Note: This started as a comment in Democrats Ramshield's diary, The dirty f**king progressive hippies were right about the Wall Street suit and tie generation. I think it's an important subject so I've decided to make it a diary. I'm going to keep it short and sweet because I want to emphasize the message. As always, thanks for reading.
Among the many comments in that diary was this one:
Generally agree, but: (1+ / 0-)
The Wall Street corporatist suit and tie "generation" of which you speak is the same generation as the hippies. And Dylan, Lennon, Fogerty et al failed to influence even enough of their own age cohort to prevent it from happening. The self-congratulations that remain the hallmark of "hippies" truly baffles me.
Not to be taken as criticism of the poster of that comment, but I think that this is a very common response to 'the hippies were right' trope, also expressed as 'we should have listened to the fukn hippies.' For many people of that era, it is a truism. Many of my generation, upon hearing that, will nod and think, 'damned straight.' For younger generations, it probably just sounds like bragging.
The hippie movement was a much more complex phenomena than what is often portrayed. Very few understood its complexity even then, and it was invariably dumbed down for a mass audience and raped by commercialism. Since then we've been shat upon by the majority of our culture...because, you know, who needs freedom?
Hippies in the context of a modern society were a conundrum. We were alienated, we didn't fit. We wanted to change the world to suit our vision of a better way of life, a better way of relating to the earth and to each other. We tried. The world would be a better place if we had succeeded.
Yes, Dylan, Lennon, Fogerty et al failed to overcome the Military Industrial Complex, but it was hardly an even fight. And it's less about self-congratulation, imho, and more about emphasizing the message, all those things which we were right about.
We weren't right about everything, we were mostly kids, but we were right about a lot of important things. People need to hear that. And not because we want to be acknowledged, but because the message that was shouted down then needs to be shouted out now. EVERY-fukn-ONE needs to hear it.
It's the message that matters. Just like the hippies told us, we need to:
Make love, not war
Honor and restore the earth
Be smart about the future
Be honest and caring
Try to help
The messenger doesn't matter but the message does. "The hippies were right," is just a way of reminding everyone that we've been here before. This time, let's try to catch the message and do the right thing.