What was it like to be in the 60s?

I thought immediately of you, Shaggie, when I realized what day it was. I think I know what you mean by that feeling of mixed hope and Weltschmerz... I have waves of that hit me pretty hard at times. The old film/video of the Beatles doing "All You Need Is Love" live on television is one that brings it right upon me.

 

I was just a kid in the 60's, (born in 59') but I had older siblings (I watched and listened to what they did and said)
It was a better time in so many ways. Such as:
When two guys disagreed, they were more likely to get in a fist fight than a gun fight.
The world was a lot quieter than now.
Identity theft was rare..very rare.
You could actually make a hand-shake deal and not get stiffed.
If you wanted too, you could just..disappear
Did I mention that the world was a lot quieter?

 

What a fine post, Xenon. Kim Simmons - "Wang Dang Doodle" - what a fine blues band they were, yes?

 

SunLion, your second-to-last paragraph, about Demographics, well, I disagree. A baby boom isn't needed. What IS, IMO, is enough LSD to make a difference. It has to be everywhere, just like it was in the late 60s - early 70s. Acid was the alchemical catalyst.

 

I really agree...if all things were equal..so to speak. Acid was such an amazing catalyst/conduit for expression in the 60's and 70's. Today though, I'm not really sure that it would be. People today have such a different mindset. You see cell phones in the hands of people that have nothing else. (they have to be chattin' someone up every minute) Society won't slow down enough to trip.

As I recall, the world would just stop on weekends. We'd just find a place to sit, listen to music, trip..rap..whatever. (and I'm talking late 70's..not 60's.. I envy you guys that were able to enjoy the late 60's-early 70's "pace")

We used to drop acid and listen to Firesign Theater....it was freakin' amazing. (if you haven't tried that..you'd want to..believe me!)

BTW..nice photo. Look's like my friend Dan. (It's a compliment..trust me) He was/is "the coolest".

Rock on, brother..Rock on.

Peace ya'll
w_o

 

Hehe... I still spin the "Marx/Lennon" LP from time to time ("Rocky Rococo...at your cervix!"). Yer right...life is too accelerated. The Masters need more productivity. Hurry Up! Work Faster! Eat Faster! No reading, too slow! Only shit TV and People Mag for you Proles! Fuck it. ToTiDo. Leary at least had that right.

Oh, some memorable trips I've had. Peaceful, paced, connected.

TY about the pic. A chick "groupy" friend, I guess you might say (I was a bit charismatic back then; Organization of Interplanetary Adepts acid warrior and itinerant dealer) took it around, uh, 71 if I recall rightly. I was precocious.:sunglasse

Peace to you and yours.

 

"The Giant Rat of Burma"...while doing orange sunshine..I never laughed so hard in my life. You hear each little sound effect and it makes you flinch...every time.
You don't just hear the story, you see yourself in it. Good Times!

I haven't "used" since the 80's, but I have some good memories from when I did. I was never more than a "weekend warrior". (that was okay with me though)

Really like your posts..hope we can talk again sometime.

Right back at ya' with peace..brother

w_o

 

It was a wild ride to put it in a nutshell. The whole era was contradictory, at least that's how I remember it.



Times were slow, but things happened fast.

It was safe, but could turn dangerous in a heartbeat.

Life was good, but get bad real quick.
Part of the time was wonderful, but part of the time was terrible.
Safe sex meant not getting pregnant, aides, herpes, and other dangerous or deadly STD's were mostly unheard of.
We wanted to save the trees before it became popular to save them.
We wanted to save the world, and we thought we could.


I remember the shock when Kennedy was shot.
I remember saying good-bye to my boyfriend because he had to go to Vietnam.
I remember when my brother got his letter from the draft board.
I remember many of my friends from school going to the war, and some of them came home in boxes.
I remember when we got our first TV
I remember when we got indoor plumbing.
I remember home cooked meals that didn't come out of a box or a can.
I remember walking down the street in the middle of the night feeling safe and happy.
I remember setting in a park in the middle of the day feeling sad and scared.
I remember when schools taught children to think instead to memorize and recall.

