Open Thread for 5-5-16: Hip, Hip, Hippies
As usual I'll wander around a bit, trying to make some sort of point.
The gist is the usual: the powers that be hate us, don't want to stop being the powers that be, and use whatever they can for that purpose. They like using guilt and mockery. Their unforced error this time around was to anoint a candidate so obvious that they've blown their cover.
I believe there's such a thing as evil. Evil has vanity and wants people to admire it, while at the same time denying it exists. But Evil can't help it. And after packaging itself as a "good old boy" (that'd be Bush Jr) or as the "Candidate of Hope" (you know who) Evil couldn't resist splitting in two and presenting us with Hillary and Trump. Wow. You'd think Evil would have learned some subtlety. Evil also has this weird smugness and arrogance. "What are you gonna do about it?" it asks. And, being arrogant, it thinks to itself "and the fools don't even recognize me!" Except we do.
They ridicule those of us who want something better. Sometimes it's expressed clearly as in "oh, it's so easy to say how things should be", as if that's an argument to not want things to be as they should. Sometimes it's dressed up with an eyeroll and called "ponies". But it's all to dampen enthusiasm and keep the status quo'd. It's like what they did to the hippies who, as I'm sure you know, had it right.
Yes, hippies, the Beautiful Flower Children, grooving in the sunshine. It was easier then. I think communes have been zoned out of existence. Plus modern day hippies are too reliant on superficial remnants of hippiedom, especially that Phish thing. Personally I think the tribalism of party politics can be seen as the same thing as the tribal worship of the Grateful Dead. But that's about all I have to say that's in any way negative about hippies. The basic philosophy is simple: "The straight world is BS, let me out!"
The idea of a commune is pretty old, as first shown in what Hecate would call the true-life documentary "2001". Those early human types liked to live close together for safety and probably for the dance parties. The 1800s had 'em, called "utopian communities". Nathaniel Hawthorne lived in one which, unfortunately, fell apart due to financial problems and personal "squabbles". The Shakers de-sexed themselves out of business. Still, the concept of a planned community, away from the world of capitalism, is a strong one.
(two typical British hippies)
We had a lot of hippies in the 1960s but maybe not as many as we thought. Shaz and I, not knowing each other at the time, both considered ourselves bad hippies but looking back on it I think some of those "hippies" weren't hippies at all but bandwagoners. They grew up and got yuppie jobs, joining the mockers. Don't know why they did that.
Part of the hippie philosophy (maybe all of it) was Tune in, Turn on, Drop out. Tim Leary says he got the slogan from Marshall McLuhan. I think most of us here are tuned in. As mentioned above we see Evil for what it is. We also see how beautiful the world is and how it can be. It's not hard at all to come up with a simple plan to make it all work for everybody. There sure is a lot of resistance to it, isn't there?
As for turning on, well Oregon has made pot legal. I don't smoke it but I know some who do (cough cough...and not from the smoke). So far, so good! It's insane that pot has been illegal for so long. Anyway, my drugs story....when I was a youngster I smoked a little dope, yeah I popped a lot of pills...no, wait, that's Steppenwolf (the band). I mean I smoked some pot, some hash, took mescalin, LSD. I was always thinking, though. I believed in the idea of using these drugs as ways to understand the world. "The Doors of Perception" and all that. My most common expression while tripping was "hmm.." I stopped when I got to a certain point. I was tripping, sitting on the beach in Oregon, closed my eyes and experienced the inner world in all its beauty. Vistas opened up. I saw canyons, caverns, hillsides, the ocean....then I opened my eyes and saw the same thing. The same thing! And I understood that the internal world and the external world are the same. That the everyday world that I had questioned was there because it is the manifestation of who we are.
Well...wasn't that interesting? Entertaining, I hope. I suspect that a bunch of us have had similar experiences.
