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

Sloth Outta Here...

 

where is the howdy thread, I couldn't find it.

 

Sloth Outta Here!

 

I don't think we have EVER quit changing the world. Everything goes in cycles. Things happened fast and furious in the 60's. Then I think that "IT" just went into a sort of hibernation for a while, things settled down after Vietnam and there was no big cause to fight for. Rock and roll was already here to stay, and we got complacent. Well, the collective "we", anyhow. It's happening again, this world changing thing, but there are alot of things in life and the world that are different now. We still do what we do, the real caretakers of the earth, but it's taking alot more to wake people up from the haze. They're too spoiled, and drugged, and drunk, and they're just now starting to come around....

But when they do, and it's already happening, it won't be just "hippies", it'll be all sorts of folks, and the lines of division will fade quickly as it builds momentum.

The whole world is goin' to hell, but that is just the fuel we need to get this fire going again, and THIS time we'll have the blessing of the majority, and alot more help. If all us "old" hippies have to get off our collective butts to make things happen, then we should! We have the experience to guide and learn from, and teach others how. Lots of everyday folks are sick of the "way it is", but just don't have the gumption or knowledge to move foreward. Most folks are followers. So, we need to give them a light and encouragement to show them the way. We're not done yet, just perfecting our approach...

 

Sloth Outta Here!

 

I don't think we are done yet. Yea, we had to stop for a while and do that biology / darwin thing where we procreated and raised our families and all that. But from what i see the spark is still there and now we will have the spare time (again) to pursue it. I have connected with more old friends in the last two years and like minded souls then in most of the time that I was tied up in that passing on the gene pool thing. I mean, you know, some things were preordained by our genetic make up and just had to be done. But now........

 

I was born in 1960 and greatly influenced by Peace, Love, Togetherness and all that hopefull hippy "change the world" hype. You guys did change the world! But then many of our parents who rebelled in the 60's sold out to capitalism in the 70's and 80's. By the time I was old enough to stand for something, the only things left to stand for were Sex, Drugs, Rock-N-Roll and "If it feels good, do it." Self-expression (self-indulgence) was promoted while the media learned how to manipulate me better, corporations learned how to steal more from me, and the government learned how to control me more than they had ever excercised control over previous generations. (They decided they could never let another social revolution occur.) Once I was totally confused, broke and addicted to that CIA California Cocaine, they changed all the rules! Now they started telling everyone to "Just Say No", practice safe sex, live healthy and take one of these new prescription drugs to fix... whatever.

I am an original product of the break up of the family and the break down of social values. Prayer, parents and morals were all stripped from my formative years and were replaced with "comfortably numb". The TV didn't raise me. Black Sabbath, Aerosmith and Ted Nugent did! I was stuck between social revolution and the threat of nuclear disaster with nothing to stand for or to fight for.

Need a cause? How about the systematic and ever increasing pharmaceutical lobotomy being carried out on the masses. Young and old, rich and poor. Nobody needs to feel anything anymore. Passion, sorrow, anger and rebellion are becoming obsolete. If a kid at school is an individual now, they put them on a pill to bring them in line with the rest of the sheep that are being led to slaughter.

And what about Peace, Love and Togetherness? I have looked, but they evade me.

But hey, I am hopeful. I'm hopeful that I will find some of that here. Maybe get involved with something I can believe in. I am a cause waiting to happen. hehe

Peace!

 

yes i feel that so many of the 60's hippies became yuppies. but so many people just jumped on the bandwagon during the 60's and 70's, they weren't true hippies and protestors, just wanted to get in on the free sex and drugs. recently i have been going to spearhead concerts, a reggae/rock/funk band that are very political, they are out of san francisco but are a world known band, there are so many hippies, old and young at these concerts,that it gives me hope for a new day. check out their website:

www.stayhuman.org

angel

 

I dig the ism on the home page of stayhuman, "You can bomb the world to pieces but you can't bomb it into Peace."

