The 1968 election is four decades old, and yet we're still rehashing that moment—that era—in the 2008 contest. Why do we come back to it? And why won't it leave us alone?
Comment: In 1968, I was overseas in the US Army. The US looked like a mess from there. When I returned, I was spat on and called a "Baby Killer." I hadn't gone to Vietnam. The only thing that my unit was to put Man on the Moon. It made me realize how little the hippies really knew.
Comment: 1968.... I was 7 years-old. Funny how few articles begin, "1978." But then the bottom of the Baby Boom has never mattered much to the media or scholars. Our realities were certainly not the same.
Comment: We are old. What should we do now? Maybe we should have a happiness senectitude. So many babyboomers on boomermingle.com.
Comment: The sixties/seventies was the beginning of the end. Besides civil rights little good came from this period. And even civil rights didn't come out clean. Today people still claim racism even when there is none to be seen. Minorities still claim they deserve more rights even if it means more rights than whites. White people aren't even represented by civil rights organizations or respected as much as other races. Someday people will reach their peak and there will be a white 60s and I'm going to make sure I'm there to laugh at all of you because they ain't going to be protesting peacefully. Just think of thousands of KKK members and Neo-Nazis. Not going to be fun.
The time period just paved the way for laziness. Wonder why people sit around today and expect the government to give them free things? Why drugs are so popular? Why kids are losing their chances of growing up with a normal family?
The so called evil white traditional America was much better then this new lazy ideologies.. A minority of whites were racist. Doesn't mean they all were. something to many forget. Traditional America with civil rights can work and would be a better place to live.
Lets look at the traditional era (pre-sixties) and new era (post sixties) besides civil rights- now there is less racist whites, but passive racist minorities are filling the gap:
Old:
strong good family values, good morals, good companies (as in no ENRON), respectable politicians, unification, strong economy/actual capitalist economy, respectable criminals, less crime, less drug use, many hard working kids and people, wars that were faught for good, respect for our troops, positive yet free media, independent thinking, Broadway and the nice Hollywood
Now the new era:
high crime rates, high drug use, extremely biased and negative media, failing grades, evil companies, authoritarian Republicans (though thanks to Bush real non-Authoritarian Republicans are gaining ground), high divorce rates, TV/video games 9the use of), laziness, obesity (more than back then), Hollywood/celebrities, scum bag politicians, less capitalist economy, a falling economy (as capitalism decreases so does the chances of the economy jumping back up), mass division, pointless wars, more federal government, falling civil liberties, less independent thinking (on both sides, including the left as many comments from these forums have proved)
Now of course I am not talking about tech, medicine, communications, or transportation because I would choose the new era if that was the case.
This comment might be plauged in grammer and spelling mistakes. I'm sorry if it is..
Comment: As someone born in the 1980s, here is some advice to the "baby boomers of the 60s." You are the ones in power (politcally, economically) and you talk so much about change and how great you once were.
Why don't you put your money where your mouth is and do something about these ideals that you supposively represent. I think you are all so settled and comfortable with your own lives that you fail to stand up collectively for anything anymore with conviction.
That's right. I called you out....Baby boomers, where art thou?
Comment: I was born in 1960. Not because of this, I am facinated and have a reverence for the 60's. I am interested in the social issues, and I particularly support the concept of integration in the community at all levels, be it race, class, etc. even though that is not always a possible reality. Consider for example how difficult it is for the "rich" to belong to the "poor" and vis a versus. But America is the land of oppurtunity where the poor can and do become the rich -isn't that the American Dream. What socially intrigues me about the 60's is the caring and understanding that was taking place in America. Watch the "Woodstock" video and see the New York Chief of Police as he compliments the youth on their good behaviour. More than anything it is the music that I love best about the 60's. There was so much experimentation with sound and music and it all meshed with the idealism and explosive social issues that occurred then. The end of the 60's is considered by many of those who were old enough to understand this time as possibly the most fantastic time of their life. I wasn't even a teen then, so I am trying over time to understand what happened. I believe it was the greatest worldwide social change in my life, and unfortunately events after the turn of the decade took this change off course. Today I wish we could recover some of that great sense of genuine caring for one's fellow human beings, because I think we sorely lack that today.
Comment: Comment: I recently discovered a letter I sent to my brother with a postmark of
Dec.1967. I was living in Haight Asbury at the time, a runaway at the age of 16.
The timing of your article and the discovery of my letter urged me to send you segments from it. It truly described my experience during 1967-68.
"Dear_________ This place has really changed since the summer! You wouldn't believe it. ________, honestly it's really a shame. It seems like any place you go in the city now, the people are uptight and having nothing but hard time. Just about everyone I knew who lived in Fillmore has moved.It's getting so bad that
even the grown men and boys are scared to stay there anymore. The s----- are
infiltrating deeply into Haight and creating a general feeling of uneasiness in everyone. Add this to the increasingly cold, rainy weather and most people(s) (in
Haight anyway) lack of warm clothing and adequate living quarters (in some places there's as many as 20 people sleeping on the floor in rooms smaller than yours) AND as if that isn't enough: stricter law enforcement-A LOT OF POLICE BRUTALITY AND HARASSMENT. And as you probaably guessed by now, there's a general air of dis-content, hatred, irritation, hunger, sickness and lack of concern for the OTHER GUY. You wouldn't believe the amount of stealing and vulgarity and pushiness that's been going on. People are turning on their friends, kicking them out of their own apts. in the middle of the night, etc,etc. Just a horrible, sickening SIGHT, Most ot the people I've met recently are from New York and they're all getting ready to go back there. The feelling of togetherness and concern for the general welfare has completely vanished. It seems like everyone is living in constant fear or paranoia. ---Believe me ------, be glad that you are where you are. If I don't get into some better luck REAL SOON, I'll be joining you.----The only thing I know that's happened lately is that Donovan was in town. I didn't get to see him though.---Love, your sister"
Iwas so surprised to read this after all these years. I definitely described the difference in the Haight in just a few short months. It went from fun, free, the Diggers, the Free Clinic, seeing Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin,
true communal living, free love, etc. to fear, paranoia, and true danger-people were being robbed, stabbed, sold bad drugs, etc. What an unfortunate end to a unique moment in time.
