We were gonna change the world...what happened?

Discussion in 'Back to the Garden' started by mosaicthreads, Mar 11, 2005.

  1. mosaicthreads

    mosaicthreads Member

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    I've been away from the forums for awhile, busy with life, and had to come back for some comfort. I've been just feeling kind of nostalgic lately and wondering what happend to the generation that was going to change the world? When I listen to the music I remember the feeling I had being a part of it all, thinking we really were gonna find a better way. I think a lot of us have, in our own lives, made a difference and lived out our beliefs, but on the whole I see little change in society.

    I don't know, somebody refresh my memory and tell me we are better off, that we have made inroads, and have left a positive lasting impact for the following generations. I know there are some positives, but I'm having a hard time seeing them right now!

    ~mosaic, feeling sorry for herself...
     
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  2. WE1

    WE1 Member

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    We became busy with life.
     
  3. mosaicthreads

    mosaicthreads Member

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  4. gate68

    gate68 Senior Member

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    Nowdays I'm lucky if I change my underwear.
     
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  5. MeAgain

    MeAgain Dazed & Confused Lifetime Supporter Super Moderator

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    Momentum.

    There are presently far to few to shift the momentum of the last 2,000 years.

    We were in the limelight for awhile because of the novelty to the general public, then they got tired and went back to sit coms and cop shows.
    Also we had to compromise outwardly to survive and raise a family.

    It's a problem of human evolution. I have read that we are evolving as a race but we still have, I think the estimate was a couple hundred years at the present rate, until the shift occurs.
     
  6. luvndrumn

    luvndrumn Hip Forums Supporter HipForums Supporter

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    But we did change the world, mosaic. It just didn't perpetuate. It didn't grow. As Meagain and We mentioned (not in so many words, but in meaning), Life happened. And the 'others', (the "driven", the maniacal") filled the void. And now we have... THIS. And whereas back in the day "They have the guns, but we have the numbers", now it seems that they have the numbers as well as the guns.
    Maybe we were too naive, too into our own selves and the sense of what we had helped cause to think that anyone would not think it was a good thing.


    And we grow older and a little more tired.
    Revolution is for the young, but I just don't smell it coming.

    As the old "Chermans" say, "Too zoon ve grow old, und too late ve grow shmart".
     
  7. forest_pixie84

    forest_pixie84 Senior Member

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    i feel like yall changed the world
     
  8. mosaicthreads

    mosaicthreads Member

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    Ah yes....we had to find a way to live and raise a family. so true!

    It is what I see in my own children, they would like to make a difference, but they are too busy just making a way to survive in what the world has become.

    It makes me sad, and oh so late have I grown shmart! :(
     
  9. honeyhannah

    honeyhannah herbuhslovuh

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    I agree people are more tolerant and more concerned with happiness and personal freedom though sometimes it seems the opposite
     
  10. Feralking

    Feralking Member

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    Don't lose heart,sister.Think of what it would be like now if we all hadn't taken a stand against the status quo.It can seem like we have lost the battle and that our movement is no longer active in the world,but in fact there are many cahnges that have occured in society because of the hippies.It's a fact that the world is still in a mess,and at the moment things are looking real bad,but if we stop being who we are,then we have truely lost the plot.Often without us even being aware of it,we have an effect on people we meet.Don't underestimate the magic that you have more than likely worked on the lives of others simply in being who you are.The hippy movement is still very much alive.People may not look like they are part of it all,but their hearts are definitely in the right place.Many of the younger generation are taking very active roles within the system in order to assist in the process of change.One young brother is now a professor in environmental studies.He started out as a feral blockader here in Australia.This is just one example.Take heart dear sister.We have made an impression,and that impression will last for many generations yet to come.While we are still on this earth,it is important that we continue our blessed work.That work is simply living life as we know in our hearts it ought to be lived.
     
  11. treekster

    treekster Buddha Dawg

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    it's a big wheel to turn, you all got your shoulders to it for the first time...I think the best change you all made is that there are people from my generation, not to mention the younger ones, still putting shoulders to the wheel...thanks for blazing the path, and try to take heart...changing a world is big work, it moves slowly, almost imperceptibly at times, but I still have faith change will come
     
  12. jackbequick88

    jackbequick88 Member

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    You don't see that sign anymore that states if you bring pot into a certain area you'll get life for distribution and 20 years for possesion.. Sadly, the movement was strong for a few years, then it died. Just like someone posted early, they had to adapt to raising a family and keeping them on the right track. Basically, it comes down to a 50-50 chance. Flip a coin, you could easily predict the future in such circumstances. The life you all once knew is gone... the life I wished to live is over. A turn in events. A sad one. Republicans now rule the world and we are sitting here in this vegitate state. All we can do is mutter and speak some simple words of enlightment.. but really, how many lives does it change? Kids have become hippies because they don't see the real point or they over exaggerate or make stupid observations. As a very wise woman once told me, "We weren't called hippies, we were called Freaks, 'hippy' only generated later". She is dead and I still consider myself a freak, not a hippy... So let's conform to propose a new informative movement such as "The Freaks Of Earth".. Never know... I think Earth is due for a movement in so many years. With this technology, hippies would be smart to become the head of these developments and pursue the hippy dream. Sometimes conforming to the new will help benefit the movement and just like any war, you sacrifice yourself for any movement. So I propose a new movement. One of monumental strength.
     
  13. Syntax

    Syntax Senior Member

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    I guess I'm too young to comment, but here's my explanation:

    In the 60's, it seemed like -everybody- was out to change the world. Everybody listened to revolutionary music, supported protests and claimed to love freedom. When the 60's ended, it appeared that most of these kids were just playing along, having some fun with the trend. Being like the hippies was just the trendy thing to do.