I remember bad times and good times.

We partied hard and had lots of fun, but at times life could be very sad. We put painted flowers on our bodies, cars, and many other places to cheer ourselves up and also planted real flowers on the graves of our friends. Flower Power had both good and bad meaning to us.


It's impossible to tell about it in a short time, it would take almost a lifetime to tell because it took almost a lifetime to live it. Many of us are still living it. It's not a thing that happened, it's a way of life and either you live it or you don't.

One man is trying to do just that. He has a auction on ebay announcing his plan and recruiting people to go to a Rainbow Gathering in Colorado. Take a look for yourself. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=9526979853 Why don't you contact him and go to the gathering? If you can't go for real, he's even offering a virtual version of the trip so you can live it spiritually.

 

Not sure about paying for world peace.i just don't think it works that way.His only plan is to take my 5$ which could be put to much better use.Liked the resi of your post though.

 

I ask him why 5 bucks. He said it's to finance the trip for everyone to get to Colorado in one big hippie convoy. The buses use fuel, and fuel costs money. It's also to feed everyone on the trip. He doesn't want the money for himself, he wants to pay for everyone to make the trip out there so they can pray for world peace, party, and do whatever they want to do. Maybe I'm gullible, but I believe him. I also followed the links and read his personal page. I'm sending my 5 bucks using a paypal link on his personal page. That way the fat cats at ebay don't take a chunk of it for their fees. If I'm wrong, what the heck, it only cost me 5 bucks, but if I'm right, I'm helping a lot of people get to the Rainbow Gathering and pray for world peace, party, old hippies get to relive the old days, and young hippies get to experience it in person.


I wish I could go, it might not be a sit in, but it sounds like a good old hippie peace rally like in the old days.

 

i guess i'm a bit of a cynic at my age.i'd rather see the money go to a local cause where it will do more good then just helping someone party or even to the rainbow where the peaceniks are just talking to themselves and not really spreading the word.Like i said we're better off talking to our redneck neighbor and trying to make change where it's needed.Whatever though,you sound like a good person with your heart in the right spot.Send me 5$.

 

Was this before or after the price of gas went up?...It's prolly more like 10 bucks now...

 

This thread is getting real interesting. I’m seeing a few Hipsters noticing that things are going terribly wrong. Some ol’ hippies pointing out how right they are. And the Hipsters expressing frustration and asking what they can do about it.

The point I think a lot of younger people miss is that first you need a lot of love. Love for yourself, for your brothers and sisters, and a deep love for peace. This love must be strong enough to pull you together and help you organize a peaceful plan to change what it is that needs to change. The key is “PEACEFUL”. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold could have succeeded to make their point in Columbine if they hadn’t used violent means. Instead all they did was bring the focus on “school violence”. Not many people thought too much about the injustices happening to a group of people by some lame high school “jocks”. Their actions came out of hate, not love.

Hippies are political activists, get involved politically. We helped stifle an all Republican government that badly needed shaking up. It’s your chance now… it is your time. You have an advantage we didn’t have, you have the love and support of thousands of old hippies that want to help you along this journey.

Be radical, we were. Get organized and get in the face of society, but do it wisely and non-violently (read Gandhi’s writings). Prove to society that fighting for peace is like f**king for chastity. Expose the Christian moral majority who almost runs this country for who they are. Immoral, non-Christians who will never be the majority. But do so with love for your brothers and sisters and a deep respect for their right to their religious beliefs. There are bad apples in every bushel.

Be smart, pursue an education, organize on campuses, we did. There’s no value in getting stoned and blowing off learning, but there is something to be said about getting stoned and really “getting into” that chemistry class. You may want to be straight for the exams though, especially if they’re timed. ;-) You know that myth about getting stoned makes you lazy and unmotivated? Don’t buy that BS. Prove you can be a powerhouse of energy despite how ripped you are. Thousands of hippies did and still do!

I’ll climb down off my soapbox now.

One last thing. Love yourself – know yourself – and forgive yourself. Always meditate.

