Hippie-sama brings you a message of Peace

[firewood_senju]

[ Up on the board, in rather large letters, are the words: ]

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

JOHN LENNON

WAS BORN

"GIVE PEACE A CHANCE"

I'm not sure how many of you have listened to any song by The Beatles, or if there is anyone here who hasn't even heard of them. [ Points to board. ] This man, John Lennon, idolized by many, hated by just as much, was one of the

Comments

[cagedbydestiny]

Pardon me... Hashirama-sensei, is it?

As... interesting as a topic this is, I find this song quite... conflicting. No offense to John Lennon and his... musical genius, but I cannot help but wonder if he himself truly knew exactly what the Hare Krishna mantra meant. According to Gaudiya Vaishnava theology, one's original consciousness and goal of life is pure love of God, or Krishna, as those of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and his International Society for Krishna Consciousness have come to refer to him as. Eventually they simply became known as Hare Krishnas after their mantra.

In the late 1960's and early 1970's, the Hare Krishnas became confused with the hippie subculture. This was an erroneous association, as the ideals of these groups are quite different. Although Prabhupada was open to anyone becoming a member of the Hare Krishnas, they had to follow the four regulative principles, one of which is strict abstention from intoxicants, including marijuana. Elevation and joy were to be derived from chanting God's holy names.

I find it rather... insulting for John Lennon to outright use their mantra without knowing the true meaning behind it. I highly doubt that he would go so far as to chant the holy names of God. I see him more as the type to smoke a bowl and pick daisies in a field with Yoko Ono while thinking up lyrics for Yellow Submarine, Part 2.

Forgive me for being so blunt, but I am rather disillusioned with hippies in general. I find their message of anti-war and peace quite admirable, but holding hands, strumming guitars, and singing folk songs didn't really seem to get them very far, did it? And when it came down to it, they treated the men that returned from fighting in Vietnam like they were less than human. They spit on them, taunted them, insulted them. And they dared to proclaim, "Give Peace a Chance?"

They ought to have listened to the words they were touting on about. All they did was come off as a bunch of pot-head hypocrites.

[firewood_senju]

[ Not going to be able to put in words how absolutely elated he is just listening to Neji talk :D ]

You are forgiven, Neji. Thank you for pointing it out. True, in this sense, they were hypocritical. And the Hippies.. well, yes, ultimately they did adopt and conform to societal rules.

But in other things, does he address other issues at the time in the song? How so, and to what effect?

[cagedbydestiny]

Hmm... He does briefly mention Bob Dylan. [ thinks for a moment before speaking ]

The anti-war movement became both more powerful and, at the same time, less cohesive between 1969 and 1973. Most Americans pragmatically opposed escalating the U.S. role in Vietnam, believing the economic cost too high; in November of 1969 a second march on Washington drew an estimated 500,000 participants. At the same time, most disapproved of the counterculture that had arisen alongside the antiwar movement. The clean-cut, well-dressed SDS members, who had tied their hopes to McCarthy in 1968, were being subordinated as movement leaders. Their replacements deservedly gained less public respect, were tagged with the label "hippie," and faced much mainstream opposition from middle-class Americans uncomfortable with the youth culture of the period--long hair, casual drug use, promiscuity. Protest music, typified by Joan Baez and Bob Dylan, contributed to the gulf between young and old. Cultural and political protest had become inextricably intertwined within the movement's vanguard.

show off |:

[firewood_senju]

:DDDD

Excellent.

And, in your opinion, is World Peace a realistic goal? How far did it work with the Hippies~?

Don't be a hater~

[cagedbydestiny]

No. I do not believe world peace is attainable. There will always be some Dick or Jane or Stalin or Hitler hell-bent on molding the world in their image. And there will always be people so lost and confused and seeking some semblance of normalcy or balance in their lives, that they will follow these narcissistic and charismatic characters until the bitter end. It is the way of history, and history always repeats itself in a never-ending cycle. Perhaps not in such obvious ways nowadays, but, we still have dictators, tyrannical forces set to oppress the masses and rise above the rubble and ash to claim their victory, whatever it is they so desperately seek--money, power, the approval of others, perhaps the attention of a man or woman? There are many reasons why wars have been fought and senseless massacres have happened.

The Hippies were such a regime. While they pale in comparison to Hitler's Nazi Party, obviously they wanted to shape the world. They desired peace. But, they wanted peace by their standards, to happen on their terms. To have true peace, we all must ignore the racial boundaries, the stereotypes, everything that causes a disconnect between all of us as human beings and work together for a brighter future.

It sounds beautiful, does it not? Unfortunately, it is not possible. Our society is not evolved enough. We still have much to learn.

ahhh Neji? Now write all of that down on a paper :|

[firewood_senju]

Mm. Well said.

Well then, let's have all of it written up neatly on a paper, shall we~? [ And then Nejjers can have his A++ ]

[cagedbydestiny]

Indeed.

[ Neji takes out a pen and his notebook and quickly begins to write down everything he said, word for word in perfect penmanship. Once he has finished, he turns in his paper. ]