The Legacy of the 60s is Still Very Much With Us
This particular piece written by Burt Prelutsky alludes to some of the major hypocrisies of the Baby Boomer generation. While I personally feel that Mr. Prelutsky comes across as a bit bitter in this particular article, he brings up some very valid points. I especially enjoyed his discussion of how subsequent generations have used "Free Speech" as a way to silence the opposition. That is exactly what is happening across the world today.
One of the biggest revelations for me came from one of the comments attached to the piece:
If I had changed "70s" to "90s," I certainly could have written that comment (minus the issues with punctuation and sentence structure). I never could grasp the concept of conforming to non-conformity either. It became especially glaring while I was in college during the earlier part of this decade. I could never understand why people ascribing to multiculturalism, free speech, and the like never wanted to hear the other side of real issues. I understand now that it is a means to hang on to power. I still can't quite get over the sheer hypocrisy though. Now I know why Idol Gives back bothered me though. More on that here. It all leads back to hypocrisy. In most cases, I can't stand Hollywood simply due to the arrogance, hypocrisy, and moral relativism present in that particular fishbowl.As a teen in the 70s, I could never get my head around the concept of conforming to non-conformity. The self-indulgent behavior of those around me seemed immature and ultimately self destructive. I saw a lot of young people from the neighborhood wrecking their lives with sex and drugs and alcohol; some of whom ended up on or welfare or Disability Insurance, or in jail; a few who died prematurely.
The negative repercussions of the irresponsible embrace of immaturity reverberate to this day in many poor communities. Would some of the people I knew have destroyed their lives anyway had the 60s never happened? Undoubtedly so. But the unfortunate legacy of the 60s was to make self destruction look cool, acceptable and desirable, and thus an easier choice for them to make.
Lindsey
Labels: 1960s, American Idol, American Society, hypocrisy, politics
posted by russelllindsey @ 1:31:00 PM
2 Comments:
When I was at the University of Tennessee (early 70s), we had a great cartoonist at the student newspaper. One cartoon I remember well showed to hippies, dressed exactly alike, criticizing other students for being conformist.
I've found that "non-conformist" are usually more rigid in their non-conformism and judgment of others than regular folks.
Lindsey, it struck me as I was reading your post that that's exactly what happened in the 60s, self-hatred and self-destruction was made to look cool. This was perhaps the moment where the seeds of our current cultural self-hatred were truly germinated. Hence the cancer introduced by the very clever and nefarious Left-wing pseudo-intellectuals.
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