Now, can we drop out? Should we? We're all making this effort to change things for the better within the political world, within the established way. The hippies thought the attempt was doomed. The utopian communities of the 1840s thought it was doomed. Are we dumber to think we can help fix things? Or smarter? I don't know. I'm willing to give it a shot but as one gets older and one doesn't see improvement, in fact sees things getting worse, the idea of dropping out seems very attractive.
Since this is an open thread I'm going to change the subject slightly and talk about the fairy faith. Some people (most?) think it's a death cult. W.Y. Evans-Wentz, most famous for "The Tibetan Book of the Dead", also wrote the wonderful epic "The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries". He writes:
Most of the evidence also points so much in one direction that. the only verdict which seems reasonable is that the Fairy-Faith belongs to a doctrine of souls; that is to say, that Fairyland is a state or condition, realm or place, very much like, if not the same as, that wherein civilized and uncivilized men alike place the souls of the dead, in company with other invisible beings such as gods, daemons, and all sorts of good and bad spirits.
Yet the activities of the fairies are often the type of thing that make life worth living. They love music and dancing. Rev. Peter Kenney, an Irishman, told Evans-Wentz:
As sure as you are sitting down I heard the pipes there in that wood (pointing to a wood on the north-west slope of the Hill, and west of the banquet hall). I heard the music another time on a hot summer evening at the Rath of Ringlestown, in a field where all the grass had been burned off; and I often heard it in the wood of Tara. Whenever the good people play, you hear their music all through the field as plain as can be; and it is the grandest kind of music. It may last half the night, but once day comes, it ends.
Now that's what I would do if I were a hippie. I would play music through half of the night. And if I'm honest, I think that is a better solution to the problems of the world than changing the tax rates slightly.
And now for some Shahryar-approved hippie music, the kind that would be played in the commune, were I to live in one....with the understanding that there'd be other music, too. Because, you see, everyone should do his/her thing without interfering with anyone else's thing.
Procol Harum
Catrin Finch (because hippie approved music doesn't have to be from the 60s)
of course, it could be from the 60s. Here's one sung by my Facebook friend, Jesse Colin Young (who was nice enough to chat with me about music)
When typical British hippies sat around, grooving, they sounded like this
a more American sound....young hippie guitarists learned to play this one, although not as well as the original artist
This reminds me that the famous New York disk jockey, Murray the K, became a much more subdued radio personality as the 60s went on, describing a lot of this as "attitude music". It was kind of funny that a hipster like Murray would suddenly be Hippie Murray...he was so old and all, already in his 40s (! gasp !) but then it was cool. He'd tuned in!
Comments
What the world owes to Albert Hofmann’s bicycle ride in 1943.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Hofmann
Also:
http://opednews.com/articles/Takin-It-to-the-Street-a-by-Dave-Lindorff-B...
#SeeYouInPhilly
It isn't over in Attawapiskat
More suicide attempts as emergency continues in Attawapiskat
Elizabeth Payne, Ottawa Citizen
More from Elizabeth Payne, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: May 4, 2016 | Last Updated: May 4, 2016 6:10 PM EDT
Cross posted to First Nations News
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Martha, so tragic when it becomes infectious!
No doubt fear and paranoia is rampant now. Pouring in government services, too late, cannot be a solution into itself. Especially in isolated First Nations communities. How to help, other than listen to the youth?
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
There is so much
generational trauma. The wounds are so deep and so raw it will be decades before they heal, if they ever do.
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Goodmorning...
The mad bomber in the pantsuit has a new name. #CrookedHillary CA is registering new, young and latino voters at a fast and furious pace. Here's hoping we put #CrookedHillary in an orange jumpsuit and send her back to Arkansas.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
promoting
Hairball effluvium now, eh?
Amusing.
the hairball's stopped clock moment
It is the hairball's stopped clock moment. Doesn't make him any less of a Chump that he got this one right.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Somewhere in my personal effects (=???? to my kids)
is a group photo of a gang of us ca 1970 on a family farm near Crestwood, KY. we hung off a hay wagon, all trippin. No parental interference. I was 17. We are a bright-faced, happy bunch of friends and lovers, the Future's so Bright. Typical sequelae, some dead (no VN!, some gay, some educated, some not by standard methods). Scattered to the winds. I should scan that photo (8X10, home print) to save it.
