The 2nd Generation Hippie
Dear Journal,
I have always been proud of my roots. I consider myself a fragment of a true piece of American culture. My father was one of those hippies on acid practicing the free love, peace and hugs not war movement in San Fransisco in the summer of love. He wasn't the only one.
What happened to the hippies?
When did such a bright and energetic and fierce generation flicker out or get swept under the mat of the marriage of corporation and politics?
What happened to the war protesters? The love beads and the peace signs? What happened to smoking reefer on the sidewalks and saying "Go ahead, arrest me for sitting here not bothering a soul"
Apparently they were all in jail, recovering from 'nam, or too stoned to voice up as loudly when Regan got elected.
Or they all grew up, had kids, got real jobs and tried to sweep those days under the rug... or something.
But I've been digging out those old hippies where I can find them. I like hearing the horror stories of the political corruption and of the passionate backlash culture revolution led by the youth of America.
When I was your age, all my friends where drafted into 'nam, slaughtering civilians, getting the clap and addicted to smack, and I was on legal acid, living on the streets of Berkley wearing flowers in my hair and carrying a sign that read "Love and Peace will Prevail."
These are my kind of people.
You see them, walking down the streets with their greying ponytails and the linger of a psychadelic gleam in their eyes.
And when I sit down with these people to smoke pot and listen to what they have to say for sometimes hours on end, I feel like I hear the same messages from all of them.
--Political corruption that exists today has been set up over the past several decades. Bush's father was Regan's vice, and Regan's underlings (including Dunce Dubya's Daddy) were the same guys running the show during the Vietnam war and the Nixon era.
--The Hippies have been pushed into the underground. When they were young they were full of life and could take it into the streets. The passion still exists within but due to various circumstances, the most fierce are limited to perpetually writing angry letters to government and newspapers.
and
--That my generation is in a special situation to seize control of the world around us. Growing up with the mass information exchange available to us through the internet is revolutionary. We are young and possibly even more removed from the system in which we are embedded.
We are are slowly loosening the grip that the 5 corporate big-wigs have on media by producing our own. Today, anyone can use their home computer to make a song, or an article, or a video that can be accessed by anyone else anywhere at any time. It's only a matter of time now before we see a shift in media trend. Predictions; Disney, Fox, Aol/TimeWarnerwhatever, etc. media's popularity will decline due to the fact that people will have more options at their disposal. No longer will we flip through the 300 channels that are run by a 8 different people. We will surf the internet and watch cartoons drawn by three guys in a dorm somewhere in Kansas and will no longer flip a coin to decide between Sponge Bob and Dragon Ball Z.
I will try to live my life along the path they started.
I have always been proud of my roots. I consider myself a fragment of a true piece of American culture. My father was one of those hippies on acid practicing the free love, peace and hugs not war movement in San Fransisco in the summer of love. He wasn't the only one.
What happened to the hippies?
When did such a bright and energetic and fierce generation flicker out or get swept under the mat of the marriage of corporation and politics?
What happened to the war protesters? The love beads and the peace signs? What happened to smoking reefer on the sidewalks and saying "Go ahead, arrest me for sitting here not bothering a soul"
Apparently they were all in jail, recovering from 'nam, or too stoned to voice up as loudly when Regan got elected.
Or they all grew up, had kids, got real jobs and tried to sweep those days under the rug... or something.
But I've been digging out those old hippies where I can find them. I like hearing the horror stories of the political corruption and of the passionate backlash culture revolution led by the youth of America.
When I was your age, all my friends where drafted into 'nam, slaughtering civilians, getting the clap and addicted to smack, and I was on legal acid, living on the streets of Berkley wearing flowers in my hair and carrying a sign that read "Love and Peace will Prevail."
These are my kind of people.
You see them, walking down the streets with their greying ponytails and the linger of a psychadelic gleam in their eyes.
And when I sit down with these people to smoke pot and listen to what they have to say for sometimes hours on end, I feel like I hear the same messages from all of them.
--Political corruption that exists today has been set up over the past several decades. Bush's father was Regan's vice, and Regan's underlings (including Dunce Dubya's Daddy) were the same guys running the show during the Vietnam war and the Nixon era.
--The Hippies have been pushed into the underground. When they were young they were full of life and could take it into the streets. The passion still exists within but due to various circumstances, the most fierce are limited to perpetually writing angry letters to government and newspapers.
and
--That my generation is in a special situation to seize control of the world around us. Growing up with the mass information exchange available to us through the internet is revolutionary. We are young and possibly even more removed from the system in which we are embedded.
We are are slowly loosening the grip that the 5 corporate big-wigs have on media by producing our own. Today, anyone can use their home computer to make a song, or an article, or a video that can be accessed by anyone else anywhere at any time. It's only a matter of time now before we see a shift in media trend. Predictions; Disney, Fox, Aol/TimeWarnerwhatever, etc. media's popularity will decline due to the fact that people will have more options at their disposal. No longer will we flip through the 300 channels that are run by a 8 different people. We will surf the internet and watch cartoons drawn by three guys in a dorm somewhere in Kansas and will no longer flip a coin to decide between Sponge Bob and Dragon Ball Z.
I will try to live my life along the path they started.