Yesterday was 420 day here in Vancouver. For the uninitiated, 420 day simply means April 20th - the day when pot-smokers get together at Sunset Park for their annual weedfest. Now that weed is legal in Canada, the previously illegal protest has taken on a new dimension. Not sure what they have to protest anymore but maybe it's just a good excuse to get high.
Yesterday was also Adolf Hitler's birthday. Personally, I find this fact amusing and ironic for reasons I hope to convey, (if only to myself.) 😜😏 Maybe if the Nazis were weed-smokers they might have got lost on the way to Poland and ended up wondering around Austria searching for munchies and listening to Wagner instead of starting a world war...
Marijuana is now legal in 10 US states as well. Denver, San Francisco and many other US cities had their own 420 days yesterday. Though there are many older pot smokers out there, the trend at the moment is a young demographic. Approximately 30% of marijuana users are between 18-24 and an additional 20% under the age of 40.
Weed, with its allure of rebellion and also so very connected to the youth revolution of the 60's gives young people a raison d'etre, a culture to identify with and an ongoing kick in the crotch to the establishment. Every time young people light up, they consummate their cultural revolt.
Getting back to Adolf Hitler, who is quoted as saying, "He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future," proving that even a megalomaniac mass murderer can be smart enough to realize the power of the youth. A society that has lost its youth has lost everything.
It was just as easy to sign young people up to the Hitler Youth as it is today for young people to join their pals down at the 420 weedfest. When the Nazis started the Hitler-Jugend in 1923, there were only 1200 members but by the outbreak of WW2 there were over 8 million members. By 1939 it was too late to rebel because it became mandatory for all youth to be enrolled.
From their late teens and into their early 20's people search for values, meanings and purpose. Young people are idealistic by nature. They have angst about their role in society and dreams and visions of how life ought to be. As we get older our idealism becomes tarnished and the realities of making a living and dealing with family, career and politics kick in.
Unless the youth are offered a reasonable alternative, they will find a value-system from among what is available. Christianity in the West is failing to attract our millennials because the values that mainstream Christianity are offering are far too entrenched in the value-system of the corporate elites who are currently running the show. You cannot promote peace and love at the same time as supporting violence, war and wealth inequality.
"Say a prayer for the lost generation, Who spin the wheel out of desperation."
~ Robbie Robertson
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