O n c e w a s a t i m e . . .
Once was a time I thought when everything could be accomplished or improved or repaired. Essence of the sixties, that fabled period of time, so like a modern day version of Camelot--at least so it seems in the collective memories of the survivors. A time of peace, love and understanding--and of the Cold War, race riots, the Space Race, the Kennedy Assassinations, as well as the murder of Martin Luther King, and that dirty little war in Southeast Asia, VietNam. Turmoil and trouble, sex, drugs and rock'n'roll, culture clashes between white and black, young and old, hide-bound and free-spirit, the decade encompassed so many dramatic events, so much conflict, so many highs and lows that it seemed to be longer than a mere ten years.
When it was over, minds and bodies littered the landscape in numbers unseen except in those conflagrations known as the World Wars. While there had certainly always been conflicts between the generations before, by all appearances the schisms that opened during the 1960's were deeper and more severe than any before or since. In some ways, what transpired resembled mass insanity. Some excuse may be made for various parts of society under the influence of various and sundry mind-altering substances (alcohol, pills, pot, acid, mescaline, peyote, speed, a rainbow of uppers, downers and tranquilizers), but it fails to adequately account for the extent and vehemence of the extremes to which violence overtook society and became the defining characteristic.
Beginning with the tragically brutal ineptitude of the Bay of Pigs invasion and continuing through to the murder of four students at Kent State University, the sixties era was marked by bloody conflict, assassination, murder and casual violence. The evening news was taken over by an increasing predilection for violence, airing reports from the South showing dogs attacking Civil Rights protesters, police using fire hoses
Whether hippie or hard-hat, Black Panther activist or ax-wielding redneck, society gave every appearance of coming apart at the seams. Indeed, many publicly and privately wondered if civilization would withstand the forces atplay, pushing and pulling, seeking dominance or destruction, working toward opposing goals and all demanding equal time on national TV. Andy Warhol set the tone early in the decade when he presciently observed, "In the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes," ensuring himself his own 15 minutes in the process. It soon became obvious that many people took his words to heart, memorized them in fact, and sought to act on them. Self-aggrandizement was elevated to an art-form that remains a fundamental of public relations and a steppingstone to fame today.
A sad corollary to that was the corresponding lack of interest in other points of view. Of course, this is the basis for many, if not all, breakdowns in communication, and the ultimate breakdowns in communication lead to war; in the current era we are reaping the harvest of these sins of omission and commission in communications skills. As all groups and their individual members remained convinced of the infallibility of their positions, polarization set in with the ponderous finality of a glacier. Little surprise then, that events unfolded with predictable results and further deterioration of communication between groups; whether right-wing or left, black white or brown, young or old, everyone had an opinion held firmly and unequivocally. From gang-warfare to the ranting of commentators on radio and TV, it seems as if no one is willing to respect the rights and beliefs of others; as if someone wearing a different-colored scarf or hat, or professing different beliefs somehow threatens those who think or dress differently. The response is the same, unfortunately, whether in the form of road rage or drive by shootings or accusations of unacceptable political beliefs; intolerance has become the method and the practice, too often worn as a badge, proudly. Even those who subscribe to believe in a leader who counseled “love others”, that “love” is tempered by whether one shares their beliefs.
Recovery from this protracted entrenchment of beliefs seems impossible at this late a date. Everyone has their belief system, and theirs is the only right one: all others are not just suspect, but mistaken and misguided. Whether it is a gang, or a religious belief, or a political philosophy, one and all are convinced of the rightness of theirs and the wrongness of all others. “Liberal” is used as an epithet of the worst sort, because just the very possibility of someone else’s ideas having any value or worth is too threatening to many, if not all. The heady ideals of the 60’s, peace and love, free speech and acceptance of others on their own terms, all have become targets of ridicule. The flag-wavers who would have you believe they are freedom’s champions seem to have lost sight of the concept most embraced by the Founding Fathers, that we allowed and supported the differences of beliefs, the “right” to speak and worship as we wished, or not.
Freedom has become an endangered concept of late, as those who claim to be its protectors act instead as its fiercest attackers. The infringements on freedom today would not be accepted by Americans of the first half of the 20th Century. There is no excuse for the excesses that are taken for granted today. Somewhere along the line, from the turmoil of the 60’s to the bedlam of the new century and a new millennium, we lost sight of who we are, what we stand for, the values we represent. This isn’t a positive change, not one to be proud of, but one instead that relegates us to the same dustbin of history as the other, now-tarnished societies of old that fizzled out and fell apart from internal conflicts, waste and greed.
The shining example set by those who contributed to what became the greatest experiment in social engineering, is beset by accusations of torture and inhuman crimes, guilty of acts that would never have been tolerated only a short time ago. As we face another set of elections, we must ask ourselves, are we doing our best, is this what our ancestors would have done? Are we accepting less than we have a right to expect, from our leaders, and ourselves? Are we on the right path, acting in the right manner, to achieve the goals we, as a people, have always held in our hearts? Can we continue, on the path we are on? I don’t know the answers to any of these questions, but I know they have to be asked, because these are the very questions asked by Americans who passed this way before. These are the questions we ask ourselves, as we make our way through our own lives. How we answer them determines how our lives run their course; as a society, how we respond to these questions determines how our country and our society continues its course, and what course it takes, for good or worse.
