The Sixties

To me the greatest time in history of the world. Some might agree, some might disagree. Talk about it, anything about the sixties...what do you think of it?

 

In terms of changing culture yes a lot of big things happened in the 60's. But really because a lot of good bands came out of it and a lot of people dropped a lot of acid doesn't make it the best decade in world history. The 90's were far better. People focus on Woodstock and The Beatles now, but forget about the fact that what caused all the events of the 60's to stand out so much was socially the 60's was one of the most violent in American history, with all kinds of upheaval

 

The 60's weren't just about music and drugs. To only consider those things is to do a disservice to the times.

The decade started with a highly contested presidential election, followed not long after by a terrifying approach to the brink of nuclear war. We then endured the agony of the murder of a brilliant young president (from which we have never truly recovered). And then over the next several years the American psyche was split in two by the Vietnam War.

There were good things, too. Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" was the most ambitious social legislation since the New Deal, and hasn't been equaled since. Technology advanced by huge amounts, mostly in the wake of the space program and moon landings.

As for the hippies ... there has been a conservative backlash since the 60's that, little by little, has eroded the hippie movement into not much more than an ineffectual sideshow.

In my opinion, the 60's definitely had a lasting influence on American life. But it was much more than the music.

 

Agreed. Although the music, in my opinion, is the best music I have ever come across, it is not the only thing that made the 60s the 60s. Sure there were drugs, and sure those drugs did open minds and open doors, but its important to remember that there were numerous political and cultural issues. People weren't afraid to stand up for themselves, they weren't afraid of the "man". They weren't afraid of being themselves. The 60s changed the general idea that children were to be seen not heard, it changed the way America viewed freedom.

The Black Panthers for example, although they were violent they took a stand for civil rights, they TRIED. Martin Luther King took a non-violent stand for african american. There were so many people who took risks, who tried to make America a better place instead of standing idly by allowing the government to do whatever they please.

The war in 'Nam is a great example of political issue of that time. All men and boys of 18 and older faced the risk of being shipped halfway across the globe for a war they didn't support. We were fighting a war that we knew had a low victory chance.

Those were just some of the many issues that people of the 60s tried to resolve. It was one of the few times where the majority of America actually expressed their rights. The sad thing is, that there will most likely never be a reoccurance of the 60s. It's all been said and done, our government is more advanced now aswell as our technology. If there is a "new" 60s it will most likely not happen in any of our lifetimes.

 

Poor Johnson. Domestically he tried so hard, but Vietnam ruined him. That and he'd hold talks with department heads while swimming naked, that's both a man you can respect and laugh with.

Although one reason the hippies "disappeared" so to say is that a lot of hippy ideas made it into the mainstream by the mid 70's, especially environmentalism and the creation of Earth day

 

That's true. It's too bad that Vietnam is the main thing he's remembered for. You could probably also say that his social programs were actually begun by Kennedy, but he's the one who got them passed.

While sitting on the toilet, too. Or so I've read.

 

I do believe myself that it was the most peaceful yet violent period of the United States. The happenings of the sixties and the ideals of that time attracts me to it so. It was like a mystical experience for everyone that enjoyed it, the baby boomers supposedly suppose to be the greatest Americans of all time as adults. Instead of keeping their lifestyle as a good American they changed as they got older and instead said ENOUGH its time for a change. Can you imagine the nature loving hippies from the sixties were almost all a leave it to beaver kid from the 50's? Its amuses me that such good kids that were raised from a patriotic family would become so rebellious. I'm definitely not saying that's a bad thing, because I am so glad they did rebel. There is many days where I would like to wake up on a hill next to a small town in the summer of 64' so I can live through all the greatest times during the sixties. So many things, so many. You can say I am obsessed with the sixties and I would agree with you, I am not ignorant I know there was many bad things that happened in the sixties and it wasn't all peace and pretty flowers. That doesn't change the fact that I think it was like the Garden of Eden and I believe that I was born in the wrong time. I am a hippie of sorts and the revolution that began in the late 50's and ended almost right after Woodstock was the greatest time to live in by far, in my eyes it transcends tranquility.

 

The problem is the same thing happens every decade, there's always a cultural revolution going on. It's just between 1940-1953 with WW2 and Korea, near 16 million Americans went into and out of the military, combined with the generation that had seen the great depression as kids, lead to a very clean cut culture that was obsessed with suceeding economically, and then came a backlash of epic proportions. But we still live in the 60's kind of, why all the other sub cultures that have come out, punks, goths, indies, new waves, whatever through the years hasn't made the same impact is because a good deal of what the hippies originally stood for have now become part of every day life.

We live in our own revolution though, every generation has their revolutions. Like god we had the internet, I still remember the world before the internet, at least widespread use of the internet.The internet as a cultural revolution by far beats anything done in the past 50 years. Knowledge is power, everyone has the world at their fingertips and its effects have been amazing. We live in a time of a black president, gay marriage, a world with no cold war, an information age like never before, being able to fly to Europe for $200 roundtrip, ect. We make our own revolutions.

