60s Youth vs. Today

PLEASE READ THIS WHOLE THING BEFORE GOING OFF ON YOUR RANTS.

Timothy Leary once said that a culture advances quicker when the reins of power are given to the younger people, when youth are given more freedom and responsibility. I agree.

I think that we have taken a giant leap BACKWARD though when it comes to young people today. My opinion is that these kids are so imprinted with consumer fetishism that they have become oblivious to the issues. Now I could back up and kick myself and look at the election of Obama (for whom I did cast my vote) and say perhaps I am wrong, but the overall problem I think is the 60's & 70's GENERATION AS PARENTS.

The Boomers (and some former hippies) are the reason that consumer-mania and living beyond one's means are rampant. FORMER HIPPIES have turned their backs on the dream and turned toward MORE, MORE, MORE. Knowing full well that unrestrained consumer capitalism is not friendly to the environment nor the human race.

Kids today may be more technologically intelligent and have more information than kids in the Sixties, but they are lot lazier and more apathetic. Why challenge the system when you can text your friends, play your Xbox and drive around in your SUV your parents bought you? Life is good, right?

Two things I see:

1) We have ELONGATED juvenility. Kids in the Sixties were going to Woodstock, getting married and carrying on personal responsibility as earlier as 15 and 16. Today people this age are viewed as kids 9 and 10 were back in the Sixties. Children are viewed as sacred cows (cattle) or little pets. They are given everything under the sun (not all of them) and are looked at as "innocent" even though they have as much sex as the kids of the Sixties (if not more).

2) Kids of the Sixties were more adult. These kids may have been more politically naive, but they were politically ACTIVE. They did help stop a war, end of draft, promote equal rights and environmental consciousness. They were right and they will be right about consciousness expansion as well. These kids evolved into technology gurus (some of them) and there is nothing wrong with technology - if it is used in the best interest of humanity and earth. Kids today may have more information at their fingertips about everything, but they lack the heart and attitude to change the world.

I don't view everyone this way because I would DARE NOT classify an entire peoples (so take it with a grain of salt), but on the surface it appears we have a lot of work to do.

On a happier note, I am aware that some people around my age 20s & 30s have stepped up to the plate, now if we'd just bring in some of the teenagers in the game and stop being so oppressed by draconian REPUBLICAN policies and viewpoints of young people.

YOUNG PEOPLE are in control of their lives, not old white guys on a hill in Washington and until we wake we'll never live to see REAL CHANGE as the generation of the Sixties did.

 

OMG,, i agree 100% with libertine..

did hell freeze over??

 

waitta minute. you didnt write this did you??

that explains it..

 

Yeah I wrote it. I'm in my thirties. Thanks, HH

 

are you still in your thirties?? dang dude you aint aging well..

 

It's just the lighting ...

 

lol
very well said,,, nice to see someone that has the same mindset over the "old hippies" for a change...

 

Where do I fit in? Ha ha... I am like the TWILIGHT HIPPIE. Not old enough for Old Hippies, not young enough for Young Hippies.

 

Are you sure about that?

 

Well, unless I live in an alternate universe - like under a rock - YES, I am.

 

It just seems rather unlikely.
How did they do that? Protests? Petitions? Get elected into government and twist a few arms?
Imho, you give the kids in the 60s too much credit.
Sorry.

The only difference I see between kids of today and yesteryear is that kids HAVE to grow up quicker now.

When a kid in the 60s had a baby, what happened?
1: Kids mother made the child her own?
2: Abortion?
3: Kid sent to a childrens home/or worse?
4; The kid ran away?

Nowadays kids who have babies actually have to look after the bloody things. It is progress, I imagine.

 

I have no connection to what you describe as todays youth or youth from the 60's.

I think it's a false dichotomy which you're using as a wedge. I also think you weren't around in the 60's to have personal experience and I don't think you have kids today, so your entire connection to the youth of both these periods is through media exposure.

So whatever point you have seems tenuous.

 

Always an antagonist, eh?

Your opinion vs. mine. Freedom, ain't it grand?

 

I was a kid once you know. Not that long ago.
None of us - in this thread - were around in the 60s.
It is just an opinion.
Take it or drop it like it's hot.

 

Who?

 

:smilielol5:

 

I think this is a huge generalisation..

I know quite a few teenagers who are stepping up, seeking information, and are willing to make some kind of change for the better.

I know a lot of 20 + 30 year olds who are complete drop kicks who don't really give a shit.

Maybe it's just because I am one of these teenagers you talk about.

 

This is rather naive. There are many more abortions today (that we know of ) than that period. And to think that these protests, petitions, and activism did not make a difference and infiltrate the culture is far-fetched in my opinion, bud.

No, today. GRANDPARENTS usually end up taking care of the kids, while the young people are sitting in the den with their Xbox.

Kids back then were definitely closer to human responsibility than they are now. Now they are not even responsible half the time for upkeep of their own vehicle.

You and I have definite differences on this subject. I don't know about you but I see EVERYDAY here and yes, I have TWO kids (9 and 3). I teach them responsibility as best I can. My son would rather walk a nature trail than fool with a Nintendo.

I teach them GEOGRAPHY, POLITICS, SOCIAL ACTION, and my son (not to brag) has advanced a grade and screened in the top 15% in the NATION on his State text exams.

Sorry...to chase that rabbit...but the point is the POLITICAL, SOCIAL education is what the 60s kids used to help change things instead of worrying about Britney or Paris.

 

All I'm saying is, sorry 'bout your lawn libertine.

 

You didn't read me. I said I would DARE NOT classify an ENTIRE PEOPLES.

You are right. Not all youth are this way, but the majority compared to the 60s ARE THIS WAY.

Please try to understand the whole concept. I did not generalize your entire generation.