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1969 - The Year of Peace, Love, Dissent and Mayhem

PureX

Veteran Member
It's unfortunate that as a culture we have never really addressed the effects of changes of mind that went on during the 60's. Because I think these had a lot to do with the horrible attitudes that many of those same people came to adopt in the 80's. The grotesque greed and selfishness and downright brutal Darwinian view of human society. We tend to imagine that these were different sets of people, different "generations", but mostly they were not. The same people that wallowed on "sex, drugs. and rock and roll" in the 60's and 70's are the same people that echoed Gordon Gecko's "greed is good" mantra in the 80's and have continued to follow it ever since. Because it's all grounded in the same selfish, hedonistic, Darwinian view of the human condition. And that ideal lived within multiple generations from the 1950's up to today. It's behind the lust for guns, and the MAGA insanity. It's behind the the approval of religious and political fascism. It's behind the extreme disparity of wealth and the insanely nihilistic defense of modern capitalism.

We tend to see the 60's as a "anti" reaction to this sort of ideology, but in truth is was as much a part of it as a reaction to it. Something I don't think we've ever really addressed in this culture.
 

Stevicus

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
I remember the teacher bringing her TV to school and we all sat on the floor watching the moon landing. Probably the earliest thing I still remember.

I remember watching the Moon landing at home, and our next door neighbors came over to watch it, since we had a color TV set. 1969 was the last full year of my childhood. The next year, 1970, my childhood would end abruptly, and hell soon followed.
 

wellwisher

Well-Known Member
In 1969, I was 12-13 years old and almost in High School. My City High School in Massachusetts, would go on to attempt an open campus experiment, similar to the freedom of college. The students took advantage and the schools grounds became like the "Who" song, "teenage wasteland". They students became wasted zombies on various drugs, on the school grounds; LSD to Reds; barbiturates, and all in the middle.

Over 1/3 of the student body skipped over 40 days of school during the experiment and should not, by state law, have passed. However, most of the students would be passed forward to the next grade or for graduation. The adults were very indulgent to the baby boomer youth, but still were very concerned for their adult futures. This was all new and everyone was learning in the school of hard knocks.

I was part of the last year of that open campus experiment, when I reached High School. I would sign into my home room for attendance, most days, and then let the spirit decide the rest of my day; wander around or find a safe house. I still ended with up an A-average for the tests I did take. My teachers forgave me, if I missed tests, or decided not to make them up. They were concerned for the futures, of all the egg heads; smart kids, swept up in the revolution.

It was awesome time as a young person; all was new, but it could have gone sour big time. Back then you could get around by hitch hiking, with adults often your best rides, even to the mountains or beach. You did not need money but could panhandle or go home to eat. Or you could hitch hike or find a place to crash. Bumming change turned into code for buying and selling drugs; have a nickel or dime referred to an amount. You could make deals ini front of the adults, in public places, and they were not the wiser.

Much of the youthful stress and drug numbing was connected to the the Viet Nam War. Almost nobody from my generation wanted to go to that war, because it was different from the wars we had learned from our fathers. It was called a Police action, which meant it was more designed for Cold War and selling bullets. It was not righteous was like in WWII. You were sitting ducks or assassins, unable to go in, win and come home. Nobody wanted to kill or be killed or blown up for the Military Complex and the politician kickbacks.

The Pharmaceutical industry also had an impact; mothers little helpers (pills). Ups and Downs were easy to come by, with Pharmacies often selling these over the counter to the young people, since these were already in most home medicine cabinets to borrow. The future was to be drugs for anything, so we were told.

Lowering the drinking and voting age would be lobbied and lowered to 18, soon after. The young men could be drafted at 18, so it made no sense they could not have a beer, legally, or even votes, but they could blow up a village. The youth were a powerful lobby group, back then, with them able to win over their parents, who would often vote along with them, on many progressive issues. I turned 18 when the draft was lifted.

The dividing line in culture, back then, could be summarized by the chant, "do not trust anyone over 30". Instead of dividing culture into black and white, or male and female, like they do today, it was divided based on your generation. The New Age of Aquarius versus the Cold War Status quo. The Cold War threat also created a stress. This dividing line helped the young people of all colors and creeds to be on the same team; common underground. It was the Love Generation, in the pockets that I roamed. I missed all the violence.

There was also a protest against materialism, with the youth down dressing; old blue jeans and unkept Jesus beards. The girls were very creative, most making or modifying their own peasant clothes. It was also the time of sexual liberation and do your own thing, which back then was an open creative book, and not a bunch of taught procedures and off the shelf lifestyles like today. It was more like one foot in experiment and one foots still being natural.

Many of the Youth leaders on the Left, who had pushed for the change, would grow up to sell out and become the hippie-crates of today, re-dividing the Left youth along the lines of sex and color. They became a worse Swamp, than that which they tried to fight; modern Left wing tax payer money laundering scams. I often gripe against the Left, due to their generational hypocrisy. The young people of today don't know their leaders are an even worse over 30 generation, that promotes division, and uses them as pawns.
 

Stevicus

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
It's unfortunate that as a culture we have never really addressed the effects of changes of mind that went on during the 60's. Because I think these had a lot to do with the horrible attitudes that many of those same people came to adopt in the 80's. The grotesque greed and selfishness and downright brutal Darwinian view of human society. We tend to imagine that these were different sets of people, different "generations", but mostly they were not. The same people that wallowed on "sex, drugs. and rock and roll" in the 60's and 70's are the same people that echoed Gordon Gecko's "greed is good" mantra in the 80's and have continued to follow it ever since. Because it's all grounded in the same selfish, hedonistic, Darwinian view of the human condition. And that ideal lived within multiple generations from the 1950's up to today. It's behind the lust for guns, and the MAGA insanity. It's behind the the approval of religious and political fascism. It's behind the extreme disparity of wealth and the insanely nihilistic defense of modern capitalism.

