http://whytheysuck.com/?p=107
Look at the defining moments of just a few recent generations. The generation before the Baby Boomers fought and won World War II and put a man on the moon. The generation before that brought us the height of American literature and arts. Before that, the Progressive Movement changed society forever and World War I changed the political face of the entire world.
And what did the Baby Boomers do? They got stoned, listened to some music, and fucked.
In the mud.
I’m sorry, but when the pinnacle moment of your generation includes the warning “don’t eat the brown acid,” I think you need to reevaluate your priorities.
You have to swallow some disinformation to think Woodstock was a pinnacle event in the Sixties counter-culture. Where I cannot praise drug use myself, Liberals and Democrats should think carefully before they join Conservatives in denigrating that generation. An invitation to eat your own children should be looked upon at least with suspicion.
First, Woodstock was just a side-show to what actually went on, and it wasn't the event that "defined" the generation. No, that generation had been defined by the previous year. It wasn't near anywhere the top of the Sixties counter-cultural accomplishments, which were, first, that they stopped the Vietnam War, and second they brought down Nixon. They changed the direction of this country-- from the mismanagement by that WWII generation, who were, by then, applying all the wrong lessons from WWII. (The boomers also had considerable social accomplishments after that, but that is a different story.)
Conservatives have never forgiven the '60s counter-culture, and they have attacked it vehemently ever since. Their tireless vendetta has done more harm to our country than Woodstock could ever do. For example, I'm convinced that cuts in student aid in the late '70s and were then were deepened under Reagan were made out vindictiveness the Vietnam protests. Those vindictive cuts are screwing us now, when we have few people with advanced degrees. Why? Because unless your rich, or worthy of a full-scholarship, an advanced degree will start you $50-to-100 thousand dollars in debt.
For all their flaws, the hippies were far better than the next generations. The eighties saw the Jack Abramoff young-Republican generation-- the Yuppies, known for their pharisaic avarice, social cynicism, and cultural baseness, but they belittled the Hippies. Let's see, which is better, Woodstock, or trips to Angola by Young Republicans for veneration of that great anti-communist hero, (and repressive, bloodstained dictator) Jonas Savimbi. Let's not forget the praise and the undying support of the Apartheid government in South Africa. Compared to that, shagging in the mud high on acid at Woodstock is a grand cultural and social accomplishment. (No, not really, but it wasn't nearly as damaging.)
Woodstock was no more or less than it seemed. It was an entertainment event and business venture that was widely over-promoted beforehand, and then extremely mismanaged. Before derivatives, very few people could say they mismanaged their business so badly that they almost created a humanitarian crisis, but the Woodstock Ventures nearly did just that.
Therefore, it distresses me when Liberals and Democrats join Conservatives in a 60s-hate-in, especially when presented with Woodstock and its audience. Be fair. You can't really fault the hippies at Woodstock because they couldn't know what they were going to be getting into before they arrived. It was miracle that people managed to put a half-million people together like that with almost no shelter, sanitation, or supplies to support them, but they stayed peaceful and cooperated with each other. It could have been a catastrophe with thousands dead. To avoid that, I don't care if the people took drugs and had public sex to do it. Social engineers should make a case study of Woodstock, and its lessons may apply to any refugee situation. (Yes, maybe . . .)
As for it being a good time, I think a saying applies: the best adventures are usually great mis-adventures recalled later in comfortable surroundings. Those responsible for the Woodstock fiasco had to try to recoup some of their dough, so they had to sell the Woodstock documentary, and praise the concert as some kind of great cultural event. This doesn't make it so. Woodstock was a side-show to what really happened in the Sixties.