    And now, you see your generation and you ask yourself "why has so little changed now that we are the people voting and running the world?" and the truth is that most people whom you considered to be on your side were just posers, and those who really wanted to change the world are a small minority. And alone, they can't do anything, young or old.

    That's just my theory. Peace.
     
  14. jackbequick88

    jackbequick88 Member

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    Syntax has got a good point of view. Most were posers and they always will be. The majority of this site is posers. A lack of true perspective. You see, I truly believe that there are the few that actually believe in helping instead of hurting. And frankly, I've fallen to the pits of the 'hurting' side. It's very hard to maintain your path to insure true beauty to all of those who are in the younger generation. Simply, things of an old nature can't comply with the new "Hip" way of doing things. Rap is the major seller and so is appeal. Look away, your golden, look another way, your the devil of society. Unfortunately we as people have eliminated the mediocre bit of society.. those who can sit in a middle class. A college education is almost now mandatory and living off of small paying jobs is almost impossible. Everything seems to be depressing. The movement has not been yet forgotten but yet has been almost abolished. For the lack of true hippies is outstanding. The movement meant something and now there are those who think only drugs are hippies. Points of meaning were soon forgotten and it is up to us, and us only, the present, to change things. Old or young, play your part. It takes millions to change billions. Remember that. We need to form, and form strong in numbers. And though this is against the hippie creed, we must be willing to loose in order to gain.
     
  15. mosaicthreads

    mosaicthreads Member

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    Right on brother! Your words are an encouragement to me, as are so many of you who have posted. We did make a dent and I think that many of the "hippies" turned into "yuppies" and the ones that stayed true to their hearts did make an impact on the corporate world....look at Rolling Stone Mag.

    jackbequick88 you are correct, we were never called hippies. That was a term coined by the media I believe. We were simply "freaks" and that suited us just fine. I can call myself a hippie now, because my children lovingly call me and the ol'man "hippies" and so I guess it kind of sounds loving and sweet.

    So all you freaks out there, keep living and lovin' and helping your fellow man! We have made a difference no matter how small it may be.
     
  16. MeAgain

    MeAgain Dazed & Confused Lifetime Supporter Super Moderator

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    You really need to study social mores to understand all this junk.

    Let me throw this out for thought subject to correction.

    The "hippie" movement was an out growth of the "beat" movement. Which I'm not getting into here. After WWII American, English, and most of the Allied nation's society was very regimented, uniform. It was a result of military training and the war effort. Using the U.S. as an example, the society had had to pull together to win the war. The government was given absolute authority and permission to govern society.
    The WWII generation learned to trust their government and its leaders. They had to to win the war. After the war they continued to trust them and set about rebuilding their lives, which had been devestated by the war. They went trough severe hardships and now they were trying to avoid this stuff in the future, they wanted a good, peacefull future for their children.

    Now, the younger generation was getting the best education ever offered to any generation in history. The WWII people put an extreme importance on education. So they taught what was good, right, and just. In the schools and all media. Watch reruns of any TV show from that era.

    Anyway, the youngsters looked around and found out that the nation wasn't quite living up to what they were teaching. There were nice cars, cheap gas, fine homes, plenty to eat, etc. but others in the world were getting the shaft. And they started to speak up. But they found when they spoke up they were told not to rock the boat. We were doing fine and the rest of the world, well, what can you do?

    The young were "breaking rank".
    Problems were developing....

    ......This is getting long so I'll stop here.
     
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  17. hippycarly

    hippycarly Member

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    I agree that many people were posers; fashion-conscious people who thought it was cool to burn bras and protest and wear bell bottoms. I was a kid in the 60's and early 70's, but was raised in the environment. The feelings ran deep, but were pushed to the back of my mind in the late 70's, 80's and 90's, when I was more worried about driving the newest car, having the nicest of homes, best job, I guess I kinda stepped back and did some soul searching when it had occured to me that I felt like I was teaching my kids to be the most popular, best in sports, buying them the nicest things in the neighborhood, when I should have been teaching them more about peace and tolerance. They see things in a new way now, and I think they are alot happier. I have seen some younger "hippies", and from what I have seen of them, for the most part, they seem to have some idea about what being in the culture is about.
     
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  18. SkeeterVT

    SkeeterVT Member

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    We did a lot more than change the world. . .The world we Baby Boomers grew up in no longer exists. The Soviet Union is gone. The so-called "menace of communism" is gone (save for North Korea). Jim Crow and apartheid are gone. Colonialism is gone. The draft is gone (though there continue to be rumors of it making a comeback). 25-cents-a-gallon gasoline is LONG gone.

    On the other hand, who could have imagined when we Baby Boomers were kids that the Empire State Building would once again become New York's tallest? Who could have imagined that the 33 1/3 RPM vinyl record would give way to the compact disc? Or, for that matter, the VHS cassette tape giving way to the DVD? Or that there would be a worldwide, interactive computer network that would become more ubiquitous than television?

    To say that we changed the world is the understatement of the century.

    -- Skeeter
     
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  19. gate68

    gate68 Senior Member

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    It was a movement against the war.It ended when VietNam ended.It's started again with Iraq..
     
  20. MeAgain

    MeAgain Dazed & Confused Lifetime Supporter Super Moderator

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    I think there were several threads running through "the movement".

    1. Hedonism.
    2. Anti-war.
    3. Anti-racism.
    4. Free speech.
    5. Mysticism (not based on conventional religions).
    6. Religious exploration.
    7. Feminism.
    8. A breakdown of social classes.
    9. Redefinition of the Arts.
    10. Sexual revolution.

    And notice how it fits into a nice base ten unit.

    Oops, and 11. anti-Authority.

    Base Eleven.

    Stick it in a pot and stir it around.
     
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