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

I'll take that as a compliment my friend, but that quality is something I learned and takes effort and practice to maintain. On the other hand, my human nature continues to tempt me to give up on all that "feel good" bullshit, face reality and buy in once and for to the notion that good guys finish last.

Young people these days either feel hopeless or are totally self-centered. There is no connection to community or the common good. Even the Christian churches have embraced and now teach that plenty of personal "bling bling" is evidence of goodness. Our society is fragmented and has no solid value system, ethics or morals to live by. So... in order to revive and sustain a community that values the type of goodness I believe you and I refer to, we who know the definition must live it, and teach it to those who don't. I taught my own children, but I find few adults who are able to embrace it as a way of life. I agree with the notion that there are plenty of young people out there now who are looking for alternatives and that now is the time for us elders to get together and lead them in a better way. You can bet your ass that there are plenty of "dark" forces actively recruiting them.

So our conversation rolls back around to apathy. Will those of us who know better continue to hide behind the fear of failure, or will we get something started? What? How? When?

I did have a look at the Green website and surfed around a bit. To be honest, while the tenets of the organization sound good, the politics espoused there don't seem any different than those of the Democratic party. I'm not sure a global government of any form is the way to go. We live in America. For all the faults and corruption of our system, our nation has done a great deal of good in the world. In my opinion, I do live in the greatest nation. We just have to work to make it better. By doing so, we can influence world change. I'm not ready to abandon my own country to support a group that is positioning itself for world domination. I will have a closer look, but if I were to join a new political party, I would want to join one that is focused on America.

Is there such a thing as a moderate or conservative hippy?

 

Pleasure bumping heads with you Teepi.i appreciate that you don't take my disagreement on some issues personal.i know we strive for the same.
i think i'm the most liberal conservative that i know or is that a conservative liberal?
Who shot the kennedys ? it was you and me.

 

Ah, well said. We have been hiding behind the fear of failure, and have accepted defeat and apathy as our lot. We lost the vision in the 80's and tried to play the game. The rules of the game weren't fair, and we got confused by that, and disillusioned. I see a great spark of what we once had, in the eyes of my son's and daughter's generation. I hope we haven't made their world too comfortable for them to run with that spark. (

You bet there is my friend!

 

What are ya looking for dude?
What is it that ya feel this forum is for?
What direction would ya like to see it go?

 

Ya want change? Try acting and sounding like someone that has tried to change themselves.

If ya go through life beating and pounding on a system that needs change then that’s all YOU will ever accomplish. Everyone knows what’s wrong with the system. Not very many people want to try to effect change from within it. Real change comes from accepting what ya can’t change & changing what ya can. Pounding one’s head on what’s wrong is NOT the way to change things.

I’ve heard lot’s of good stuff on this forum. I originally came here to spend some time with people of my own age; and share some thoughts on where life goes from here. I really never expected to run into people still beating on the same bullshit that I used to beat on in bars drunk 30 years ago! @@#^&**@@#!!%^

In the words of one of the greatest poets that ever lived, I quote;

“We’d all love to hear the plan.”

Solutions people! Don’t just beat on the same old problems. Let’s come up with solutions.

OK………I’ll shut up now. My rant is over.

 

Recently I saw the movie "People vs Larry Flynt" then I found in net that this film was about true evens that happened in 70's80's. I just wanted to say... Isn't Larry a hippy in some ways? I mean he says: "god created a man, woman, her vagin. So who the hell you are to hide what god has created?!" also " What's more beauty: Judes in Conclagers, dead soljiers, or nude women" etc..
I mean you hippies were trying to have world more free and he was also trying it and I never thought that porn needed so much pain and unhappiness to be allowed in some ways (larry was shot and became paralized; therefore his wife became drug user and died because of AIDS)
So.. I'm interested what do you think about him?

 

The moral majority is neither moral, nor the majority. Yet it seems that when one or two of them speak out against pornography they get their way. Is it right? NO. Is it the way society moves? YES.

Porn has been around since the beginning of time. The amount of people that have been touched by it; negatively or positively is endless.

Larry was fighting a fight that he had no chance of winning. Ya see………..most people that like porn don’t want the people that would chastise them to know they like porn. So for the most part the only people that spoke up were the people that were against porn.

Of course……..when those people went home and did themselves they made sure they locked the door.

People tend to be hypocritical……they have the side they want the world to see & the side they feel is dirty.