We were wannabe hippies. Hard to pull off in Louisville KY. But the attitude was right, with the caring and the sharing. It still lives in me.
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
I was a wannabe hippie too
Unfortunately it was more freak time and it was not always a good time. But I survived it and learned a lot about personal resilience as a result. The one thing that really changed for me in those days was my awareness of the evils of war.
Great topic.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
Shahryar - Nice topic
I always wanted to be a Hippy... but I grew up at the tail end of the movement, in Kansas of all places. I wasn't "allowed" to be too radical or too free... and I was an obedient daughter...
Some days I wish I hadn't.... *sigh*
[video:https://youtu.be/mGfUszwN5x0]
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Morning Shahryar and all. Excellent reflections and music, TY.
Resilience: practical action to improve things we can control.
3D+: developing language for postmodern spirituality.
One man's story of the evacuation from Beacon Hill
Fort McMurray wildfire evacuee's video captures his harrowing escape
'I could see and hear the flames crackling behind my neighbours' homes,' said Michel Chamberland
CBC News Posted: May 05, 2016 5:34 AM MT| Last Updated: May 05, 2016 6:04 AM MT
The video is raw. The article has an interview with the man who shot the footage. He had just gotten home from work and was preparing for sleep when he got a call to evacuate. He had just a few moments to get out.
[video:https://youtu.be/aC2iPvXAggM]
This is a series of 6 videos. worth clicking through.
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Desperation and frustration. Tension builds.
Do many of you think those sort of videos would last long online if an emergency situation happened in the Lower 48? We can empathize with those people.
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
Not sure that YouTube
would take videos down just because it was from the US? Not sure this kind of thing could be suppressed. I could be wrong though.
As for the tension...yeah, it's palpable. But notice how NICE everyone is being? No cutting people off, etc. Only two people have died in the last couple of days, and that was in a crash between a big truck and an SUV.
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No, YouTube would probably not.
But I am not so sure of US MSM if this happened down here. Remember Katrina?
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
So scary.
Yikes. It looks like everyone is driving right into the fire. I would want to turn around and go the other way!
I watched all six of the videos
Unbelievable that they were driving through the fire and flaming ashes were dropping on the cars. It was interesting that he called into work and said he probably would not make it that evening because they were being evacuated. I wondered about the motorcyclist and hope he got out uninjured. Video #5 was particularly harrowing when the smoke was so thick you could not see ahead.
It was obvious to me that a lot (if not all) of that town will not be standing when this is over. Very sad.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
It is terrible....
On Wednesday, officials said 70 percent of homes in the neighborhood of Beacon Hill had been lost, and 50 percent of the homes in Abasand had been destroyed - including two located near the hospital. In Waterways, officials said 90 percent of homes were lost. 10 thousand hectares (24710.54 acres) have been burned.
Last number I heard were 1,600 buildings...not just homes but business too...have been lost, and the fire is no where near being under control. People are still being chased out. Those who evacuated on Tuesday are on the move again trying to stay ahead of the flames.
Live update from Alberta Premier HERE now.
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Its is sad and terrifying
But I hope it lights a fire for the Leap Manifesto up there (bad and unintentional punning there, but you know what I mean). If people start to realize that these things are going to only get worse, maybe the U.S.' kinder, gentler neighbors to the North will support Leap en masse and prove to the rest of us it can be done.
I was not going to go there yet,
but it would be nice if Ft. Mac became the epicenter for green building and permaculture.
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#DropOutHillary hash tag on The Twitter has reached 470,000
tweets in 24 hours. Still climbing fast this morning.
https://twitter.com/hashtag/dropouthillary
Donnie The #ShitHole Douchebag. Fake Friend to the Working Class. Real Asshole.
At TOP, hippies are the new black.