Thanks for your reply angel. The last group that I came close to relating to was Matchbox 20 (their first albumn) and the Counting Crows, Perfect Blue Buildings.

How does your group relate to either of my "issue" suggestions? 1. Contrived and intentional pharmaceutical lobotomization of society, and 2. The search for true Peace, Love and Togetherness?

Peace - Trystn

 

trystn, stick around, don't listen to the media and the government pawns, just say no to the pharmaceutical industry (one of my major gripes too, I could elaborate but will save it for another time). I hope you find some peace here....the world is ever changing....especially these days I think. hope you find what you are looking for.

 

Right on mimosa. I'd like to hear more of your thoughts about the pharmaceutical industry. What do you think of the suggestion that the trend to medicate everyone in this country for any little thing may be an effort to insure control of the masses?

Trystn

 

Gid'ay Mimosa.I was born in '61 and I understand how you feel.In the late'70s early '80's Iwas just waiting for "IT" to happen but it never did.Igobbled down all the Psychedelics I could ,they were spiritually rewarding but people couldn't understand.They said I lived in the past, and I would say no no no Ilive for the future but anyway I learnt one hell of a lot and still believe in it. Love and peace Sis.

 

Control the masses? Bro, they already have something to do that. It's called teevee. And whilst you're watching mindnumbing crap like "Survivor: Guatamala" (did you know that that fuckin thing's last episode made headlines? HEADLINES!!:$), they bombard you with ads for everything from shit to help you sleep cuz you're so stressed out to shit what will help you get a woodie cuz you're so stressed out. Exxon and Ely Lilly: dem's da bosses!

 

OK, I think a lot of us are (still) pissed and we should be. In this old hippie's opinion, we've made progress and changed some things and helped prevent other things from being as bad as they would have been. Some may disagree with that and I think that's fine too. But, one thing I think we can all agree on is that in many areas a lot more needs to be done. Just look around, peace, economic justice, the environment, the homeless, the hungry ...OK, we all know that it's a long list. What I keep wondering is what are we going to do about it. Of course, a some of us have been and still are working on various causes for years, decades in fact.

Now I could be as full of stuffing as a thanksgiving turkey, but I seem to sense a new era of activism starting. And it would make sense if that does happen. I mean look at the situation. Most of us who have been around a while are into the "empty nest" time of our lives and so we have time (and in some cases money) to get active ( in mass, as a group, focused) again. And there are a LOT of younger hippies all around who are just as committed. Also we have this, right here, the internet. An organizational tool the power of which the world has never seen.

From the above, my mind wandered on to - How to do it? What my thinking keeps coming to is that we (as a group) need to be more politically active, and here's why. I think it's time to start working harder on making changes from the inside. To do that we'll have to get "some of our own" elected. I'm not talking her about the office of U.S. President (at least not for a while). I talking about city, county and state government. I'm talking about U.S.House and Senate. As I see it, only by changing laws and spending will true, large and permanent change be made.

Note - I know these forums have members around the world, but let's face it, if the U.S.A. can be straightened out and made a responsible member of the world community, the whole planet would be better.

Now, how to get "some of our own" elected. Well to start with I have dismissed the Democrates and Republicans (or as I call them - the Dummy-crates and the Repugnant-ones). As I see it they are two sides of the same coin, when what's needed is a whole new currency. My thought is that a big part of the problem is the "two party system". I think the "two party system" is a lot of the cause for the lack of voting. I think that there are too sides to too many issues for an "either or" system to truely represent the most people. In any other democracy (other than USA) there are many, many political parties, which I think leads to them being truer democracies. All this means either starting a new political party or finding an existing one that is close to what we want.

Well, these are my opinions and what I think. What do ya'll think?