Comment: What I remember about the 1960's in North Dakota was this was an intellectual time within the Congregational Church the morallity of Eric Bonhoffer taking part part in the plot to blow up Hitler, is it morally right to lie to your government as people did in Europe to hide people the Nazi's wanted to kill; the old black suit I was given to be married and buried in disappeared into sweat shirts, jeans, and tweed: the McCarthy period was ending and it became possible to question the government's war on Communism without being labelled as one, Native Americans and the handicap were people, too and should be treated as such; LSD and Speed, the Joan Biaz, Joni Mitchell, Buffy St. Marie, the Jefferson Airplane, Chicago, Bob Dillan, John Glen and Alan Sheppard, the death of the Kennedy brothers, Martin Luther King, the beginnings of American schools being for all people and not just the white majority. This was a time of great change in the United States. Drugs and sex had always been deeply in grained in American society. That didn't change, just the variety of drugs increased and sex that had been mostly in private before became more public. A generation of young people were given a chance to go to college because of Spunick and the National Defense Loans. The last time this was possible was after World War II with the Veteran's benifits given then.
The Sixty's was about change not dirty sweet shirts, flowers, sex, and drugs. as Hollywood would have us believe now.
Comment: What I remember about the 1960's in North Dakota was this was an intellectual time within the Congregational Church the morallity of Eric Bonhoffer taking part part in the plot to blow up Hitler, is it morally right to lie to your government as people did in Europe to hide people the Nazi's wanted to kill; the old black suit I was given to be married and buried in disappeared into sweat shirts, jeans, and tweed: the McCarthy period was ending and it became possible to question the government's war on Communism without being labelled as one, Native Americans and the handicap were people, too and should be treated as such; LSD and Speed, the Joan Biaz, Joni Mitchell, Buffy St. Marie, the Jefferson Airplane, Chicago, Bob Dillan, John Glen and Alan Sheppard, the death of the Kennedy brothers, Martin Luther King, the beginnings of American schools being for all people and not just the white majority. This was a time of great change in the United States. Drugs and sex had always been deeply in grained in American society. That didn't change, just the variety of drugs increased and sex that had been mostly in private before became more public. A generation of young people were given a chance to go to college because of Spunick and the National Defense Loans. The last time this was possible was after World War II with the Veteran's benifits given then.
The Sixty's was about change not dirty sweet shirts, flowers, sex, and drugs. as Hollywood would have us believe now.
Comment: I remember in 1968 I was a student at the U of MD and worked 4 hours every afternoon for Sen PhiliHard of Michigan. I remember after MLK was assassinated, I was driving down Noth Capitol street going to work and seeing black smoke 14 blocks on my right and 6 blocks on my left. I also remember seeing machine gunners behind sandbags on the steps of the US Capitol building, aand wondering if we had become a banana republic.
I alsi remember wathing the procession carrying Robert Kennedy's body from Union Station to the US Capitol, and thinking that once again a popular leader had been taken from us, not by a majority vote, but by
a malcontent's bullet.
Comment: I remember in 1968 I was a student at the U of MD and worked 4 hours every afternoon for Sen PhiliHard of Michigan. I remember after MLK was assassinated, I was driving down Noth Capitol street going to work and seeing black smoke 14 blocks on my right and 6 blocks on my left. I also remember seeing machine gunners behind sandbags on the steps of the US Capitol building, aand wondering if we had become a banana republic.
I alsi remember wathing the procession carrying Robert Kennedy's body from Union Station to the US Capitol, and thinking that once again a popular leader had been taken from us, not by a majority vote, but by
a malcontent's bullet.
Comment: For me 1968 has always been special: it was my high school graduation year and the year I first took a plane trip and traveled overseas.
I was delighted to have recently discovered the Elvis Presley/ Celine Dion mash-up duet ???If I Could Dream??? by American Idol. The year Elvis did the concert from which his video portion came: 1968. Year Celine was born: 1968.
Tom
Springfield, OR
http://stage6.divx.com/user/mossyra/video/1239683/Elvis-&-Celine-Dion---American-Idol
http://www.2livefools.com/foolsblog/2007/04/28/watch-how-elvis-and-celine-duet-was-done/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celine_Dion
Comment: I was born in 1981. I appreciate what the 60s meant. I appreciate the push toward a better understanding of our country. I am, however, sick and tired of hearing about the 60s. We shouldn't forget about the past, but please, can the love affair end? If I see another book on a Kennedy, student revolutions in France, or the Grateful Dead, I might implode. That might make some of you out there happy.
Comment: I was born on Dec. 5th 1945, which technically makes me a "pre-boomer", but in reality puts me at the leading edge. Isn't it time though to quit talking about ourselves. Our generation lacks the quiet dignity of our parents. We can't stop patting ourselves on the back because we think we accomplished something great, when in fact every generation has it's own great accomplishments.
So, enough with the "boomer files". Let's put the 60s to rest so maybe future generations won't look back and remember us as a generation hung up on itself.
