Re: Lest we forget...


"Justine" <wherethereistruth@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:2fiia2pgipg2bl07eo916gf56q6h09ucna@xxxxxxxxxx
On Mon, 03 Jul 2006 09:29:22 -0700, Islander <nospam@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

As we celebrate this independence day long weekend, it is appropriate to
reflect and remember the many ways that our freedom has been won and the
sacrifices that have been made to assure that freedom.

Last night my wife and I watched "Berkeley in the Sixties," a very good
documentary on the protest movements of that era and that place. We are
now once again at a time of decision, a time when our freedoms are
threatened from within. Let's not forget what these young men and women
fought for: Freedom of speech, Freedom to dissent, Civil rights, Women's
rights, and Freedom to oppose a national policy of foreign imperialism.

Of particular note are the interviews with people who were leaders in
that era. I especially liked the interviews with John Gage, now an
executive at Sun Microsystems. I had the very good fortune to work with
him on a couple of projects in the '80s. A brilliant and highly
personable individual.

The DVD is available through NetFlix. Don't forget to watch the
supplementary material and deleted scenes. There are priceless
sequences that regretfully not included in the documentary.

I happened upon VH1 program documenting the love generation in Haight
Ashbury, Woodstock, and around the country. I was a beatnik before I
married and had all the radical ideas fostered by the Jean Paul
Sartre's et girlfriend, Henry Millers, etal. At the time I was early
20s, married to a young engineer, and had two babies, so was not a
part of the hippie scene. I did like some of the music. Young kids
were blowing their minds on LSD, speed (heroin-euphedrin combo),
marijuana (the least dangerous of the lot), and any other drug they
could get their hands on. They were grossly naive about what the drugs
were doing to them.

Drugs were still part of the scene when my kids were entering
adulthood. Thank God my son went into the Navy because he had a wife
and child to support. One of his childhood friends, the best drummer
I've ever heard, is now on disability because his mind is blown. The
other friend in the trio spent 5 years in college tripping out and
never did get his degree. As a 40 yo adult , he pushes shopping carts
into the store. Doesn't take care of his teenage daughter. His ex-wife
remarried - a mexican immigrant who loved the US, became a Sgt. in the
Army (an institution he loved), and was killed in Iraq by an IED last
summer. He was a hero and I honor his memory. The Navy saved my son.
He is now an electronic engineer, and his son (my GS) is a petty
officer 1st class nuclear submariner, who will go to college on a full
payment scholarship from the Navy when he gets out in 18 months. When
I think of Pres. Kennedy's famous quote, "Ask not what you can do for
your country, . . . .", I think of what service to the country has
done to save my family.

I don't buy that all the protestors were high minded idealists,
because I was too close to that generation and know better. They were
spoiled 'boomers who were into self and partying. They weren't about
to go off and do something unselfish like give a couple years to
military service, especially if it meant danger to them. So they
postured and sat in on protests and partied.

Unfortunately, a lot of today's journalists were a part of that drug
scene. They bring their subliminal guilt and radical ideas to every
situation. They look upon our current danger and see Viet Nam all over
again. They pose a danger to following generations of Americans.

Interesting.

I met beatniks and later hippies, who reformed and went straight. Most were
always straights, but whooped it up for a spell. They took liberties rather
than liberty. They fudged their irresponsibility as freedom.

However, there were beatniks and later hippies who were trying to realize
personal freedom rather than just party and momentarily escape middle class
boredom.

Contrariwise, there were those who never rejected squaredness, joined frats
or sororities, went on to their office jobs, did just what they were
supposed to, and later freaked out, became alcoholics, abused prescription
drugs, mistreated the spouse and kids, committed suicide, etc.

Don't be so busy abjuring your own past. There were good things about it.

Hap


.

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