As me and the other dads push our strollers to the coffee shop we talk about a lot of stuff. Bottle-weaning, daycare providers, and how best to administer a time-out. But one topic that is sure to come up is you. And by you I mean the boomers, the 60s generation. And we know you well. You’re our parents. Our bosses. Our elected officials. As you celebrate your milestones on PBS please realize something is amiss with your children. Author Christian Lander calls is “the rage against the 60s” and it permeates the zeitgeist of Generation X. There’s a reason Obama calls himself post-60s.
So, truth to power – and you’re the power. Are you ready to listen?
Ok then. The 60s are over. You lost.
First, you lost the war. Congratulations.
And hippies, don’t get smug. Your painted faces and flag burning didn’t stop the war. The
The Civil Right Movement? Schools are just as segregated today as they were in the 60s. Women’s Lib? How about still only at 75 cents to a dollar ladies? You pushed, I respect that. But then you stopped. You capitulated under the weight of it all and frankly you gave up and sold out.
That’s one of the MANY reasons I am so sick and tired of this romantic nostalgia for the hippie. You allowed the capitalists you railed against to co-opt your culture for minivan commercials. No wonder you ran to Eastern mysticism and materialism after your summer of love. Fill the void kids, fill the voids. And oh yeah, thanks for the drugs.
Before college I hitchhiked to
God, to hold her again, joint in my hand, and hear Jerry and the boys playing Dark Star – son those were the days. Your sadness and guilt filled each car with the thick smell of sulfur. By the time I made it to
I’m a genXer. I majored in peace studies. After college I moved to
Look, sorry about the Kennedys but that was before I was born folks and I’m almost 40. I think it’s time for you all to move on. But don’t fret, I gotta suggestion. Two of them actually. Quit living in the past and get the hell out of our way.
You compromised. And then you romanticized your contributions to society. You celebrate your youth when you should be ashamed of your adulthood. You’ve left us with a legacy of materialism and cynicism. And you know what, we don’t appreciate it one bit. Enjoy your retirement. You failed.
2 comments:
Though I do not subscribe to the harshness with which the message was delivered, I do agree with the principles of the "rant."
The choice of stating that they failed would suggest that their time had completely passed. They currently hold the seats in Congress, sit on the boards of multi-national corporations and are the chairs/deans of departments at schools and universities.
I do want to pay tribute to some of what the Boomer generation has done. You worked hard in your youth to advance the contemporary views on discrimination (racial and gender), music and arts, science and the concept that change should be welcomed. Thank you. But, the race is long, and to turn into the institution/"the man" or exhibiting the behavior of the generations before at the sunset of you presence on the planet endangers discrediting all that you have worked hard to for in your youth. You spent 30 years fighting in one direction (civil rights and the ACLU) only to have taken the next 30 years to fight in the opposite direction (patriot act et. al.).
I feel that too much self-indulged praise has been heaped on the boomers by...well...themselves.
As the son of two progressive-minded flower children I too find myself appalled with the later-in-life conduct of the boomers. The only thing I can say with certainty to boomers is, "This is your world. You made it. You continue to be the strongest influencers in it. You choose to call us in the later generations slackers and lazy. You choose to criticize our experiences and level of education. When throughout your lifetime you have chosen to build a system that rewards, praises and advances the same behaviors in us you criticize."
Why don't you all take advantage of the ability to CHOOSE that you fought so hard for with your sit-ins and protest marches, and choose create change away from these issues that trouble you. Please use the remaining 30 years of your life to restore your standing. After all you are the greatest generation...right.
I happened upon this trying to find out why you aren't on Director's Cut anymore. The substitutes are good, just wondering.
I am of the supposed '60s generation. It's a wild exaggeration that a whole "generation" adhered to a certain identity, but your observations of hangers-on from that era are pretty good. One thing to keep in mind is that Madison, Wisconsin contains a glut of these people. Most people from that era were socially pretty conservative. By that I mean they didn't use drugs, had ordinary marriages, children, careers, played golf, and are now likely "Republicans."
From my high school class I am one of the few who went "alternative," and I did it differently from most. For example, I served in the Army for three years. I didn't get sent to Vietnam, but Germany, where I spent 2 1/2 years.
I did get involved in Eastern spirituality, following an Indian guru for eight years. He hated hippies and rock 'n roll. Meditation and other spiritual practices are still the center of my life. I suppose it could be looked at as narcissistic, but that would be from the outside looking in. I find it makes my life work better.
I went to Grateful Dead shows, loved their music, but the fans, including the ones I went to the shows with, were pretty much a wretched excess. The crowd at the shows seemed crazy to me, and a lot of them were.
If you accept that there are "generations," such as the "greatest generation," the '60s generation as externally defined, wasn't so bad. The age really began in the '50s, with the "Beat" generation, the beginning of rock 'n roll, television, suburbs, a leisure ethic, and an increased level of affluence and labor-saving gadgets and appliances.
I don't look back at the era of the '60s with nostalgia, except for how I grew as a person and learned to make my own way in the world. In the Army I had to rely on my own survival instinct and resilience, which has guided me to this day. I still enjoy the music, but mostly listen to world music, the kind played on "Higher Ground with Jonathan Overby."
So, I can understand your frustration with insufferable people pretending to represent the '60s generation. The real players from those days, like Martin Luther King, Medgar Evers, and the music geniuses are mostly dead. Bob Dylan is still alive, but as great as his music is, I wouldn't want to be him.
Each "generation" has its own challenges and greatness. It sounds like you have lived the kind of creative life that the renaissance of the '60s inspired. You could look at it as taking it to the next level. Good luck. At 68 I can say I've had a pretty good deal relative to most people. I wouldn't want to be coming of age with what today's young people are facing.
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