaguely embarrassed by it all and ascribed it to childish impulses, when in fact those were childlike and quite clear-eyed reactions to a war that made no sense and a culture of easy injustice.
The AIDS crisis was a caution and some wondered if it was punishment for a licentious society. But there was more and more to be had and bought and a pleasant, easy retirement was in sight.
And Reagan - he was the ticket. He faced down a troublesome union in the most hardheaded way, was shot and joked that he hoped his doctor was a Republican. But most of all he turned on the spigot so that there was more and more money to be made…
And now? They are cruelly taunted by the “OK Boomer” riposte. They thought Trump would be the new Reagan. They hoped for one last vengeful kick at the can.
But not all of them. Curiously, they are a bit of a schizophrenic generation now. Some are so hardened that they are immune to any sentiment about their hippie youth. But many look back, see who they once were and what possibilities existed to change the world. And they grieve.
Hi Diane, I attended the Woodstock Concert in 1969 as part of the film crew shooting the movie, My connection with the concert, the movie and the time spurred my interest in reading the comments on the Forum about it. I was not a hippie or directly part of the counterculture but on the political left flank (not extreme left) in the '60s and early '70s, no flowerchild was I. You may be interested in the transcript of a program/dialogue about Woodstock called, 'Did Woodstock Change America?', which was originally aired on PBS, 8/5/1994. I think the discussion, which includes Kurt Vonnegut, provides a smart sense of that period.
We are stardust
We are golden
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden
A few days ago, the bearded, long haired baby boomer dressed totally in flowing cotton adorned a t-shirt that emphatically stated:
“The Hippies Were Right”
I say “Amen, brother!"
Fundamentalist Christianity taught them people are bad and God is Punisher/rewarder, Business school taught them that only shareholders count, law school taught them that property is more important than people, politicians taught them that lying works… nobody taught them the power of love….. sick ponds kill the fish.
Tim, “caught in the devil’s bargain.”
And "we are more than half a million strong" but many never got to "Woodstock" and still don't see the need to get there..
Many got to Woodstock physically or spiritually. They caught the essence of the movement and believed in it fully. But then the money ran out and they had to get a “real” job. And/or they got married and had children and the nitty gritty complexities of daily life tugged them further and further away. And, because it was still the fact that each generation would do better than the last, they became people staked to property. And, once so seized, it is an almost preternatural impulse to harden one’s shell and so they gradually became more and more conservative in their views. They looked back at the pictures of their youth and the records of a movement that did not exist anymore and felt vaguely embarrassed by it all and ascribed it to childish impulses, when in fact those were childlike and quite clear-eyed reactions to a war that made no sense and a culture of easy injustice.
The AIDS crisis was a caution and some wondered if it was punishment for a licentious society. But there was more and more to be had and bought and a pleasant, easy retirement was in sight.
And Reagan - he was the ticket. He faced down a troublesome union in the most hardheaded way, was shot and joked that he hoped his doctor was a Republican. But most of all he turned on the spigot so that there was more and more money to be made…
And now? They are cruelly taunted by the “OK Boomer” riposte. They thought Trump would be the new Reagan. They hoped for one last vengeful kick at the can.
But not all of them. Curiously, they are a bit of a schizophrenic generation now. Some are so hardened that they are immune to any sentiment about their hippie youth. But many look back, see who they once were and what possibilities existed to change the world. And they grieve.
And some of us still hope.
And formed communities of hope where we continue to nurture each other.
Our numbers are dwindling as the years pick us off, and still we dare to hope.
Hi Diane, I attended the Woodstock Concert in 1969 as part of the film crew shooting the movie, My connection with the concert, the movie and the time spurred my interest in reading the comments on the Forum about it. I was not a hippie or directly part of the counterculture but on the political left flank (not extreme left) in the '60s and early '70s, no flowerchild was I. You may be interested in the transcript of a program/dialogue about Woodstock called, 'Did Woodstock Change America?', which was originally aired on PBS, 8/5/1994. I think the discussion, which includes Kurt Vonnegut, provides a smart sense of that period.
https://www.pbs.org/thinktank/transcript119.html
I wonder why I am a Democrat socialist boomer and some who actually hit to Woodstock are Trumpets. Strange world
Got to Woodstock are trumpers . I do demonstrate my generation’s ineptitude with a tiny keyboard
So true . Yet many of the right wing are Woodstock generation . How did they miss the message 🤷♀️
Not everyone caught that Woodstock feeling!
We are the garden.
Sis, you are so true! ✌️ 🌷🌷 ( I’ve found the more time I spend in the soil, I become more nurturing, and true)
That was not what I thought I was pasting, but it will do. Pleasant dreams
Thanks, it was great.
But it was great. Reminded me of the 1979 movie, Being There. :)
Being There. One of my all time favourite movies. Loved Peter Sellers, the actor.
A favorite of mine as well!
Thanks! Yes! With the photo.
Joni at her finest.
For some reason, this refrain has been cycling in my brain for the past few days.
I had copied and pasted this into a Facebook post and it ended here when I thought I was posting a picture. I love serendipitous mistakes.
I hear that often in my mind... sweet music... thanks!