The disdain for peace and equality and those that want it is so fucking rampant over there that I think now that I made a mistake even considering that place progressive. The flags are flowing like a river at anyone who dares write a diary even critical of hillarity. The funny thing is before the thumb was put on the scale, 2/3 of the community was pro-Bernie. They have succeeded in making it look like it is nearly even but it's not. Fuck em, when they lose I'm gonna sneer. I hate that I'm having these bad thoughts but shit like this:
really isn't winning me over. I swear, I have zero respect for that so-called
'front pagerstaff'.Edit: Edited to change front pager to staff
There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties.. This...is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution.--John Adams
I made the mistake of looking at the front page over there today
And my blood pressure is probably through the roof. One featured analysis reprinted from some idiot describes how well Clinton is doing with AAs and "racially liberal whites" (as opposed to "racially conservative whites"). I'm sure all the Dem exit polls asked whether the voter was "racially conservative" or "racially liberal." Not. They make this garbage out of whole cloth. Calling Bernie Sanders and his supporters racists is reason enough never to vote for the witch and never to make common cause with the Democratic Party she owns. Filth and lies and corruption. I have more respect for Republicans. At least they'll tell you which side they're on.
Twain Disciple
I cannot agree more with this
I have lost what little respect I ever had for the
DemocraticBait and Switch party. It is not that I think Republicans are great, but they do not lie to me and then vote against my interests. They tell me up front that they are going to vote against my interests.Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
Their goal
isn't so much to convert people from Bernie to Hillary (they know that's a nonstarter) but rather to destroy any enthusiasm for Sanders. Notice how they go into overdrive everyday after he wins big. Napoleon posted three pieces himself yesterday.
The staff know that their cushy jobs are at stake and they are panicking. They are working in a soft bubble in a very tough industry and their recent output is not likely to make other outlets want to hire them. They have no option but to do Napoleon's bidding unless they are OK with a very dramatic drop in their standard of living.
“To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.” -Voltaire
cushy jobs
Even if they do Little Napoleon's bidding, it may not shield all of them for long. The eye count on the site has been falling like a rock off a cliff since the Ides of March Decree. Advertisers -- the site's principal income stream -- don't like that.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Yup
and website stats are a lagging indicator -people will check in for a few weeks before they finally disappear for good. Advertisers are also not fooled by boostery posts by site owners whenever their sites have a brief spike either.
Napoleon has sacrificed an extremely loyal user base who provided quality content for free for a bunch of operatives, wannabees, and PUMAs. A quick read through of their output shows that there is little quality or loyalty to be had there. He has lost the disaffected left for good and the others will disappear with the breeze come November.
Now whether he is nuking his website for a reason or if it really is just bad management and decision making is an interesting question.
“To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.” -Voltaire
Ugh
I still look in but now it's for seconds. It's an alternate reality bubble now. Kos finally succeeded in turning it from subtle propaganda to overt propaganda.
Related, I can't even stand to wade into the comments at Kevin Drum's any more. I have more than 10,000 comments there, and now I feel like it's a post Invasion of the Body Snatchers world. At both Kos and Kevin's, they've been fighting the same enemy for so long they became them. Anything that falls outside Hillary Great, GOP Evil is a right-wing conspiracy.
"Polls don't tell us how well a candidate is doing; Polls tell us how well the media is doing." ~ Me
I love your comments
Glad you participate here, Thumb, where there is a bit of sanity... especially when compared with the DailyLost. Don't let the small minded reduce you to their level.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Paraphrasing Twain:
They bring me down to their level and beat me with experience, but I leave them exhausted.
"Polls don't tell us how well a candidate is doing; Polls tell us how well the media is doing." ~ Me
When Da Mare of chicuguh said,
"Da police ain't here to create disorder, da police is here to preserve disorder," it was 1968, I was 11, and the riots just north and west of me were eye opening. I did not understand the issues, but I did my best to figure it out. Vietnam seemed to be some make believe land, far way, with no relevance to our lives here. Internlly, I felt that I had more in common with those protesting, rather than the cops who were cracking heads with lead filled night sticks.