I remember my old man caught me doing myself when I was a kid. He told me it was dirty & never to do it again. Lots of people think this way. Is it healthy? NO. Does it continue? YES.

Larry was a victim of the system. Ya gotta admit though…………lots & lots of people are spit out the bottom of the porn industry scarred for life.

 

Old Hippy, I like the style of your writing
That's all right of course, but is larry a hippy? I think he is, 'cause hippies try to have freedom in love and larry tried to be nudeness allowed. And do you think that to have porn magazines, movies, web-sites etc. had cost so much? that man became unhappy till the end of his life for what?? For having you able to watch how penis gets in vagina? Is it worth while?

 

Larry wanted to make money. The system felt that he had gone too far. Yes he fought for free speech; but I don’t think he did it for the same reasons lots of the “Hippies” back then did it for. I really believe he did it for selfish reasons. Keep in mind though that that’s just my opinion. Sometimes my opinions are clouded by what I see as truth.

Was it worth it? Well……….that depends on who ya ask. If ya ask me, I say no. Lots of other people would say yes. Sometimes people use free speech to push things that I myself don’t believe in. That only means that for me what they are pushing is not worth the time or the energy those people are putting into it. People that are worth listening to will always express what they feel is right or wrong in their world. People create grand distractions to fill their needs. It’s when they become consumed with the idea that what they believe is what every one needs to believe that the problems start.

They become delusional, and most times push what they believe to be truth into other peoples lives. People don’t like to have other people’s opinions becoming laws. That’s what I believe Larry was fighting against,

 

i don't think of it as world domination,i see it as one family.All egual.No government,it juxt is.However i realize as an individual the bigger tha group the less the individual.You lose certain rights to live in a town,More in the city,more to the state and on and on up to the federal level/It would be domination on the individual.No i'll stick with what we got.As nations go this is a great one.Not to say we don't have problems.Yes we do kill and exploit.We need to stop.Thats our job.

 

madam claire knows all sees all.
"Madam Claire,Where were you on Sept.11?

 

When I lived at EPP there were no 'rules'...we all did our best to respect each other and most scoped out a half acre or so and built a home,grew a garden,lived a sweet little life..
There was 592 acres...and everyone was welcome....I guess there were unspoken rules...such as respect the forrest, don't fuck with anyone etc. but these are basically the golden life alaround rules.
This seemed to work very well for us...we seemed to be on the same page....there were the people who lived at the park,about 25 or so) and then the weekend communers would come up on vacation, passing through to Canada, some local towns folk would also hang out.

We had a free kitchen and you were welcome to bring what you had to throw in the pot and people would eat, there was a free store where you could get some supplies, clothes etc.

Everyone shared what they had and knew.
A convent on the Canadian border needed to be torn down and some went and Larry and I got materials for the house he was building.
All the wood, windows, tin shingles etc. were brought to the land for all to use.(We got some great stained glass)

I loved that place....a piece of my heart will always be in Vermont.
Alas, I had to leave in 1971.

When I finally was able to go back in 1997, I went on a search for my sweetheart.
I went back to the land to find everything burned down.

I did find someone who was able to lead me in the direction of finding him again.

I finally found out what happened to that glorious free place.
In early 1990 a group of people were there and they started logging the land, making money, they had no interest in what the park stood for.
No interest in respecting the land.
They were interested in their own profit.

they started dealing drugs...and with that came rip-offs, pissed off girlfriends etc.
Some one got busted and helped set up a sting.
(of course the local police had a thorn in their side for 2 decades with EPP tatooed on it)
It all went down and the feds seized the land.......
Totally fucked the ones who still lived there from 1970.

Ok I know this is a long boring story...but I have a point....

NOT EVERYONE is on the same page.

Yes sweet Gate, "one family" would be what I too dream of.
Everyone respecting each others space, all working for a common good and goal.
All being comfy and cozy and just a-lovin' each other to death.....

But I know that while I may be able to create that right here on my little piece of the planet...it ain't goin' down in the big picture.

And changing the world...mmmm.....how much time we got???

So the best thing I think to do is work on yourself, and branch out from there.
Grass roots Orgs. are great.
Change does come about.
A depression in this country may be a catalyst.

We as a society have gotten way comfy....

Every time I hear talk of letting illegal immagrants into the country because they will "do work" americans won't do....I think,"shit, let those americans get hungry enough".