Comment: I think this article tiptoes around the central motivating force of the 60's without ever mentioning it: the opening of the Pandora's box of human mental potential through the widespread, intentional use of marijuana and psychedelics, which helped bring people to the vision of human unity, from which the womens' movement, civil rights movement, ecology movement,and all other calls for planetary justice have sprung. The powers that be responded to this by demonizing these drugs and the inspiration they bring, and by curtailing the economic boom in the American middle class, so that people would have to work too hard (and pass too many urine tests) to dream such big dreams. Every candidate of both major parties has been committed to stuffing the genie of the 60's back in the bottle, to the great detriment of the positive changes in human evolution that were triggered at that time. The fact that our ruling elite has responded so negatively to the promise of the sixties is now putting our whole planet in peril. It is unfortunate but not unexpected that Newspeak did not have the courage or vision to mention that in this article.
Comment: As a baby boomer, the 60's were a time to stretch our imagination and take the leap of fatih to question what our government was telling us. Critical thinking was supported and forged in our minds in college. We took what was in taught in the classroom and took it to the streets. The whole world was watching and joined in denouncing the Vietnam War. While at Berkeley in 1968, I was exposed to so many ideas to address the social injustices. We really wanted to make this a better world - The Age of Aquirius.
Now after 39 years, we are still moving towards those dreams but reality has shown us that change does not happen as fast as we would want. Somehow the economic and social forces seem to be controlled by a global power elite. It is more realistic for me to fight the smaller battles locally to make social changes in my community to addess racial discrimination, social injustice, environmental protection and the homeless.
Actions speak louder than words and I will watch closely the candidates before casting my vote.
Comment: Not sure where all those question marks came from on the previous post.
why are our cities still segregated?
People are living in fear vs. faith and ignorance vs. truth. It appears to me that these are ???divide and conquer??? controll techniques perpetuated by the powers that be.
If women were liberated by the '60s, why do working mothers still feel so chained down?
I???m not a woman but I???ll bet financial slavery has a lot to do with it.
If Vietnam taught us how to be a humble superpower, why are we still bogged down in Iraq?
Graft and greed.
Comment: why are our cities still segregated?
People are living in fear vs. faith and ignorance vs. truth. It appears to me that these are ???divide and conquer??? controll techniques perpetuated by the powers that be.
If women were liberated by the '60s, why do working mothers still feel so chained down?
I???m not a woman but I???ll bet financial slavery has a lot to do with it.
If Vietnam taught us how to be a humble superpower, why are we still bogged down in Iraq?
Graft and greed.
Comment: What we all seem to miss is that there is no concerted effort to unite against this admn. and its unholy war and greed. We could do it in the 60's..know why? We had a Draft in this country which unified most of this nation against the other "mistake"-Vietnam. Today however with the volunteer services the vast majority of the people in this country only read about our present mistake rather than have it hit home when your all your sons (and maybe daughters) were subject to the draft and the possibility of dying in a war. So I agree with Charlie Rangel and bring back the draft. and I believe in this way we can end this mindless killing and destruction of your kids and this country. Think about it people.! .
Comment: The 60's are a symbol of how society stood together for change; a real good change, not words to the wind. It will be scary to have a president like Obama that does have no clue what presidency is about. He's campain is all about touching meaningless words. Personaly I am in awe watching our country going down hill with most of the society looking the other way even when affects majority. The debt is out of control, political leadership is trading valious to our cost loosing the point of what the founding father really wanted out of this country, a place for prosperous free people. Out of the crowded candidacy there is not a single one I could completly support. Republicans are lost trying to understand what are they all about, lousy economists leading us somewhere to increase their own wealth ruining america's people. Democrats good economists, bad in everything else. What to say about the security, the rights to terrorists and the super intrusion into the intelligence community that does not know how to do their job without having everybody having an opinion about it and on top of that the congress broadcasting useless hearings discussing national issues so the world can ruin us even more instead of passing legislations that can protect regular people from key issues as taxation, health and the pursue of the american dream (where is it now?).
Shame on you America, the greatest country lost to their own polititians!!.
Comment: Here's the insights of a young artist who wasn't there but recognizes that "the sixties" was an explosion whose dust continues to settle on our lives every day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKBk2J7SNuA
Comment: I searched your "1968" coverage in vain for an overview article on the year itself. Instead, you had pieces on how the decade of the Sixties changed everything, the "worst week" of the year, Ellis Cose's memories of the ghetto, the feminist protest of the Miss America pageant, the Beatles' infatuation with transcendental meditation, the rock and roll hits of the year, and the Apollo 8 mission to the moon. You had one sentence on the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, no mention of the Tet offensive, or the police riot at the Chicago Democratic National Convention, or the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, or the seizure of the U.S.S. Pueblo and its crew, or the election of Tricky Dick -- all of which would give context to your observation that the Apollo 8 flight "saved" an otherwise disastrous year.
Comment: I was puzzled by your cover treatment on the year 1968, because I looked in vain for an article on the year itself -- all you had were pieces on the "worst week" of the year, Ellis Cose's memories, the feminist assault on the Miss America pageant, the Beatles and their fling with transcendental meditation, the arts, and the Apollo 8 mission to the moon. It is much easier to appreciate how the inspiring Apollo 8 flight "saved" the sinkhole of despair that was the rest of the year if one knows about the disastrous Tet offensive, the horrible plane crashes, the police riot at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago that August, the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia that same month, and of course the election of Tricky Dick as president -- to mention just a few of the awful episodes of 1968. How strange that Newsweek would leave such gaps in what I thought was intended to be a comprehensive look back at that memorable year!
Comment: Question; Where is Richard M. Nixon hiding in this article? Answer: Everywhere. Point: It defies belief that any serious view of 1968 could fail to even mention Nixon, who had a hand in or at least a fingerprint on every issue that's discussed in this article on a year that "changed everything." With all respect, I'd suggest that Nixon's rise to power and the Cultural Revolution in China were far more significant than the "We Didn't Start The Fire" approach that this article seems to take toward 1968.