Make Believe Land
I saw it on TV every night...couldn't figure it out. I knew war was bad, though. I was in the first Grade. One day in 'art' class, I made a poster, using this flower:
but I changed the words to another slogan I had heard: "Make Love Not War"
I got sent to the Principal's Office for a spanking. That was all the proof I needed that the establishment was pro war.
"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X
you got BEATEN for making an anti-war poster in 1st grade?
Those who gave the order, and meted out the punishment, need to be drafted so they can get a real taste of what they advocate.
And they needed to be removed from being educators. Permanently, yesterday, and with all possible extreme prejudice.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
probably an uptight member of the anti-sex league
that "make love" thing upsets them.
Still no effing excuse to beat a first grade child!
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
No excuse...but it made a lasting impression.
Not the one intended, I am sure.
"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X
oops, double post
Well, an opportunity to remember the Principal's name. Heather Miller. Not only did she not like my flower, her name literally was about grinding them up.
Where have all the flowers gone?
"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X
That was a helluva eye-opening year.
I was 21 and pregnant with my first kid, watching my heroes being assassinated in real time on the TV. But my eyes were opened way before that (November '63 was particularly mind-blowing for an idealistic 16-yr old - and consider that I am the same age as Hillary who moved right with her hero, Goldwater) as I am the granddaughter of a union organizer who held a special place in my family's hearts and minds that was right next to FDR.
Had a rough morning today...
Son woke up in a bad mood and decided that he was going to throw a tantrum about every single thing he was wearing that he knew he wasn't supposed to.
Torn Shirt? Check
No Socks? Check
Necklace from Grandma with sharp bits that will get it confiscated instantly? Check
And ever single item I called him out on he stomped around the house, sighed loudly and announced I was being a jerk. This is of course after I got him up, made breakfast and played music for the kids while they got dressed.
Kids, right?
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Ah, DMW, that's why I don't have any. :)
I can barely stand myself in the morning.
Seems like every day I make an EFFORT...
to have a good day, they take it as a message to sabotage the day.
Course my ex-wife did that stuff too, so maybe it's genetic?
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Let me guess....
12 - 13? *grin*
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11 and 13...
Right on the nose.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Ah.... then it isn't genetics....
its puberty... Once they hit 20 you will get smarter...
It happens to all of us.... welcome to the club!
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mornin' folks
back in Coconut Grove... I was a hybrid.... hippie/peace activist, even then. Still am.
[video:https://youtu.be/uOrb0G0tw08]
I was something of the same, starting out as a
civil libertarian and egalitarian civil rights advocate/activist, which naturally led to support for some socialist/communist ideas. After I moved to Berkeley, and after FSM, I naturally became a peacenik as well, evolving into an all purpose all cause radical/activist. It became clear, after the human be-in, that there was much more to it than simply politics, be it electoral or street, and having been into both eastern and western philosophy from an early age, I readily became a hippie too, without giving up n the activism. Many from each cmp said such a posture was impossible, but to this day I fail to see that as a supportable position. Leary's "drop out" did not require, IMO, a complete withdrawal from civilization, but a rejection of the "American" boourgeoise mainstream.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Great reflections of my coming of age in amerika
I'd just finished listening to a whiter shade of pale when I logged on to your essay. Back then, I tuned in turned on and dropped out, tossed the coins, read kafka and Hesse, made babies, and stayed there for over 20 years, when I realized that most everyone else had gone off to make 'a living' and it was time that I did some of that 'serious' stuff myself. It was always on the fringe though and eventually that Vespa accident in '66, that left me with some pretty serious mobility issues, caused me to drop out again. Times have changed but the underlying rot has become harder to hide and I hope with all my hippie heart this new generation of DFHs will push harder than we did to get and keep this place livable for my grandkids and their kids and all kids everywhere. Thanks for the memories.
Oh, and I have a great Murray the K story - for another time. ;^D/
can't wait to hear the Murray the K story!