Peace,
poor_old_dad

 

Unfortunately I think that getting involved in politics will only work just so far, because "hippy" isn't exactly synonymous with "politician". I know there are some real activist folks out there who would gladly jump in, God love 'em, But I think alot of hippies have a problem with the "guys in charge" scenerio. It takes a certain type of person to WANT to be in charge. Now, the good news to this, It would be relatively easy to get your foot in the door politically, especially in smaller communities where there is almost no one on the ballots, and very few people actually vote. A couple years ago in my hometown they had an election, not sure who running for what, but most of those candidates had no competition, and only about 30 people even voted!! How hard would it be to take over something like that? There is a town nearby that has alot of hippies in the political scenery for this very reason. People were so apathertic about what was going on politically in their town, and some hippies went to a couple town meetings and figured it out. So they got real active, and got things moving in a certain way. Sort of took over. It's only on a small scale, but a bunch of small pieces add up to one very big puzzle.

Now here's an idea for you... I had a crazy friend who, back in the 70's, started an "anarchist escort service"! (She had connections in the world of money and power.) Of course she didn't call it that, but the theory was to have beautiful hippy women working undercover as "escorts" (we all know what that means) for big name politicians. They would use their "pull" (no pun intended) to get these guys to do and vote in certain ways. Even going so far as blackmail. I guess it was a short lived but rather successful idea. Radical to say the least...

 

Flowers dont work well against guns and a material world.

 

Shotgunning: Lot's of great ideas and no focus. Seems like we're putting the cart before the horse. Perhaps it would be a good idea to establish the cause first, then discuss ways to work for change or reform. I'm not sure if this forum has a poll option, but maybe we can each list one specific cause we are interested in discussing. I will volunteer to keep track of these over the remainder of the week. I will then post a list from which we can choose an issue that we as a group can discuss ways to work together on?

I know I'm new here, but I sense that many of you feel like I do. We know there are plenty of us from our generation who would like to get involved and do something, yet we are fragmented and unorganized. Wanting to do something is a long way from actually doing it.

As I stated earlier, having been born in 1960, by the time I was a teen the cultural/social revolution was over. Attitudes changed from the "WE" generation to the "ME" generation. I think that is the one element that I have missed most in my life, and one I need to have. That is, uniting with those of my generation and working together with them to acheive something positive.

Alright then, far out! I'll go ahead and jump out on the limb and start a list. Here's an issue I am concerned with.

1) The drugging of America's children.

I've been guilty at times of talking alot and doing little. I know it's cliche', but action does speak louder than words. I hope others will join me to at least take this first step. PM me with your issue, or post it in this thread. I will start a new thread with the ideas as they are received. Then.... well, we just take the next step.

Peace - Trystn

 

Alrighty then... Time to get real.

I want to believe that I have finally found a place where I don't have to wear my boots to wade through through the bullshit? I think one of the most positive attributes the 60's gave me is my desire to always be transparent, real, honest and sincere. Sadly, those qualities are a deficit to success in our society. And it's no revelation to anyone that the Internet is filled with people who are fake. I have a feeling that I will find that Hip Forums is, at least to some degree, an exception to that rule.

Check it out...

http://hipforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=135611

Power to the People Baby!

Peace - Trystn

 

trystn, I do have thoughts to post on that subject, still thinking them out...

 

Anarchic Harmony eh? Sounds good but will never work. People must be governed. Bob Dylan said it best, You gotta serve somebody. It is the way in which we are governed that poses the problem. Our government is supposed to be Of the people, By the people and For the people. Unfortunately, in many cases it is Of the elite, By the one with the most money and For the special interest groups. However, even though I couldn't stomach it myself, I think the suggestion of getting involved in local politics to effect changes in your own community is a sound one. If you can't beat them from the outside, join them and do it from within.

Grass roots activist groups are also a proven and effective way to initiate change. Look what MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) was able to accomplish. The ACLU and NAACP both began as a small group of people with a common goals, issues and interests. The NRA is another example and I'm sure there are plenty more. (By the way, I am not endorsing or opposing the above named groups.)

It's not enough to just say, "Fuck the government." Without a voice, you're the one that is going to get fucked. And quite frankly, I've been fucked long enough.

Peace - Trystn