Love & Peace

 

i would do anything to live back then
or maybe we can recreate it
make acid the hip thing to do again

 

Michael hit the proverbial nail on the head. He's got it right and all you young people need to heed his words of wisdom. We're here to help you along but you are the ones that need to take that first critical step. Get involved in politics and inform yourself of the true direction that our country is being led. Offer opposoing views to the current situation and follow it up with action. But whatever you do, do not resort to violence because that will only inflame the opposition and they'll crucify you. Every action must be accomplished through peaceful means. It takkes alot more courage to face opposition with a firm peaceful stance and say enough is enough. Stand uo and be counted and one day we may all live in peace and to pursuit any lifestyle we want without fear, or condemmnation, or reprisial.

Peace to all,

ALI

 

it sounds lovely.but i've always wondered one thing.how did you get food,smokes and the such?sharing?

i think the problem of hippies from my generation is trying too hard and regretting too much missing the 60's.maybe we should just get under a tree or get in a large enough group to feel safe and hit the road (on foot if necesary),get a cd player or some music,be caring and helpful and ENJOY OURSELVES.
the vibe is out there,in everything,in trees,the blue sky,the sun,in rain,in a skirt flowing in the wind,in frogs,flowers,the warm concrete,even in the people that give you the "queer eye".the vibe is still out there,it's subtle and you just have to get attuned to it.and there are no instructions to do that.just feel everything around you,feel yourself and feel the wonder of being alive.

 

OK, well, if you really want for LSD to be a sacrament again, then turn off your TV and don't fucking worry about what band is dope and pay attention in math class. You can't get to organic without taking Chem 101, and qualitative analysis, and quant, and calculus, and some Physics wouldn't hurt either.

Then you gotta follow through in Organic and get beyond nomenclature, and the sigma and pi bond stuff, and steric hindrance and Kekule's dream that showed him the structure of the benzene ring, and get to an understanding of catalysts like Lithium Aluminum Hydride and such, and addition and substitution reactions, and then purifying your stuff with acid/base seperations and chromatography columns, especially how chromatography columns work, and why you should use a fluorescent indicator of slightly less molecular weight than LSD so you know when it comes out...

I doubt there's a single one of you young kids who could pull off an Owsley, and make something as clean as he made, and let me tell you, I had his stuff a couple times, and there simply wasn't anything better unless you were one of the lucky few who got some Sandoz, and most of the people who will claim that are bullshitters.

If only 5 of you kids who post here and sit around waxing nostalgic about acid actually went on to get at LEAST a BS in Chemistry could learn how to make d-LSD, you would change the world.

What are you waiting for?

 

If only 5 of you kids who post here and sit around waxing nostalgic about acid actually went on to get at LEAST a BS in Chemistry could learn how to make d-LSD, you would change the world.

Heh, yeah!

I've been reading a little bit about chemistry lately. I have no interest in ever doing any lab studies or anything, but even just learning the underlying basics of how the world works is every bit as enthralling and fascinating as any experience in the psychedelic realm. For that reason alone I would recommend chemistry to any teens or young adults who are still unsure of a life path. Get a really good used college chemistry textbook (better to grab several), keep a calculator at hand, and immerse yourself in it. I wish I'd done so a few decades back.

I hardly know the most basic stuff, and it'll take me years to get through this textbook... but the elegant beaty of the universe is kewl beyond anything I thought possible

 

Morrison & Boyd, "Organic Chemistry"; I think the 11th edition just came out. Could be Ninth, I don't recall. Ain't cheap. That was the textbook I used for organic. Neither is the Rubber Bible (cheap, that is. Indispensible, though.)

 

To clarify, the "Rubber Bible" is the Chemical Rubber Company's "Handbook of Chemistry and Physics". It is one of the very few essential reference works in my library. (yes, kids, you read that right: Library. Just because one is a Hippie doesn't mean one turns one's back on the real universe, and starts in with Astrology, or UFOs, or reflexology, or any number of bullshit "pseudo-sciences". For me, being a Hippie is being in pursuit of verifiable, repeatable truth. That sudden change of direction from knowing the Universe to 19th century mysticism is the worst thing that happened to the "movement", IMO.)