I was just throwing my thoughts out,
but there was ahalf a million at Woodstock, i bet there were half a million different reasons for going, the one thing they all had in common was letting their freak flags fly, break away from convention a bit, maybe sort through how they could make a difference

a lotta things are recorded but history itself doesn't record nothing, humans do

fear and paranoia.....well generalizing is a tricky business....seems to me we follow our paths and when enough of them get close enough you've got a movement..... and that was great ... a little company on the road .....

...some of us grew up with alot of fear....the Cuban missle crisis, cold war, duck and cover in school....the aftermath of the first nuclear bomb dropped by the country that's the land of the free?!.....assassinations...who ever thought that could happen??.....

...so you have to find ways to live in all that......paranoia....absolutely.....but you know the old saying...just cause you're paranoid..... i was in D.C. in the late 60's....there were college student narcs.....young folks...mostly minority...served a couple of years for an ounce.....and the DEA is paying students to turn each other in.... worked at a Free Health Clinic....the street hippies don't want to give out their real names for health records.....too dangerous, they say......paranoid as we are, we shrug and make up consistent fake names...
two months and someone(s) breaks into the clinic and steals every single medical record....for what please!!???.....they really were out to get us....we learned once more...

...the truth of the untruth in government exploded in the consciousness of some of us....that would change us forever....

....so what was fun, besides the great music??....it was uncool to shut your door on anyone that wanted in.... that wasn't always smart, but it was an experience....a chance to know a little of what it's like to be so...
connected.....there were no strangers....and how many Vietnamese died started to matter....

....seedlings of change.....

...i can't answer your poll...it's still screwy...but different....some things are better...thanks for asking...

I hear what your saying Kj. You can't go back, so might as well look ahead. The pole is just for some fun and to inspire some exchange.

Also, I am looking fo some opinions from different people regarding their own thoughts about the change that they participated in, it doesnt't necessarily had to of happend in the sixties ,but maybe they were inspired by what happend then.

Thanks for the input.

It'd been awhile since I visited the boards. Just cast my vote for things still being messed up. I am a historian by training, and everyone has heard the quote I used above. I see some similarities between the 60's and today, particularly when it comes to the war in Iraq. The US is involved in a war with an entreched enemy whose culture is not really understood. There is much local support for the forces opposing the US. Those forces are exacting steady casualties on the US forces. Am I crazy, or could that describe Vietnam or Iraq? On the home front, the is a paranoid, megalomaniacal President using illegal tactics to spy on US citizens. Would that be Nixon, or Bush? Opponents of the war are labelled "unpatriotic" and the phrase "America, Love It or Leave It." is on bumper stickers. I saw a brand-spankin' new one on a car last week. What is going on here? Have people lost their minds?

Yes.

Thanks Bass, I see a lot of parallelism too.

Why do you think we are not having the same reaction to what is going on today like we had in the sixties?

Not exactly right, there. Only seven chose to respond. We who maybe remember the 60s don't readily take to polls. It's the paranoia, you know. Or it might be that the real answer lies between the choices and none of them are right. Plus, at least 12 or so of us that I know of have been in Okemah with a few thousand others, continuing that which never stopped; it's just that the media thought that it did. We got home tonight but some won't be home for another day or so. (It's not just the 60s, though, it goes back much earlier. MUCH earlier than Woody, even. It is alive and well. as are we, last time I looked.)

Good luck on your class. Really. But I recommend if you want to know about what it was and is, and not just get a grade, get out here and experience it.

[Why do you think we are not having the same reaction to what is going on today like we had in the sixties?]

por que? I am confused? there are plenty of labels all around

[Why do you think we are not having the same reaction to what is going on today like we had in the sixties?]

But we ARE having the same reaction to what is going on as the 60s. The politicians are all bragging how patriotic they are. The rich kids don't get sent off to get shot/blown up. People hide who they really are so they can keep their jobs and get by.

Not sure how Woodstock gets described in history books. It was a outdoor concert with almost every national and many international bands. No matter what music you liked to listen to, it was there. Irrisistable draw for unlimited audience. The town politicians of Woodstock, comprehending what was proposed since they were familiar with music, refused to allow it. The town of Bethel had no idea what they were allowing. See the Powder Ridge thread for what life was like right after Woodstock (aka "Not In My Town"). That people were nice to each other and got along well even when there were more people than jail cells was interesting but like Haight-Ashbury, the good things didn't get focused on.

kurt...

I agree to a point. Especially now with the all-volunteer military. Also can't help but notice that the strongest supporters of the war have minimal or no military experience.

I would phrase it WE are having the same reaction... We either lived through it, or learned our history. Not everyone in this country, or the world, sees it that way. A macho attitude has become pervasive in American society. Between things like Rambo, Chuck Norris, Ninjas, and professional "wrestling," we ended up with a Prez. who challenges terrorists to "Bring It On!" Some of what passes for "patriotism" now is an off-shoot of that.

9/11 has a lot to do with that. People are still angry and scared. And the Bush Adminstration has played on that fear ever since. Ever notice how they will announce having credible evidence of a terrorist plot, but never go into detail? Reminds me of Sen. Joe McCarthy holding up a sheaf of papers stating "I have in my hand a list of known Communists in the Government." But, he never showed the list to anyone. He played on fear the same way Bush does.

Personally, I think some people have gotten a lot meaner and angrier. I know, over simplification maybe but it's just how I feel. Look at those "No Fear" car window stickers (should read "No Brain"!). Or the bratty cartoon kid pissing on things with the caption "Fear This!". People seem to get pissed at just about everything these days. Waiting in line, road rage, screaming at a microwave oven to "hurry up!". Remember Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins flashing the peace sign at the Oscars a few years ago? No speeches, no protesting, no prosletysing. All they did was flash the peace sign and they were blasted by the media and right wing conservatives. For wanting peace?!? WTF!!!

You all have valid input. I could have chosen a lot of differnet avenues to get some information for a paper, but I chose to post it out there.

Maybe I am naive, but I don't see wide spread protest on campuses. I do not see concerts except for the sole purpose of commercial gain. Yeah, maybe a bumper sticker once in a while,or a comment by somebody famous, but as soon as that paycheck is affected the comment is retracted, like by that female country band with fiddles, who Iwill not name.

Look what makes money today in the music industry- where is the message?

Granted a few bands have a message, but is their political impact as strong? Could they mobilize the youth like in the sixties?

all i got is about 14 cents, drinkin' wine spo dee o dee

Natalie Maines gave up a pretty lucrative career and she don't seem to be lookin' back

And she says in the song

some woman wants me dead for what I said (paraphrase)

come on Tom

I just got back from a five-day festival in the middle of Oklahoma that was ALL about what you're talking about. People there were from 0 years old to in their 80s. It is happening, but it is not being reported in the news. In the 60s they didn't know enough to keep it out of the news. That is the biggest difference that I see.