We tend to see the 60's as a "anti" reaction to this sort of ideology, but in truth is was as much a part of it as a reaction to it. Something I don't think we've ever really addressed in this culture.

One thing that I recall from those days is that, for the most part, the political divisions of that time were also evident within families as well. There was a lot of talk about the generation gap, but the reality was all the generations were living side-by-side and intermingling. It wasn't as if the different generations and factions were all living on islands - and there was no internet or echo chambers to cocoon ourselves in. And the kinds of protective, nurturing attitudes many people have towards children today - they simply didn't exist back then.

Sometimes I look back and wonder how I even survived. All I remember is that I had to learn, adapt, and toughen up rather quickly. There was no "summer of love," and as a small child, I had to learn to avoid those who were in their teens and twenties, because they were scary to me. The mantra in those days was "never trust anyone over 30," but for those of us 12 and under, we were kind of thrown to the wolves.

By the time we got to our teens, it was the mid-to-late 1970s, when the political causes of the 60s had mostly gone to the back burner. Vietnam was over, and the energy crisis and massive inflation put the kibosh on all the fun and economic growth, prosperity, and political activism which characterized the 1950s and 60s. The hippies of the Baby Boom generation were starting to turn 30, and they were starting to become more nostalgic for the 50s, which is why Happy Days and American Graffiti were popular (as well as Sha-Na-Na, if anyone remembers that). They were also looking for escapism, which is why Star Wars came along at just the right time.

Rock-and-roll and long hair were no longer the shocking political statements they once were, designed to anger and rattle the squares, as rock and roll had sold out and the squares were dancing with the former hippies in the discos. The hippies were getting haircuts and real jobs - and becoming squares. Some of them even became teachers.

Those of us who reached our teens in the mid 70s were becoming holy terrors, as we had spent the previous several years being latchkey children, left to our own devices and having a (small black-and-white) TV as our babysitter. There were no more political causes to fight for - and no real reason for being rebellious anymore. Our only cause at that point was pointless mischief and delinquency rooted in the three core principles of Sex and Drugs and Rock-and-Roll - all of which had become major capitalist enterprises by then.

My cynicism grew exponentially when I heard parents and others in society start to lament just how delinquent and angry the teens had become - and how they needed to be "scared straight," a mentality specifically targeted at my age group, those born at the end of the Baby Boom and the first few years of Generation X.

Pop psychology was also a big thing back then, as it became the in thing for everyone to go see psychiatrists and read the slew of self-help books which were selling like hot cakes. Teens were also being sent to shrinks en masse. There was group therapy, consciousness raising, and "getting in touch with our feelings," which was really a load of crap. I also recall some of the former hippies wringing their hands over the "punk rockers," so their championing of youth and the "never trust anyone over 30" slogan just went away - and they suddenly turned into their parents.

The 70s started with "Imagine" and ended with "Life in the Fast Lane." Or, one might compare the portrayal of youth from Room 222, where young people are portrayed as responsible, politically aware, and people who cared about their society and future. But when I was in high school, it was more like Fast Times At Ridgemont High. "Make love not war" had turned into "Nuke Iran until they glow."

The 1970s was the bridge which took us from 1969 to 1981, and it was definitely a bridge over troubled waters.
 
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metis

aged ecumenical anthropologist
. Similarly while not totally new, the "hippy" culture drew many young people away from constructive engagement with society and their own future. As we know from the young age that rock stars died, starting with Joplin, Hendrix and Morrison, the damage from that era was lasting. "Free love" made imperative the loosening of divorce and abortion laws. This has been a decidedly mixed bag for all concerned.
Basically, as an old hippie myself, that movement cannot be easily defined as there were different people with different motives. Generally speaking, it was a peace and anti-materialistic movement that often was a rebellion against the lock-step values of their parents and society, plus some influence from the eastern religions, especially Hinduism, and the Beatles fed into the latter.

IOW, a movement for peace and simplicity in living. Most of us did not take drugs or live in communes or practice "free love". But most of the other values have stuck with me though this day, and I'm 77.
 

metis

aged ecumenical anthropologist
We tend to see the 60's as a "anti" reaction to this sort of ideology, but in truth is was as much a part of it as a reaction to it.
Not with those that stuck with it, and there's still plenty of us around.
 

PureX

Veteran Member
Not with those that stuck with it, and there's still plenty of us around.
There never were that many of them, to be honest. We forget that not every teen in the late 60's was a 'hippie' protesting the war or exploring the counter-culture. A whole lot of them were dutiful copies of their 1950's parents. Parents that believed that greed is good and capitalism is king and might makes right and the winners of the world all innately deserve the rewards. The hedonism wasn't just fueling free love and wild music and experimental drug use among some of teens. It was also fueling a LOT of partying and drinking and loose behavior among the adults of the day, too.

I graduated high school in 1975, and whatever youthful idealism there was in the late 60's was almost entirely dead and gone by then. It was just sex, drugs, and rock and roll nihilism. We still looked like "hippies" but with none of the social idealism. And not much in the way of hope, either. I think we all knew even then that the cultural experiment had failed, and the greedsters would soon have their pound of flesh.
 
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metis

aged ecumenical anthropologist
There never were that many of them, to be honest.
That's a relative term, but let me just say it certainly wasn't anywhere near a majority of young.

The hedonism wasn't just fueling free love and wild music and experimental drug use among teens. It was also fueling a LOT of partying and drinking and loose behavior among the adults of the day, too
To a large extent, that's what largely sunk the movement, but we also need to remember that this also was a minority. "Hippies" were more of a movement than a distinct, uniform group.
 
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