 

Good point. The cultural revolution doesn't always proceed at a constant rate, however, and furthermore you never know at the time how much of it is due to the backlash and how much is due to some totally new cultural phenomena.

The 60's had both in large amounts--as you say, in epic proportions--so that particular time period stands out in our cultural psyche.

Yep. The internet may turn out to be the biggest cultural revolution of all.

 

I kind of feel bad for people who never experienced a world without internet everywhere. Not that it was better or anything, it's just they won't fully appreciate what the internet did to the world. That and 9/11, living a pre-internet, pre-9/11 America, doesn't that seem so long ago.

 

The closest equivalent is probably the invention of the printing press.

 

Not really, for me it was like yesterday. I can't believe how time flew by!

 

Sixties. Well now, let me think. I came of age. High school, college. Lost virginity. Did some heavy drugs. Got a degree. Got kidnapped and jailed by my government, which said it was defending the Free World. Reason -- I refused to agree to jeopardize my life through military enslavement. Funny, D block in Los Angeles County Central Jail didn't feel much like the Free World to me.

Those anti-war marches weren't always flowers and peace. A lot of us got our heads split open by uniformed pigs, as we tried to stop the war. Four thousand of us (in the U.S.) went to federal prison for refusing military enslavement. 20,000 (including me) went to Canada as refugees. 58,000 Americans died in Vietnam and 304,000 were wounded.

It was a time of stress and conflict for just about everyone in the U.S.

 

Granted, I wasn't alive in the sixties, but it seems to me the period has been very heavily romanticized. I don't personally see the beauty and spirituality in getting stoned off your ass and having promiscuous sex, but that's just me. People think it was a revolutionary time, and in many ways it was. A lot of things were changing, but I don't see that a whole lot of good came out of it. Some good music did, but other than that, not much.

You can't fight a corrupt government by getting stoned and listening to music. Not to be harsh, but anyone who thinks this was a revolution is kidding themselves. To affect change, you need to think and act. The main theme most people seem to have about the sixties is 'ah, I was so stoned this one time, and I was at this great party, and it was a great time and great things were happening.' I see a lot of this in the Hippies forum, when I venture in there. This seems like a juvenile attitude to me. Sure it was fun, but again, getting stoned, listening to music and having sex with random people is not a spiritual experience. I would hope that with age people would realize this, but I guess many don't.

So that's my thoughts on the sixties. Comments?

 

Yes I would like to comment! I was born 53 years ago today, Yep it's my birthday... All my bias, and all that I am was indoctrinated into me at that time. It was revolutionary, we thought and we acted... To be able to think for yourself is a great achivement in lfe, to find others that feel the same way is soulfully liberating...(kk, they may have got it wrong, but the gist was there, and that is where the revolution is) I reckon the Dalai Lama(DL) has it figured out, and I am going on him... suggest you google Dalai Lama Official and get in there...

 

I'm not sure what the Dalai Lama has to do with any of this, but I'm not into following religious figures, so I'll take that advice for what it's worth.

Do you believe that people were thinking for themselves in the sixties? Some were, for sure, but the mass? It seems like it was just another big trend to me. A revolutionary one in that it was more extreme than most trends, but still a trend. In those days it was cool to do all the things I've discussed, sure. But I don't think there was a philosophy behind it, except maybe hedonism. This is why there was no revolution: no one knew what they were rebelling against. If they were rebelling against the government, they failed. It seems to me that they were just trying to rebel against the status quo of the previous generation, which a lot of kids still do today. Nothing special there.

 

These are all good points, and many people, both left wing and right wing, raised them at the time. My brother was born in 1944, three years older than me. He said he felt sorry for hippies: the people who claimed to be dropping out were the ones who couldn't make it for one reason or another in the straight society.

 

I would have to agree with your brother, though I'm sure he had a better perspective on it than I do.

 

You had to have grown up in the 40s-5os as I did to see how momentous the changes were and are , that began in the 40s with the beatniks.If anyone thinks the Indians could have taken over Alcatraz,the Black Panthers could have shown up in the legislature with guns to make a point,individuals could have torn up their draft cards in public,smoked bud on courthouse steps,run off to Canada as some did instead of going to war--and all the other interesting and dangerous things folks did----they weren't around.These mind sets did not exist.And they also didn't understand the hypocrisy,racism expressed at home and in society in general,the expectations parents had for us young ones.Dress correctly,don't cuss,don't smoke,don't have sex,get a haircut on a monthly basis,mostly be quiet,go to college and jump right on the treadmill for life. I think the beatniks began to resent the sameness that was ahead for them in the cookie-cutter way of life that was expected of all. Society was very much mentally restrictive and people tired of it. "Little boxes all made of ticky-tacky"-nose to the grindstone,keep the blacks ,mexicans,ect in their places---just somehow wasn't right anymore.And so began the 60s---------

 

Dirtydog.The attitude your brother had was the prevailing attitude back then---that those for whom compliance to the aforementioned RULES OF SOCIETY-ie:straighten yourself out,get on the treadmill like the rest of us or you're a loser,was one of the catalysts for change.Still somewhat like that ,I suppose.