Comment: The question is indeed, should we leave the '60s behind or should we finish what was started? Were those ideals of the activists rather an American expression of the Enlightenment moving forward? The U.S. has always fought the issue of whether it wants to be Washingtonian/Hamiltonians or Jeffersonian/Madisonians? The '60s were about bringing the political civilization up to equal the push for the capitalist, strong on defense civilization. A nation needs both a compassionate soul and strong boundaries. We have over the last 16 years or so moved far too much over to the military/capitalist side. In order to bring all that it means to be civilized back into balance, we must go back to the social justice issues of the '60s. We don't go back to eliminate economic prosperity and military strength. We go back to bring them into balance with the spiritual values of a just society.
Comment: To accomplish anything in the U.S. today, we need bipartisanship. Whomever is elected, whether he or she is a democrat or republican, will need to convince the opposing party and the american people the importance of unity. In the 60's, a line was drawn in the sand between the right and the left which has since polarized the political landscape and made moderation an ancient notion. If we are to remain a global superpower, and continue thriving in the global economy, we must shy away from electing an extreme leader. Extremism is just as dangerous and prevalent in the U.S. as it is in the Middle East, and it is not limited to terrorists and jihadists. Aside from religeous extremism, Muslim and Christian, there is political extremism, and social extremism. The end result of these examples is always terror and oppression. It's time to wake up to these facts so we can come together and make some real progress.
Comment: Well said. The last several elections, particularly since George II has come to power have been particularly polarizing, as his political henchmen had sought successfully to divide this nation against itself for W's political gain........Hopefully, we can begin to climb out of the cesspool that this awful President and his henchmen have thrown this country into. The next president Republican or Democrat, will have it very tough cleaning up this President's mismanagement and mistakes. That said, I sincerely believe that all of the candidates from both parties would be an "upgrade" over the present pitiful soul in the White House. Gee Dubyah is quite honestly the worst president of the last 20 years, including Richard Nixon. Nixon knew how to handle this nations business on the world stage with dignity and skill. His opening to China was a triumph of American diplomacy. So different from the present adminstration's refusal to "negotiate with enemies".....
Comment: If one wants to truely move beyond the 60's and solve the war repetitiveness, then find some one who has been through both. John Mc cain has been through the 60's as hewas trained during that time to be an Officer-A LEADER-during Nam. He also saw the bad side of the war. I believe he can truely find a way to end Iraq/Iran shuffle-scuffle crap and end it in a timely and successsful manner. Who else fits the path? A running partner, well I would leave that up to him. Personally, I'd drop the money bags runners as that only promotes the US as a Capitalist jerk. To Blacks we owe nothing-the past is the past. Bury it and leave it. Women have monthly cycles that worry me and I am a 54 yr. old who has seen it all and PMS or Menopause is not what I will accept in a Commanding Political demanding office. I'm not pleased with the others so step out and go for a real American--Native American- that is! There are those out there who have succeded quite handsomely-Judge, Military, and don't forget the boat people "Hawaiian's". Try it John. You just might like it. I'm sure they lived a similar life and they are out there. Try the Cherokees!
Comment: Please spare us the chauvinistic bigotry and go back to inventing the wheel, caveman...
Comment: The true message of the boomers was acceptance and tolerance, which are anathema to the Republicans. If we start accepting and tolerating other people, the Republicans have nothing to politic against. The imputus of the 60s is better than anything that has followed. In the 60s we wanted the best for all people in the USA and in the world. Life was an infintite possibility. The Republicans have made it a world where only the rich can succeed. This is totally opposed to the American Spirit.
Comment: Please do not use the word tolernce if you do not know what it means. Hypocrite.
Comment: My what an interesting dialogue - so much finger pointing and blaming. Once again the conversation is about the problems and who's responsible. We all have heard the answers to that ad infinitum. That horse is dead. Where is the conversation about solutions? All be it a worn cliche', every journey begins with the first step. Why can't we get beyond the issues raised by the 60's. Every generation since then has had the opportunity to make that happen. As a "boomer" I surely don't feel quite as powerful nor self-involved as some of the comments would make me out to be.
Comment: What have we learned from the past? When I look around and try to to picture where we stand in america, I try to envision a painted canvas that shows all of our past accomplishments and mistakes. We have tried to add to this painting since the birth of our country and at times it looks like our painting could be a great master piece. However we as Americans almost seem afraid to act as curators and change parts of the painting were we know that we have made mistakes. It doesn't matter what generation critics say is having the biggest affect on todays culture and ideas. We have to first realize that we can no longer try quick fixes to our country's largest problems. We first have to quit depending on foreign countries to help us meet all of our needs. We as americans and a government have to take notice that we are free no more. We are now controlled by large corporations and industries. These companies dicate how we spend our money, keep technological advances from us to increase their profit shares ( ex. car manufacturers, drug companies,and oil companies) and they pad our legislators pockets to ensure that their companies way of life is not harmed. When will we say no more. How much longer will we continue to give tax breaks to companies from overseas that continue to put American people out of work. How much longer will we let generations of people continue to get government money without making sure that they should be receiving this funds. How much longer will the government continue to make decisions that are not in the countries best interest. ( the war, illegal spending of governmental funds(specialized earmark programs), continue to allow companies to be a bully of the democratic process and how much longer will continue to allow people to take our everyday freedoms from us. To begin to make any change in our society and as I illustrated before to our country's painting we first have to realize that we are all americans. We are not republicans, democrats, liberals, conservatives, right wingers or left wingers but rather we are all americans. We all want to have our basic needs met through the way of love / affection, nourishment, shelter, to be needed, wealth and happiness. We would all like our government to act in our best interest much like an investment banker acts in your best interest with your money. We want to be able to trust that when the government say something they are going to followthrough and not let us down by sticking to their word. And ideally we would like to see the government get back to the policy of being a goverment of by the people for the people. Until we are ready to accept this change and try to revert back to the ideas while realizing that we all created equal than we will continue to be destructive to our future and contine to ruin our painting that once was consider a masterpeice in the making.
