Was life really simpler then?

What happened to those brave souls that would never stand still for any perceived injustice and would demonstrate for weeks?

What happen to those "Make love not war" advocates that stood toe to toe with a gun bearing policemen or solider with nothing more then a flower in hand and a strong determined voice?

What happened to all the people that understood that American freedoms and rights were worth dying for and a government that stood between the will of the people and their rights needed to be held accountable?

What happened to us?


[edit on 6-4-2009 by NightSkyeB4Dawn]

Sadly most of them are CEO's and part of the establishment that they once so hated! They have allowed the wealth and the glitter of success to jade their spirit and they have largely forgotten. They also did not teach their children to love the cause because the cause was forgotten once they achieved success.

The rest are lulled into a daily existence and the few that still have the fire are trying to engage the rest of their generation and teach the younger ones.

red

well, that and the fact that we aren't all hopped up on drugs anymore. You get a whole lot braver when you don't have the realization that you could be dead at any moment.

Originally posted by midnightbrigade
well, that and the fact that we aren't all hopped up on drugs anymore. You get a whole lot braver when you don't have the realization that you could be dead at any moment.

We are on more drugs then ever before and the possibility of death lurks around every corner.

The only difference is that we fear the unknown risks while ignoring the known.

LOL we could really say that we are so drugged up now with pharmacy drugs that no one even cares! How sad.

I liked the fishnet and go go boots back in the day. Sorry your thread got so little response I thought it was a great topic. red

Originally posted by NightSkyeB4Dawn



Was life really simpler then?

What happened to those brave souls that would never stand still for any perceived injustice and would demonstrate for weeks?

What happen to those "Make love not war" advocates that stood toe to toe with a gun bearing policemen or solider with nothing more then a flower in hand and a strong determined voice?

What happened to all the people that understood that American freedoms and rights were worth dying for and a government that stood between the will of the people and their rights needed to be held accountable?

What happened to us?


[edit on 6-4-2009 by NightSkyeB4Dawn]

Genuine protest movements are and always have been infiltrated by agent provocateurs who work for those who have most to lose if such protests result in real change.

The agent provacateurs are basically given licences by their employers to do anything that is required in order to destroy whichever movement is a threat to their rule which is above the law.

A very good book which you may like to read concerning such shady goings on is BEYOND OUR CONSENT written by Robert Harris Brevig. This book can be found on the Scribd website.

911 happened. It changed our country forever in my opinion. New "rules" got written.

Originally posted by redhead57
LOL we could really say that we are so drugged up now with pharmacy drugs that no one even cares! How sad.

I liked the fishnet and go go boots back in the day. Sorry your thread got so little response I thought it was a great topic. red

The stockings and the boots were pretty funky.

We were all about doing things differently and trying to make a change.

I guess we were quite successful in our quest for change. If nothing else we changed our own hearts and our minds.

I just wish I could say it was the better.

Who really cares? 99.9 percent of people who claim to have made a difference or were part of some movement were complete fakes, living with an idealized idea of what they were. They weren't involved because they cared but because it was a trend.
As far as I am concerned they just wanted to be hip and seem rebelious. If they weren't pretending the world may actually have ended up different instead of just "free love" and drug use.

They sold out like they claimed they never would. Its Biggest generation of hypocites ever and deep down they know it.

Sorry to burst your bubble but that generation had been reduced to nothing more then a warning post of how not to do accomplish your goals.

It is true that some people of that generation were indeed just
followers and were not truly vested in the causes but you have to
give credit where it is due.

Many more of the protesters were committed and were willing to put there life on the line for what they believed.

Even those that just went along for the ride at least they lent their voice and stood up for something even if their commitment was not complete.

Don't over-romanticize the 60s.

Firstly, hard-core "revolutionaries" like the Weathermen or Panthers were a tiny, tiny fraction of the population, and their crazed acts of violence achieved nothing. Secondly, the larger, more peacful demonstrations didn't really accomplish all that much, either (with the possible exception of civil rights marches in the early 60s, and even that is debatable). Thirdly, the "protest generation" was mostly privilaged and college-educated; the less fortunate were too busy working blue-collar jobs or fighing in nam to join the "fun." Fourthly, the protests against the war were not idealistic, but self-interested at heart. People worried about the draft and the possibility they (or their boyfriends) would wind up toting a gun in the jungle. No draft = no mass protests: a lesson the military learned very well. If there had been an all-volunteer military back in the day, the anti-war protests would likely have been as lackluster as todays.

Frankly, I think it's all about media and perception.

Someone gets a twinkle in their eye, one of those "I love liberty and freedom" twinkles. then one of two things happens.

1. "Dancing with the stars" comes on, and they forget.
*2. Sean Hannity comes on, and spins that twinkle right out of their eye.



* could be Hannity or any other non-news reporting talking head of any flavor.

there is no news any more. just a giant media spin cycle. We're made to feel guilty over whatever non-mainstream thought we entertain.

What Happened?


Many things happened. Many of them have been touched upon in prior posts so I will not repeat them here.

As I see it, the most significant thing that happened was that we all grew up.

Sometimes that is not such a good thing; but sometimes "growing up" is the only way to survive.

Looking back, those we now call "rebels" and "defenders of Freedom" had an advantage their imitators today sadly lack: the forces of the "Opposition" (who or whatever they might be or represent) are no longer smugly complacent in the security that decades of conformity to the social norm awarded them.

The opposition have learned our "tricks" and have no cumpunction against using them any current crop of "rabble-rousers".


Anyone remember the Chicago police riots of 1968?

Back then "The Whole World Is Watching!" was a new and embarrassing concept, one that effectively brought forth a sense of shame and self-doubt to the then Establishment.

Now, the "Establishment" brings its own cameras to any conflict, "embedding" the press with its armies and packaging its actions for sound-bite fed audiences.


The Old dogs have learned how to turn our new tricks against us.


But do not despair too greatly for our young. Though they may seem dependent, soft, and apathetic, dig deeper.

They have learned a thing or two themselves. They have learned to bide their time, to act in unpredictable ways. They have learned how to employ the techniques of Asymetrical Warfare, techniques they wield with the easy skill we once demostrated painting protest signs.

They have learned that to attack from within the ranks of the opposition is a more effective strategy than massive frontal assults when the enemy is expecting brute force.


The battle continues, but now the game is 3-D chess, instead of Twister!