I'll remind you later.
"it's what's happening, baby!"
One cool thing about being 'older' is that you've got a lot of
stories to tell. What's even better is that you get new ones all the time.
What could possibly go wrong?
About those intelligence briefings for Donald Trump…
05/05/16 08:48 AM
By Steve Benen
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Seth Myers sums it up nicely
[video:https://youtu.be/0ZP-VY5LY4s]
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Still a hippie
Don't know if I'm hip, but I kept my values. Many thought they were hippies because the smoked dope and had long hair, but I always saw being a hippie as having social values. I did live on a commune for a couple of years. Here in the south there was overlap of the antiwar movement and the civil rights struggle. Hippies that worked for those causes were not appreciated - ie spit on, guns pulled on, and much worse. I cut my hair as most began growing theirs out, but I kept my socialist thoughts from that day to this. I like John Prine's line "...and all my friends became insurance salesmen." Speaking of John Prine, OPOL has a nice diary featuring him at the DailyLost (if you can stomach the place).
Now for something completely different... Do y'all think T.rump supporters might cross over and vote Bernie to stop Hellery? I saw one comment on reddit to that effect.
Hope you all have a good day...and you're turned on, tuned in, and dropped out!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
oh!
LOVE that! lol "where Woodstock meets Occupy"!!
Me too. :)
Also, I love Birdie. I get a kick out of the fact that you can put white hair and glasses on anything, a vw bug, a bird, a cookie, :), and it is immediately recognizable as Bernie.
Did you catch this one I posted yesterday?
This one may be my fave
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
hippies were mocked but what's so funny about peace etc?
50 years later it seems not much has changed. Will it ever?
This poster is awesome! (n/t)
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
What a lovely poster! I want one!
Twain Disciple
Good morning, Shahryar and friends.
There was a commune set up in Taos when I was 16. My dad said, "stay away." So, of course I went to investigate. I was a rebel before I found the commune and it just strengthened my resolve. Why be establishment when I can be radical? That was my schtick and has been since.
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
Carry on!
RA,
So glad you keep rebelling. I always appreciate your positive tone too!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Thanks, lookout.
I love that graphic. "YOU are the revolution!" is how I read it. AT c99p, WE are the revolution! So great to be with all of you here.
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
Thank you, Shahryar,
for the interesting open thread. Not much to say this morning, but wanted to stop by to say thank you, hello, and good morning everyone!
good stuff
As Charles Perry, who was there, explains in his insightful tome The Haight-Ashbury: A History, "hippies" were just some people in a neighborhood in San Francisco.
As Jerry Garcia, who was also there, put it:
These people had zero interest in politics. None. Larval stuff. Retroversion.
Garcia again:
As Perry writes, Ken Kesey was invited over to speak at some "political, heavy-handed, East Coast, hard-edge shit" rally in the East Bay. Where Kesey proceeded to incisively yoke the fired-up anti-warriors, with the fired-up warriors—a mirror with two faces; people revolving around the pole of power, all of them—and then commenced blowing on his harmonica. At which point the fired-up rally monkeys, they yanked Kesey off the stage.
The (East Coast) Leary people, they were, like, into rules, and stuff.
When the Kesey people went to Millbrook to pay a friendly call on Leary and Co., it was an awkward meet. Leary grabbed Neal Cassady and took him upstairs; he did not want to hang with the other folk. The remaining Millbrook people went into hiding. Except for Ram Dass (then still Alpert), who tried to explain to the Pranksters the principles of control in re acid. The Kesey people listened patiently, and then went and played in a waterfall.
As Gretchen Fetchin observed, "they were cold and clinical; we were freeform. We were explorers; they were the scientists."
Leary hired Michael Savage, to be the guardian of the gate, there at Millbrook. True story.
Communes aren't "zoned out of existence" around here, shah. ; ) There are today a dozen communes, that I know of, within a 35-mile radius of where I sit. All "operating completely purely without anybody looking on, without anybody looking through the big window."