Comment: We can't get beyond the issues raised by the 60s, but we can get beyond the tones of hatred and contempt that each side took toward the other. As a Gen X liberal (on most issues) I believe in most of the ideals associated with the liberal political movements born in the period. What I don't like is the simplistic vilifying of those who choose to emphasize what they see as the positive elements of traditional (white) American
Comment: (cont.) culture -- or, from the other side, the vilifying of those who forced the realities of American brutalities (historical and contemporary) into mainstream awareness. The 60s WERE polarizing and perhaps, given the weight of the issues involved, that was inevitable. But I'm definitely looking forward to the day when we can get beyond the culture war divisiveness -- and the associated self-righteousness -- that have filled the politics of the past 40 years.
Comment: Amen Bill. One cannot escape one's basic character. Just like an individual, a country is subject to the laws of cause and effect. Genocide (Indians), slavery, racism, hypocritical wars, corporate ownership of our government, etc. - These are simply effects. The cause is our national belief system. As a nation we believe we are somehow "special" and are entitled to what we want even if we have to ignore our stated principles to obtain it. We talk a good game, but when it's time to choose between our principles or some shiny object that's grabbed our attention, we invariably grab for our precious bauble at the expense of our integrity. Of course we follow our actions by bending over backwards trying to justify the unjustifiable. This pattern has been repeated ad infinum throughout the history of our nation.
We believe in a nation's sovereignty unless we want it's oil. Our politicians bemoan the fact that our government is for sale to corporate lobbyists until someone places a huge check in THEIR collection plate. Our citizen's go to rallies against global warming. . .in their SUVs! The endless list of examples would be funny if it weren't so sad.
We are a nation of hypocrites. We are a nation of spoiled ideologues; on an individual and collective level. This is the cause. The external strife and struggle is just a reflection of our internal deficiencies. It is only the effect.
You can't affect the effect. You can only make true changes at the level of the cause.
Comment: The '60's were simply the most recent manifestation of the underlying conflicted American mythology. This country has always been plagued by the gap between its well-stated ideals and the crude realities practiced: first on the plantations, then in the wilderness with the American Indians, then with progressive waves of abused immigrants.
We can't get over the 60's because the conflicts they raised are inherent in the American character. We can only resolve to move forward to the ideals that have given us strength and stature in the world. The Bush approach of turning our backs on those ideals is the most deparate and cynical practice of machiavellan politics we have seen in decades.
Comment: The '60's were simply the most recent manifestation of the underlying conflicted American mythology. This country has always been plagued by the gap between its well-stated ideals and the crude realities practiced: first on the plantations, then in the wilderness with the American Indians, then with progressive waves of abused immigrants.
We can't get over the 60's because they are inherent in the American character. We can only resolve to move forward to the ideals that have given us strength and stature in the world. The Bush approach of turning our backs on those ideals is one of the most desparate and cynical instances of machiavellan polititcs this country has seen.
Comment: Amen Bill. One cannot escape one's basic character. Just like an individual, a country is subject to the laws of cause and effect. Genocide (Indians), slavery, racism, hypocritical wars, corporate ownership of our government, etc. - These are simply effects. The cause is our national belief system. As a nation we believe we are somehow "special" and are entitled to what we want even if we have to ignore our stated principles to obtain it. We talk a good game, but when it's time to choose between our principles or some shiny object that's grabbed our attention, we invariably grab for our precious bauble at the expense of our integrity. Of course we follow our actions by bending over backwards trying to justify the unjustifiable. This pattern has been repeated ad infinum throughout the history of our nation.
We believe in a nation's sovereignty unless we want it's oil. Our politicians bemoan the fact that our government is for sale to corporate lobbyists until someone places a huge check in THEIR collection plate. Our citizen's go to rallies against global warming. . .in their SUVs! The endless list of examples would be funny if it weren't so sad.
We are a nation of hypocrites. We are a nation of spoiled ideologues; on an individual and collective level. This is the cause. The external strife and struggle is just a reflection of our internal deficiencies.
Comment: If there is anything the United Sates can??t "let go" it is not the sickingly over-emphasized 60s but the Civil War. What defines the United States? The ideological myths of the self-indulgent, knowitallistic generation that are the baby boomers (not just in America) - or overzealous and uncompromising nationalism - which is in a significant part a heritage of the Civil War. Hailing from Central Europe, I see really no difference in all the line-up of presidential candidates - all, "baby boomer" or not, spread the myth of the benevolent hope for all humanity. Reducing contemporary issues facing the US to a decade of dangerous idealism, as it has been done in this article, seems overly simplistic to me.
Comment: Randall1001 seems to feel it's fine to just simply blame all the problems of his generation on the one that preceded it...'Something of a cop-out , it appears to me. The Sixties hold many lessons for us if we are willing to learn them....thus far, we have not learned them...As History has often taught us, when we fail to learn from our mistakes, we are doomed to repeat them. Look around, and the Sixties are everywhere, especially the unlearned lessons....That's what's sad....
Comment: Ah, "Mulder," I half-expected someone to make that very accusation, that I was blaming all my generation's problems on the Boomers. But Boomers can't duck this issue by playing rhetorical games like that. Boomers don't like having it pointed out to them that they aren't the precious and precocious little wonders that they've believed they are for 40+ years now. The fact is that while some improvements came out of the Sixties, (increased societal consciousness in regards to issues like Civil Rights, for example) for the most part it produced horror and misery; hardly a good tradeoff.
There IS one lesson my generation has maybe learned from all this, Mulder. Not to think of ourselves as the Be All and End All of Everything, as the Boomers did. We know we're not perfect, we know we can't solve all the problems. But Boomers believed just that, in the Sixties. I don't "simply blame all (my generation's) problems on the once that preceded it"... but I do lay some blame where blame is due, yes. Too bad if Boomers don't like hearing it. But again---typical of Boomers--they'll continue to shirk responsibility for what they did.
