Looking back to recent history, I wonder just why we've gone

so far astray from what we knew back in the 60's.

There was the war, but here was a movement to end it quickly; there was a serious movement to enjoin all people into a society where we could get along and put differences behind us; there was a movement to explore unknown places of the mind and get to understand just why, if for any reason, mankind was here.

It was a time when an instrument in a skilled persons hand, was more powerful than any gun, and said so much more than any weapon. Voices filled the air in broken harmony, but the point was, we were all singing, and not shouting. We had high hopes for what we could do, we were a force to be reckoned with, brave, intelligent and seekers of wisdom.

It can be said that drugs took many to an early grave, as did alcohol and accidents. It can also be said that Charles Manson killed the movement, but I don't think those are all that viable as explanations. Some of it may be a small part of the change, but somewhere in this life, a lot of us made primary choices, like survival in an increasingly hostile economic environment. When the pendulum swung though, it swung too far, and many of my generation moved to a dark territory that we supposed didn't exist in our world.

A generation has died off since I came into this world. Those who fought in the early 20th century battles have long gone. Those who fought for women's suffrage are gone, and their children, those who lived through the Great Depression and WWII, our parents and Grandparents, are rapidly leaving this plane following those who have gone on before them, leaving us to try to put back the pieces of a shattered dream, can we do it?

Those of us who recall Eisenhower, know this is not the same Republican party of old, we Democrats have been handed a unique opportunity and we can't squander it. We can bring back some of the better aspects of society, and we can move equality and justice forward a few steps. Through what we have experienced and learned over time, we should be able to put an end to this horror...all we have to recall is how powerful we are when we stand together for a common goal.

Demand the truth, no matter how hard it is to swallow, the truth is what gives us an edge. And when we leave this plane, we can be assured we've made a positive mark. Remember that a kiss is far more satisfying than an argument, and people come to sit by you to feel the warmth of a heart heart, whereas a cold heart drive them away.

and the spirit of the '60s is still alive and well--but in isolated pockets around the country. Thank God for the internet, because it has allowed us to join together and know we aren't alone.

And the internet can spread the truth--it cannot be covered up.

shouting from the roof tops in my experience, has a certain appeal though...:D

They tapped into the one thing that motivates people even more than lust, greed or hope itself.

Never have FDR's words rung truer:

This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure, as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself - nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.

They have been working the "fear card" for so long, when there is a real threat, we'll all be seeing it as the "boy who cried wolf".

To maker matters worse, a lot of the fear tossing has been at First Amendment defenders, gays and anyone who might disturb the rickety ship they are on.

I honestly believe bush killed the neo-con movement flat out, and wounded the GOP so thoroughly that it will be almost a generation before they regain anything resembling power, and for that, I thank the little stooge...:)

As I recall (and this is strictly on memory) as the Vietnam war drew down and some of the social unrest slowly dissipated some of the folks on the margin started moving into religion as a next step. Often this was a evangelical religion. I often felt this set the stage for these churches to flex political muscle a couple decades later.
I could be wrong. Often am. I have never seen any studies on this. I just remember that the move back to more fundamentalist religious groups was a pretty big movement @ '72 - '74.

sure I'd think it was all fundie stuff.

There were a lot of people who were not on the "peace" side of things that drew many to religion. I think a clash/meld was inevitable,

By the mid 70's the youth of society were well on their way to a different course...I wouldn't say Disco killed the movement, but it was a serious time of narcissism and persoanl gain...setting up the Reagan years.