And fairies, they are hardly a death-cult. They're immortal.
& thanks for some of my favorite music: the embryonic get together journey.
we are but a moment's sunlight
fading in the grass
I think it's common for scenes to get weird when publicized
Reading about Mods and how the early Mods say the scene died for them in 1963.
a Mod named Robert Hall says (in The Soul Stylists):
Also I've read that story of the West Coast LSDers and those of the East Coast. Tom Wolfe wrote about it in his fictional work ""The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test".
definitely fictional
I draw my account from first-hand remembrances of Pranksters.
Tom Wolfe is so . . . East Coast.
i just remembered
a Wolfe story.
Wolfe came out here to the university to speak. A writer on the newspaper, who was not a hippie, but rather a man of many whiskeys, grabbed the assignment. He survived the speech, and then attended the reception for Wolfe at the university president's mansion. As that event was winding down, while Wolfe was holding forth to a small group of devotees, in bloviation about something or other, the writer moved in behind Wolfe, withdrew from his pocket a black magic marker, and began scrawling messages on the back of Wolfe's white suit.
The writer was thrown out. Later wrote a great story, though.
The hip-radical interactions always reminded me of
the "two cultures" problem discussed by CP Snow. Members of one or the other trying to guide, sell or convince members of the other without first fully grokking the other culture, leading to an intrinsic inability to communicate. There were some shared values, but they usually got lost
As Jerry noted, the hippie scene was a small community thing. There could be tons of small communities, but each was something of an organism, interacting with others of its ilk, along with others not its ilk in the greater environment, as needed. If they grew too big, they would get sick and polluted - it was an ecosystem problem, but nobody knew that then.
There could be, and were, some micro communities of the hippie ilk that were were also profoundly political - radical. They were like boddhisatvas, working to enable "all" to have the option and ability to decide what to do and where to go, the ability to read, hear, see and learn those things the hippies had. The key to their survivability and efficacy was to not actively recruit or proselytize, especially among hippies. When asked explain what and why, but no more. Usually their members cooperated with, worked with and even organized beside, but were quasi independent of the larger organizations like SDS, YSL, etc.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
the haight people
were not interested in "guiding, selling, or convincing" the purveyors of the "political, heavy-handed, East Coast, hard-edge shit." They just wanted those folks to keep their larval filth out of the neighborhood. ; (
keep the filth out of the neigborhood
I want to keep that same filth out of my neighborhood, too.
This neighborhood:
photo source (NASA)
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Garbled message - my bad. I'm not even sure who or what
"political, heavy-handed, East Coast, hard-edge shit." is, but I do know that a lot of organizers indiscriminately handed out flyers, circulated petitions and talked to people pushing this, that or the other up coming event, action or cause. Under the right circumstances, they would try to convince or sell an action, cause, or activism itself.
As to the folks in the Haight, Merry Pranksters, et. al. I wasn't speaking. There were, back then, myriads of people and groups of varying degrees of awareness, generally referred to with the generic "hippie" label, and most often also self identifying as same. Some were no doubt very with it, and many others much less so. What I do know is that often enough some of latter type would try to convince activists to give it up (in general) and/or stop doing whatever they were doing (such as leafletting or signature gathering) and go meditate or just ponder reality or join a commune or whatever for any of an assortment of "reasons".
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
This concept;
has always been my thought on just about ANY form of government/society. Once it gets too big...once there are so many people that you have to have representatives to vote FOR YOU....that government/society no longer works.
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First Nations News
yes
That's what the anarchists are about. Not the dilettantes breaking windows. The real ones.
Yes, the real ones.
"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X
Area of Canadian wildfire has doubled overnight
Sixteen year old rides her horse to safety
To thine own self be true.
Alberta Premiere
just reported that the fire has burned 85-thousand hectares.
The whole of Alberta seems to be on fire...something like 47 fires of which several are out of control.