Comment: I am so sick of hearing about the Baby Boomer generation and their precious decade of tumult and rebellion. In all the history of this country there has never been a more self-indulgent, sickeningly spoiled group as those middle-class and upper-middle class kids from the 60s, who had every possible advantage and every cushion of comfort a generation could dream of... and what did they do with it? Ha. Look around you. Some good came out of the Sixties, but it's painfully obvious that most of it was nothing but sheer horror or just out-and-out crap. And then this babied, whingy generation had the gall, once they started hitting middle age (in the 80s) to turn around on their vaunted ideals and become self-serving yuppies. And today they continue to dominate and make a misery of the world for all of us.
I was born in 1965 and proud that this phony bunch refers to me and my fellows as "slackers" and "generation X." At least we never claimed to have all the answers, never had your overweening arrogance, and never would have imagined that the world revolved around us. If anything we've been left at a loss in the face of the wrecked world you Boomers left behind. Sadly it seems we'll have to put up with you for a while longer. And no, I'm not confident that it'll be a happy day when the first "Gen X" president assumes office---because unlike you, we don't *know* ourselves so well---we don't pretend that we've "found the way." We're just trying to survive and deal with the mess you've left us. And I don't know that we can---because another Boomer (Bush) has made it a hell of a lot worse---and who *will* be there 20 years down the road to clean it up? That'd be us. But the work involved, I think, will be a lot more than a single generation can accomplish.
Hope the love beads and revolution was worth it, you sods.
Comment: Born in 1950, 1968 was my high school graduation year. Your comments take me back to those years and the struggle for our national identity since then. You raise the pertinent questions, I have grown pestimistic that we will ever elect a government with the courage and wisdom to even begin to address them. I will continue to hope for the best and fear for the worst. Thank you for the article.
Comment: If you want american back try finding the one honest candidate for the presidency. The one leading the popular polls yet rarely mentioned by the corporate controled press, Ron Paul.
Comment: I like Ron Paul. The problem is if he were elected, the Rebublicans would still be in office. How much more economic and moral destruction can this country take? Six years of criminal activity and fags is enough. More of the same? No thanks! To hell with the Democrats too, they are equally worthless. Time for an Independant.
Comment: well support ron paul then he is your independant ,litterally,,he had to run as republican to have any chance to win,an independat will never be allowed to win ,ad i fear paul may not either ,they just cant aafford to allow someone like that to win,, it would be the end of their gravy train. who are they ?,,if youre(voters) too dumbed down to know ,i wont tell you, ron paul will take us back to the constitution, and will save our country . if hes not elected ,its over ..down the tube. im going to vote for him even if have to write him in,many others will also. so that may split the vote and hillary will win,,well that will just speed the going down of this country. whan it hits bottom ,maybe it will come back.
Comment: This battle is as old as history. Realism versus idealism or Truth versus Sophistry. Socrates and other philosophers through time have battled it. Unfortunately nihilism is winning in the west and it will result in our suicide. I am an optimist that understands we will go through another Dark Ages and human reason will move forward. Oh, wait a minute, this time the radicals will have nukes....well, maybe we won't survive....
Comment: America has run itself into the ground for not standing on the principles is was founded upon. Why do have double standards for people of color? Why do gays have to have special "rights"? Why do we allow Muslim children the opportunity to pray in school and deprive Christians of the same right? I'm not stuck in the 60's, I'm wondering when people will wake up and recall the changes since then. Justifiable? Hardly...
Comment: Some people out there watch too much TV. If you are willing to listen to the media and take their perspective everytime you hear about the war, the economy, the housing market, etc., you are just as bad as the reporters and journalists that can never get both sides of the story. America will restore its position in the world, and it is still out there. It just has to be taken back out of the box and dusted off a little. Maybe someday Americans will stop being pessimistic about the future, blaming the past, and work towards an optimistic future by...maybe...ohhhh, giving solutions to America's problems. You can start off by electing a president that will get us back on track.
Comment: Dear Boomers,
Thank you so much for everything you've done for us, your children.
Thank you for abandoning your ideals and going for the payout. Thank you for bringing us free love, and higher divorce rates. For fatherless children and two income families. Thanks so much for giving us radical politics and violence.
Thanks for lowering the morals of our society and giving rise to rampant recreational drug use and promiscuity.
Thanks a pantload.
So what happened? You started off so well!
You were 'Idealism' in it's most undiluted form--you were young, and angry and RIGHT! Except when you sowed those seeds of discord, what you reaped was rage and disillusionment from your children.
Don't get me wrong, we loved the Atari for Christmas back in '78, but we'd probably have been happier with a little guidance. I know how proud you must be that you burned your bras back in the day, only to let your granddaughters show off their thong underwear and back tattoos now.
Thanks for the TV babysitter too...Our lifelong battles with A.D.D have been such a pleasure.
Now, I sit and watch television and I see Dennis Hopper - the posterboy for non-conformity- shilling for Ameriquest, or Ameritrade (or whatever obnoxious name they've tacked onto it)talking about never giving up your dreams...Oh really?
Did you dream of your 401K's and Medicare part B?
Did you dream of this complete idiot C-minus, Legacy Yale "educated" idiot driving our country into the ground?
When you marched at Kent State and sang songs and placed daisies in the barrels of guns, is THIS what you hoped to accomplish?
Thanks for making all of this possible...thanks for killing the middle class, thanks for making it impossible for your daughters to stay at home and take care of your grandkids, and your sons have no legacy and no character. Thanks for making the dream of owning a home nearly impossible.
Oh yeah, your parents were just so wrong.
And you call us slackers? Hah...Thanks for nothing.
