Thursday, July 9, 2015

Ticket to Ride

Think I'm gonna be sad, think it's todaaaaaay!  Old song lyrics die hard. What made me think of those lyrics was once again the callowness of youth in general. Not just tiny frog puppets are "green."  Kermit is everywhere. Lots of human beings are as well.

By being green they just don't "get" the passages that have pre-dated their own arrival. The Baby Boomers didn't get WWII!  The didn't get the sorrow and shame  (and happiness and pride) over Nagasaki and Hiroshima!  They didn't get slow music and ballads.  They didn't get women working.

And so the nation "flipped" over in values, thanks to our victories in the war, and the devouring consumerism that followed. Then came the backlash of the late 50's, the Bohemian/Hippie movement of the 60's, Vietnam, and the hell of a split country.

The 70's saw anti-Vietnam, Black Power, Feminism, Gay/Lesbian/Transgender parades, and the Rainbow coalition.  Then conservatism respread it's nasty wings -- and quick wars ensued: Desert Storm, Iraq II, Afghanistan and finally threats from ISIS, Russia, Iran, and everywhere else.

And the youth still don't get it. Nor do their middle age parents. And we all delude ourselves into thinking that somehow, some way, "we all have a 'ticket to ride.'"

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