 

Dear teepi, it wasn't a boring story at all! it was very interesting, sad story
I'm very sorry.. have you found your sweetheart larry??
I just haven't understood 2 facts: why have you left that place? and what does EEP mean..

 

Maybe you are right.. Maybe he was doing all that for money..
Thank you for you answer!

 

yes.. isn't there a chance that he did it just for freedom? and then for money?

 

hehe, that's because I think outside the box, play the devil's advocate, and honestly try to see things from other points of view.

The goodness of human nature. What is it? Let's first define what we think goodness is.

Goodness is... Automatically looking for what is right with a person rather than what is wrong with them.

 

Yea, ok. I don't usually spend alot of time hanging on forums, got a farm to run, musical evens to plan, songs to record, etc. But the weather's bad and it's my slow time before the holidays. So, I come here for some ENERGY. I find peoples enthusiasm inspiring. It charges my batteries, greases the gears, gets my mind working. I don't give a damn if putting your thoughts on forums is all you EVER do, because it REALLY HELPS to know there are other folks out there with the same fire and truths as I have. It gets lonely up the holler where all the neighbors are either hillbillies or rightwing repubs, folks.
It's great to have some real thinkers to bounce ideas around with...

So. I tend to be a doer rather than a follower. I have lots of ideas, reasonable ones that could actually be accomplished. I spend alot of time on this actively. I think it would be interesting to know what everybody here is currently doing towards this ultimate goal. And the goal? In my book would be to bring the concept of peace/love/brotherhood/kindness to the masses on a large scale. You can put out your teachings, but no matter how you candy coat them, there will be those who just won't latch on, and there ain't a thing you can do about that. But if enough effort was put into simply demonstrating these acts of love, it could have significant impact.

We as individuals HAVE alot of power actually. Especially now that computers are all the thing. I can put just about anything in print, state it as a "fact", and have a certain amount of people believe it. You can be "John Nobody" and create an image of yourself on the computer as being a big deal. We can use this to our advantage people! I'm not saying to make up things just for the hell of it, I'm saying that in order to gain momentum in any large undertaking you need PUBLICITY. Taking it to the masses. We can spend our entire lives sitting around going "oh man, buddy, I hear you!" or "no, I think it's THIS way...", But until we get out there in the world, we can't change a damn thing.

So, here's MY idea. and what I'm doing about it. Everybody else share theirs too.

We already have a FREE peace and music festival here every year. Lasts officially a week, unofficially about 3. The whole thing is on a volunteer basis. Everybody donates food, labor, or talent. The theme is all about peace, love, brotherhood. The musicians are mainly selected according to the type of music they play... What I mean to say is that the appropriate VIBE must be attained in order to reach the most people, and the music creates the atmosphere. Anti-war speakers are welcome to take the stage as well. People are encouraged to take what they have learned here out into the world and spread it around. Last year we had a crowd of about 1000, which is really something for being so far out in the sticks and being about the poorest county with one of the highest rates of apathy and ignorance in the country. (Well, OK, that last part is a matter of opinion, but we ARE one of the poorest counties...) And the beauty part is that there was only about $400 invested to make it happen, including advertising.

At any rate, my idea would be for others to take it upon themselves to do a similar thing in every state in the USA, and other countries as well. Peace concerts. All over the globe. The more the better. The key is the ADVERTISING. Reaching the most people possible is the goal. Or how about a "wandering Woodstock" that tours all over the place? Taking it to the people. People love music and they'll come. Then it's up to us to give them the "experience".
What do YOU think? Anybody want to be a part of this? LETS GO!

 

Did anyone see the South Park on this subject?

 

Sounds like a plan, and a good time.

We go to music festivals through the summer months, bring the kids to the "tamer" ones, but the vibe is always the same, pretty much a gathering of like-minded folks with similar visions and goals, and grass-roots values. We always make new friends and come home feeling happier and more at peace with ourselves than when we got there, and the vibe seems to be contagious.

I agree you can't affect change through anger, "pounding on the system," doesn't get you anywhere (whatya gonna do, overthrow the government by force? I don't think so). A majority of people in this country are fed up with the system, and many are recognizing progressive ideals, but it's not gonna change over night, it takes time to affect change, and it takes organized effort (and a defeatist attitude doesn't do squat either). The Internet is a powerful tool for change as well, as earthmother points out (this forum is a powerful tool for change for that matter). At least people know that others think the same way and want the same things, that's a step in the right direction...