Enjoy that retirement...
Comment: Someone help me out here - what year was it that Newton invented the telescope?
Comment: Someone help me out here - what year was it that Newton Invented the telescope?
Comment: He didn't "invent the telescope", he just improved the already existing scopes of the day! That was funny though wasn't it?
Comment: The 60's? The 2000's? No difference. The era does not define the problems, the problems define the era. Eisenhower warned us about the military-industrial complex, Vietnam and Iraq are too examples that we are not heeding his warning. Perpetual war has become our foreign policy. Bush "says" we are establishing democracy as a shining example in the Middle East, and Pakistan's dictatorship pops up to discredit it all.
We MUST wake up, as Americans, to what we first discerned in the 60's. As the world's strongest nation (at least militarily), we DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT to pre-emptive war. WE DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT
Comment: AThat part about not being able to escape the ???60???s how true and I am a baby boomer born in 1957. That year was the technically the biggest year of the boom that is most actual babies born. But this article demonstrates once again always in the shadow of those born between 1947-52. We were in grade school listening to the 1910 Fruitgum Company while the world was burning in 1968 . By the time we got to high school and college we got the bad leftovers drugs, undisciplined schools, sexual confusion. Our professors called us apathetic our own generations Richard Hell and the Voidoids called us the ???Blank Generation???. It was not that we did not appreciate the ???60???s generation. At least one Beatles song played every hour on our rock stations and The Doors and Grateful Dead were more popular in the late 1970???s then the late 1960???s. Some us tried to move on getting into punk,new wave and computers and other things. There were some real innovations that could compare within anytime during that period. It made us outcasts then but by the 80???s and beyond dominated the culture and fooled us into thinking we were out of the shadows of our older boomer compatriots. In 2007 we know that we will never be out of their shadows we just have to take the good, the bad and the ugly that comes from that and make the best of it bout not
Comment: Newton changed the world with his invention of the telescope, even when he had to kneel before the Pope and confess his error. That did not change the fact that the earth was not the center of the universe For the first time someone looked past the end of his nose and could see beyond the ideas of ignorance and deceit. I maintain that only looking back to 1968 is terribly short sighted. In designing the Consitution, Madison's GREAT concern was what has happened to all great nations and to design a SYSTEM of government, the likes that had never been done before. "Men are not angels" he said, and the enemy of nations is FACTIONS. To that end he designed a system of government to stop or control what we all know, groups of people, FACTIONS, will try to gain control and the idea of a working Republic can be demolished if that occurs. We have just seen congress give up its power to DECLARE WAR and let one man make that decision backed by his narrow faction of ignorant and greedy people.d We have had men try such things in the past but the DESIGN of the Constitution would bring it back to the intent of a UNION. There are many more of course. Current factions want to control the world, ignore laws of immigration, create wealth they do not need, use religion in government,; well the list is too long to identify all the fctions that do not want what has made the nation a model for the world. NO, IT WAS NOT 1968, IT IS IN THE MINDS OF MEN AND THE NEED TO CONTROL FACTIONS, WETHER A STREET GANG, A CHURCH, A NATIONALITY, OR THE MANY MORE. THE PROBLEM BEGAN WHEN THE CONSTITUTION LOST ITS MEANING TO NEW GENERATIONS AND IT WILL ALAWAYS BE THERE WITHOUT THE INTELLIGENCE AND DESIRE TO , LIKE NEWTON, GO BEYOND THEIR PUNY LITTLE SELVES AND LOOK TOTHE MEANING OF LIFE AND OUR COMMONALITY. bUSH CANNOT UNDERSAND WHAT A DUPE HE HAS BEEN IN THE HANDS OF HIS OIL FRIENDS AND THE PNAC wHAT DID HE TELL BARBARA WALTERS WHEN SHE ASKED HIM WHAT HE WANTED HIS LEGACY TO BE, "HE STUCK TO HIS GUNS" HE REPLIED. NOT I AM LEAVING AMERICA BETTER THAN WHEN I CAME TO OFFICE. aND SO HE READ A BOK ABY A FOREIGN BORN ON DEMOCRACY, PUT THE PRESIDENT'S MEDAL AROUND HIS NECK AND SET OUT ANEW TO DEMOCRATIZE THE WORLD. HIM WO CANNOT DTELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A REPUBLIC AND A DEMOCRACY. sUCH LITTLE MEN WILL REMAIN LITTLE EVEN AS PRESIDENT. BUT DON'T GET ME STARTED ON CONGRESS AND FACTIONS, MY GOODNESS, THEY ARE THE EMPITOME11111
Comment: Newton didn't invent the telescope. Gallileo did.
Comment: I am sorry, but the 60's are of little import, it was and is the 70's, the 1770's. I was called for a ploitical donation the other evening just as I was watching Lou Dobbs and in spite of her sweet young voice, my ire spilled over a bit on her. In the process I said I could see no suitable candidate of either party and James Madison's great concern in designing a system that would control factions. However, we now have a multitude of factions ignored by our incompetent president and a cowardly congress to do dtheir duty and be "Of the people, By the People, and For the People
No, Jefferson thought Newton one of the three greatest men that ever lived and I suspect the reason was the telescope, looking beyond these little nodules of time written by repdorters, not thinkers of stature. To me, the greatest event in human history was the invention of language but few seem to know of John Locke, another of the three greatest men to Jefferson and his words about words. We need to look through telescoopes and see both back and forward of time. We are little pimples and 1968, 78, or 98 cannot explain today. It began when Madison wrote the Federalist Paper #10. If we do not use Hubble in body and spirit there was no need for Newton to be born.
