'80's, '90's, and the image of the sixties

[SHRED]

For those growing up in the 1980's and '90's did you get a perverted view of the sixties protesters or what?

My contention is that movements like the "punk" scene, "Get a haircut!", education systems, and the msm marginalized and trivialized the powerful demonstrations and organization of the people during those times. One example is the over hyped, "What happened to them now" issue. When all along they were the minority. The face of the long haired protester was the minority then as it is now. A minority that influenced many changes.

If there was a draft, maybe then a real life understanding of urgency would take place and more respect would be paid to those that died in protest.

I am 48 so I am in-between these generations. These observations are what I see. The country has gone so much farther to the right since 1980 it is incredible.

[Clark2008]

1. No. My parents were a part of it and I grew up thinking,

"Wow. I wish I'd lived back then."

I'm 35, btw. I came "of age" in the 80s.

[Greybnk48]

2. I'm 56

It was my observation, and it may not be totally accurate, that the s**t hit the fan here when the U.S. began drafting college students. There were protests when it was just the inner city and the farm kids, but when they began taking college kids, then married people in college with no kids, then married--in college--with kids, the protests went mainstream. Late sixties, if your family didn't know someone with power you were gone.

The college campuses didn't go nuclear until late 60's early 70's when students were no longer exempt.

[acmejack]

11. I think Kent State galvanized people

The brutal suppression of peaceful demonstrations was commonplace, I think between that and the war coverage on TV (Which is a lesson they took to heart, none of that anymore) and the losses were significant enough that almost everyone knew someone whose life had been touched by the war.

[WildClarySage]

3. Yes, in some ways. but the real lessons of the 80's-90's WAS

MONEY BABY!!! Spend, Consumer, spend! Borrow!!! Buy today, pay tomorrow- It's the American Way

We could find power not in our collective identity as a political generation, rather we found a consumer-driven power. Power in fads, like Guess, Members Only, The Limited Express, and MTV were our politics then.

[rman]

10. All part of the same package;

"greed is good - sharing is for sissies"
In order to get people to believe money is the all important thing, the opposite if that - the 60's anti-capitalism hippy/youth movement - had to be discredited.

[sickinohio]

16. I believe that is our fault as parents. My children were in high

school in the late 80's and early 90's, and I think that my wanting them to have the material things that I didn't have when I was growing up, probably contributed to the buy-now-pay-later generation. I wanted my kids to "fit-in", just like most parents my age did. So, in all reality, it's my fault.

[zeemike]

20. Don't be so hard on yourself

who created the society that you wanted them to fit into?

[sickinohio]

21. Hmmm - good question. I'll have to think on that for a moment or

or two - but I suppose my guess on that would be the media?? They've had quite an influence for some time now, haven't they?

[K-W]

4. Far too much focus on the culture

as opposed to the politics.

[Obviousman]

5. I went to hear Studs Terkel speak a while ago

His take was that the 60's generation was the greatest generation, not the WWII generation.

[ashmanonar]

6. dude!

studs terkel! my history teacher in high school always talked about him.

[Obviousman]

8. He is the most amazing person to have ever lived

hands down.

[oneold1-4u]

23. Strong generations

The generation, of age, before WWII had to be the strongest physically and mentally, just to exist. That war was won because of that. The generations of the cold war, Korea, and Nam were not strong because those we believed in, politically strong in power, were WRONG! This next 1/4 century (2025-2030) will need strength to survive and create tranquility without political or religious power wars. The youth of today are the inheritors of the world created today! They should not be taught only militaristic values!

[zeemike]

7. I am 61 so I remember the sixties well

Although my memory is not as sharp as it used to be.
But it was a time of freedom unlike the 80s and 90s where people were bombarded with loads of propaganda from that little box that everyone watches all the time.
The perception of the young was not shaped by anything except music in those days, and music was almost a communication device for the young. The Beatles, the Rolling Stones as well as so many other bands influenced us and spoke with our voice.
By the 80s the right began using the TV to shape the ideas of the young. As an example (the TV show with Michale J Fox I can't remember the name) had a semi hippie mother and father and a son that lover Richard Nixon and embraced the idealism of capitalism and big business, stood as an template for how the young should be.
And it did work and turned out a generation of RW young people that only wanted to be a money market manager and make millions before they were 30. Not all of them fell for it though, because it is imposable for all to be that way, but enough so that the false RW ideology stayed alive and well into the 21st century.

[GetTheRightVote]

9. I believe it was "Family Ties", not sure though

but yes I remember it and it did just that, many wanted to be just like Micheal J. Fox and make alot of money.