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First Nations News
Living in the boonies of a collegetown
we still have a decent radio station, WVBR. This morning, for us:
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
Bisbee is an old mining town
In 1974, the mine shut down, the miners (most of them) moved out, and a bunch of hippies from the Bay area moved in. Most squatted in abandoned houses...some burned the one next door for firewood. Some friends of ours just got legal title to the place they have been living for 40 years, a couple of years ago. Most of those from that migration are aging well, and have hung on to their beliefs, and at least some of their way of life. It's a neat town, with some really interesting, creative, musical, artistic people. Born too late to be a real hippie (but heavily influenced by some, when I was young), I ended up here more or less by accident. Maybe. We just made #1 small town on a couple of nationwide lists...one about best places to find hippies, or something like that. We actually live in a 1908 suburbia called Warren, but it's all part of Bisbee, now. Some people have been living in their schoolbus, up the street, parked next to the Park, for the last month or so. It's slowly heading more touristy, but still worth a visit, if you get the chance. Kind of out of the way.
"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X
quintessential
Hairball supporter—white, stupid, religiously-disabled, male, fat—refuses to tow stranded woman because her car bore Sanders stickers.
Right, hecate?
and I love how their "Lord" is always responsible for encouraging of their worst behaviors. Ummm, I don't think that's the Lord that pushed you to act like an asshole, buddy, might be the other guy, though.
And to be proud? Proud to leave someone stranded because they hold a different opinion than you do? Its mind-blowing.
for did Jesus not say "every man for himself!"?
"and when your neighbor is cold and ye have two blankets, then shouldst thou chuckle and call him 'loser'".
"render unto Caesar as little as ye can whilst amassing huge piles of gold"
"the more jacked up your pickup is, the holier you are"
yea, verily,
so it was Written.
Written, as well:
"Render unto The Hairball, that which is The Hairball's. And mash with a steamroller, all the rest."
One of my favorite bumper stickers
Jesus loves you, everybody else thinks you're an asshole.
“The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us”
― Voltaire
I remember getting sent home one day in junior high,
must have been 68 for wearing bell bottom pants with flowers colored all over them. I liked being a hippie, still do. I look like a prototypical old long haired hippie. A while back I was sitting at a stop light and I looked to my right and a younger black guy was sitting in the car next to me. I flashed him a peace sign and he looks for a second then starts nodding and laughing and flashes me one back. You could tell what he was thinking, the old hippie dude there just flashed me the peace sign man.
When I go into stores or other places and am dealt with or served by younger males, invariably they'll say, "will that be all man"?, or "have a good day man" riffing off their perception of me as an old hippie. Instead of sir they'll say man. Makes me feel younger.
Still plenty of misconceptions and biases though. Still some hippie punching going on. Even on this site I've seen it, of course at Daily Kos. Still a lot of old fuddy duddies at this age who never learned to loosen up, never took to heart the sayings we had. "If it feels good do it, do it if it feels good". Surprises me sometimes.
"man", as in "other"
I think it's supposed to show solidarity.
I never could understand
the ' establishment' world always seemed absurd and like a big waste of life. Big shot mentality, got to get ahead, you can never have too much money, opportunity keeps on knocking better open the door. We're both bad cappies we're materially impaired. The man, as they used to call the big bosses, has made it a impossible to live outside the world they have created. Conform and obey is the necessary order of survival. Flee, flee but to where. The rent's too high. It's a crime to be poor and the punishment is severe. Learn to play the game or your a loser.
There are still hippies I see them every day when I walk the gentrified, SUV choked streets in my neighborhood. Some are old some young and some in between. But like the fairy folk they are getting pushed out of the parameters of this savage society. Are there still hippies and fairies in the woods between the city and the ocean? Humm?
Perhaps all the DFH old, young and in between have moved to Gresham. Just when I despair and think where have all the flowers gone a young'un crossing the street with a guitar over his shoulder on will ask us 'Are you experienced?' Or the dapper tamale selling street vendor will ask us 'Happy, Happy?"
Zap
Rick Griffen
Alton Kelly
Victor Morosco
and a painting box
Are you experienced?