Comment: The 60's were so much better than it is today. America stood for something. But in this day and age, America is going down the toilet because of all the stupid mistakes this country has made. America has changed since the 60's and for the worse and it's not going to get any better. it's because of GREED. There are too many greedy people in this country who only care about themselves and the hell with everyone else. There is no more compassion in this country like there was in the 60's. Peple then, loved their neighbors but today, that's not the case. People today could care less about their neighbor.I wish I could turn the time back to the 60's when life meant something, where money wasn't everything. Today our government is so crooked. It probably was in the 60's too, but we didn't hear much about it. Today, that's all we hear, how there are so many crooked people in office not caring about nothing about our country, just about themselves. We don't care about America anymore. It doesn't matter who you vote for in elections because people are going to lie and cheat to get what they want. As far as we are concerned, you can kiss our asses, America. You don't care about the American people anymore. It's all about greed and to see who's going to get Iraq's oil. It's not about our freedom. We are never going to win the war on terrorism. These people who think we are, must have got their brains in a cracker jack box. This country does nothing about illegal immigration in this country. They let them come here illegally and suck up all our resources and there are American people who can't even get help, and they are Americans. This country is going to hell. It's not America anymore. It's a bunch of crooks getting away with what they do and nor caring one bit about our country or the American people. So, keep on being crooked. One day, before long, there won't be an America.
Comment: There is not much to comment on but to agree. I have written letteers to congress, written essays but the SYSTEM is broken, and the Constitution tried to prevent the breakdown in it by factions. In my career in aviation, we could not design an aircraft without a coherent system working together, The wings really neede to be a part of everything else but bush, cheney, etc. cannot comprehend what a system is, they want to see it as individual pieces and coupled with lack of good reasoning, they are lost in a wilderness. I have found no reference to the Federalist Papers in the government to understand the reasoning for why it was designed as it is and their fears of things that could break it. Well, a president with a C aveerage in History major and being let into harvrd for an MBA which he used to go bankrupt in his first business venture. Oh yes, he was a cheer leader in college where he would cheer the team on even when they weree losing by a great margin. Go team, go. Well, I do not know how old you are but you seem more of my age at 78 and experience is worth more than than all the books in the world but we cannot teach experience, you have it or you do not. Maybe our voices will find an ear but politicians do not think like designers. Pity, pity..
Comment: "The 60's were so much better than it is today. America stood for something. But in this day and age, America is going down the toilet because of all the stupid mistakes this country has made. America has changed since the 60's and for the worse and it's not going to get any better. it's because of GREED. There are too many greedy people in this country who only care about themselves and the hell with everyone else."
::::::::::
Spoken by a true WHITE person!!! and an obvious bigot! That was part of a time when true hatred and demoralization was thrust upon a people because of their skin color, and you actually liked that time in our history! I am utterly appalled!
Comment: I am one of the 162,000,000 in this country who never saw the '60s firsthand. As a result, I see it pretty much the same as I see the rest of history: through writings, films, and other secondhand sources. And I can tell you this: when I examine the hodgepodge of utopian theories and fantasies that came out of that decade, it absolutely does not hold to the philosophy that arose from 1770s America. The idea that we can re-make people, or improve them, through government is unrealistic and intellectually dishonest. It doesn't work. Human nature is what it is, and the role of government ought to be to simply protect our natural rights to Life, Liberty, and Property - and that's it. When government tries to do any more than that, it fails, and usually in a way that makes the problem it was trying to solve worse. The only way people are ever going to treat each other with equal respect is through ethical people passing on ethical values to their children, but that is something which must be achieved through individual choice, by people whose individual rights and liberties are being protected. The idea that all people have the right to a middle-class standard of living is a misunderstanding of the nature of rights, and it is one that has led to decades of meddlesome, DIVISIVE government policies which have poisoned the civil discourse in this country. People have the right to equal protection and opportunity, yes. This can only be achieved, though, through truly free markets, a commodity-based currency that can't be inflated for political reasons, and the abandoning of the misguided notion that central economic planning can bring about some kind of social utopia in which everyone gets a precisely equal slice of the pie. The Founders of this nation knew this, and wrote it down for all to read, and codified it in the government they created for us in our Constitution. The only way we will ever "get over" the '60s is if we go back to our roots, to our beginnings as a people, and remind ourselves who we are. I have had my eyes opened, and that's why I will spend every free moment I have working to support Ron Paul for President.
Comment: I am one of the 162,000,000 in this country who never saw the '60s firsthand. As a result, I see it pretty much the same as I see the rest of history: through writings, films, and other secondhand sources. And I can tell you this: when I examine the hodgepodge of utopian theories and fantasies that came out of that decade, it absolutely does not hold to the philosophy that arose from 1770s America. The idea that we can re-make people, or improve them, through government is unrealistic and intellectually dishonest. It doesn't work. Human nature is what it is, and the role of government ought to be to simply protect our natural rights to Life, Liberty, and Property - and that's it. When government tries to do any more than that, it fails, and usually in a way that makes the problem it was trying to solve worse. The only way people are ever going to treat each other with equal respect is through ethical people passing on ethical values to their children, but that is something which must be achieved through individual choice, by people whose individual rights and liberties are being protected. The idea that all people have the right to a middle-class standard of living is a misunderstanding of the nature of rights, and it is one that has led to decades of meddlesome, DIVISIVE government policies which have poisoned the civil discourse in this country. People have the right to equal protection and opportunity, yes. This can only be achieved, though, through truly free markets, a commodity-based currency that can't be inflated for political reasons, and the abandoning of the misguided notion that central economic planning can bring about some kind of social utopia in which everyone gets a precisely equal slice of the pie. The Founders of this nation knew this, and wrote it down for all to read, and codified it in the government they created for us in our Constitution. The only way we will ever "get over" the '60s is if we go back to our roots, to our beginnings as a people, and remind ourselves who we are. I have had my eyes opened, and that's why I will spend every free moment I have working to support Ron Paul for President.
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