:kick:

[zeemike]

14. Yes that was it, thanks

[Greybnk48]

12. Agree Zeemike--greed trumped character

There was definitely a shift to greed after Vietnam. A movie depicting the 80's me generation is Wallstreet with M. Douglas and Charlie Sheen. A dark, dark comedy about the young me! me! Reaganites is American Psycho--not for the faint of heart.

[babylonsister]

17. The phrase coined during the 80s was

the "me" generation, and it was all about individuals getting ahead financially. Politics didn't seem to enter into it as far as ideals because everyone felt relatively safe. Boy, has that changed!

[Cats Against Frist]

13. The Country hasn't gone farther right, it's gone further to the mall

The number of eligible adults that didn't vote outnumbered the number of votes that each candidate got.

Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann both asked on their programs, "if this country is so 'Christian,' why is 'Desperate Housewives' the number one show?"

The phenomenon is two fold: First people project. Plenty of people in the exurbs who think they're so Christian will eat up that show, while simultaneously playing pious.

The second is that most of the people who WATCH that show didn't vote. They didn't vote because they're too busy shoveling down QPs, pricing Chevy Tahoes, getting high, playing playstation, going to Maroon 5 concerts and watching Rodeo on TV. And there are PLENTY of left-wing people who didn't vote, because they either want the whole system to crash, or they think they're voting for the same party, either way.

I think that I was given a negative view of the protesters, as a child. My parents, both rural, and just slightly younger than the "hippie" movement didn't participate in any of that, and probably didn't know anyone who did, either. I would say their families were of the "Sonny Liston" contingent, during that time.

Since my parents weren't overly dogmatic, overly establishment or overly Christian, I never got any of the "protesters and the left are killing 'murica" rhetoric, and there was never any real distaste voiced by my parents toward the protesters. They were more of a novelty, than anything else. And my parents were pro-union and Democrats when I was young. (They both still are Democrats, but my dad is a DINO).

My opinion, sorry to say, was largely informed by "Family Ties," which might have been the first place I ever heard about Richard Nixon, Hippies, etc. I instinctually knew to believe the parents -- that Nixon was the asshole, and the hippies were good. Why? Because my parents raised me with like MORALS -- and lying, warmongering and cheating were bad, and love, spirituality, standing up for the little guy, and being close to nature was good.

I believe I learned a little about the protesters, in American History, but it was the MEDIA that gave me the negative view. Same as gay-pride parades, they would always capture outrageous streaking shots, or whatnot, and try to make them look like freak-a-zoids.

Now, one thing that one has to remember about the gen-Xers, is that we went through the "pseudo-hippie"/grunge marketing phase, when most college kids, including, and if not especially frat boys went through the hemp necklace/Phish/Woodstock sponsored by Coke phase, so we HAVE this fake hippiness as part of our culture.

While many people, if not most, have moved onto the cookie-cutter house in the treeless cul-de-sac, that period influcenced many lives, including my own. I never started listening to Phish until last year, but that early 1990s, right before "Puff Daddy," era was sort of a hippie re-birth. Fake for some, but an important learning experience for others, and thought it was never intended to be political that time -- mostly trendy -- it did introduce many to this kind of "hey let's just fucking chill," kind of lifestyle that countered the "go getter" attitude of the 1980s.

[zeemike]

19. An interesting assessment

And in your case it seems that the morality you learned as a child made you see the truth of being brainwashed by the media.
A strong morality and love of truth will trump propaganda every time.

[rman]

15. "...Elites were terrified by the 60's..."

"The population has been very carefully excluded from the political arena and the general dominant culture. That's not by accident, a lot of work went into this. Elites were terrified by the 60's; this outburst of popular participation and democracy and so on. And there was this huge counter-campaign to drive it back."
- Noam Chomsky, Democracy Now
www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/11/26/1936241&mode=thread&tid=25

www.chomsky.info

[Cats Against Frist]

18. Isn't that exactly what's happening right now???

By the way, as per my above post, I feel we need a new "let's fuckin' chill," movement.

Like a post-9/11 chill out.

[Zensea]

22. If there was a draft....

I'm 48 also and was a conscientious objector.
Much as I hate to say it, I think a draft might be a good idea- medicinal poison as it were.
I think a major change started to happen when the draft ended. People didn't have to think about that stuff anymore. Usually this is associated with the 80s and Reagan, but I think it's got more to do with starting around 1975. It took a couple of more years because if you were 15 or 16 in 1975 you were probably already thinking about the draft and what the government could do, but if you were 12 or 13 you probably weren't. So when those 12 & 13 year olds became 18 around 1980, the effects started to manifest and an entire generation has grown up since then that has not had to worry in the same way about the implications of foreign policy on their direct day to day existence.