I have had a fascination with the 1960's for ages now. I was in Europe as a young child so I never even heard about the events of the 60's until after it was all over. I was a teenager growing up in the 1970's and most of my music-obsessed friends idolized the 1960's as the golden era of music and culture. Many still do.
The short version of the decade is a musical and cultural revolution led mostly by affluent white kids who reacted against the establishment. The black civil rights and women's rights movements tore a generation apart; combined with an anti-war movement protesting a losing war in Vietnam. The environmental movement was also born in this decade of turbulence and protest.
The summer of love, in 1967, when thousands of long-haired rebellious teens converged in San Fransisco and "tuned in, turned on and dropped out;" and soon followed by the massive Woodstock festival made it seems as if it was the beginning of a whole new age of values and social direction. But it was in reality, the end.
By the time I was a teenager in the 1970's, all the free love, protests, cultural expression and hope had devolved into sex and drugs and rock'n'roll. Partying took over as the hippies aged and were forced to get jobs, make a living and grow up a bit. So what happened? How did such a glorious explosion of music, culture and freedom blow up almost overnight?
The long answer has occupied the shelves of many libraries with sociological analysis and study, far too involved for a post of Facebook.
The short answer is all the leaders of the revolution were murdered, imprisoned or died under mysterious circumstances beginning with JFK in 1964, and ending with John Lennon in 1980. Martin Luther King, Malcom X and all the leaders of the Black Panthers were murdered or imprisoned. Many of the greatest musical icons perished - Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin - Patsy Cline, Dinah Washington, Wes Montgomery, Otis Redding, Nat King Cole, John Coltrane, Woody Guthrie to name a few more...
The history of prophets has followed a similar path. All the 16 prophets in the Old Testament were murdered. The greatest spiritual teacher of all time was tortured to death. Most of his most fervent followers were likewise murdered. Currently, one of the brightest religious voices on the planet, the Dalai Lama is in exile in India.
Jesus of Nazareth said on one occasion: "If any man would come after me, let him disregard himself, take up his responsibilities daily, and follow me. For whosoever would save his life selfishly, shall lose it, but whosoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's, shall save it. What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?"
The values, hopes and aspirations of the 1960's never died however. They still live on in the hearts and souls of many who also "have a dream" of a better world. The dream never dies, as the song says, just the dreamer. Let's keep dreaming the good dream and fighting the good fight. ❤️✌️🌺🌎🙏
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