The Hippies Were Right - Part Two

I stumbled upon this I sent to a newspaper a few years back - thought I would share it with you - Paul
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Sorry gang the hippies aren't going anywhere. The issues are much more complex than the usual dribble they are boiled down to, and no one really thinks evil doesn't exist.

The reason there are hippies is because there is enlightenment, there is knowledge and there is awareness that there is more than one way to skin a cat (with apologies to PETA and my animal rights friends).

Being a hippie has absolutely nothing to do with bong hits. That's a facade people put on for a while and a convenient take down of some very inconvenient truths (pun intended).

At the heart of hippies (for some) is a strive for knowledge, looking high and low for things to see and learn – exploring the unknown and thinking outside of the box as well as an interest in the past and the future, exploring ancient religions, looking for philosophies, and enlightenment, and a belief that there are larger forces at play than meets the eye.

The miss-conception that love is weak and so is kindness is the downfall of mankind. Anybody can be a jerk. Look at where the revenge tit for tat has gotten the mid-east. They just keep killing each other because yesterday someone from the other side killed someone from their side. There is no end to that except through enlightenment. So it's easy to make excuses for your savage acts and harder to turn the other cheek, and to be tolerant, and to look for avenues of agreement. But that's what hippies do. They do the hard stuff. Anybody can be a jack-booted - go along with the crowd - knee jerk reactionary - unthinking and unfeeling - that's easy. Being unmovable and arrogant, tone deaf to reason and threatened by what you don't understand – and not even exploring other modes and ways of living or looking at things, blind acceptance to the status quo or standardized modes of behavior – that’s just chicken shit. Variety is the spice of life and there is much wisdom in contemplating all points of views before reaching your individual conclusions. This has nothing to do with the fragrance of patchouli or the clothes you wear or the music you listen to but everything to do with your attitude.

The hard stuff is caring about something outside of you. Our government and people should be doing positive things and saying positive things. Yes deal with the realities on the ground - fight fire with fire but also - rebuild the inner city school systems, provide real opportunity to the have nots - if we are going to get biblical lets at least try to help the poor and keep gods creation the earth intact and they way we found it. Giving tax cuts to the uber wealthy isn’t cutting it - fostering hatred to minorities and driving wedge issues between people just to seek office isn’t cutting it - tough guy talk while not listening to your military advisers isn’t cutting it - going into Iraq under false pretenses just to try and secure the oil fields for Exxon isn’t cutting' it, but being truly concerned about the poor and afflicted - that’s the real deal - that's when we are at our best and that's when the human experience inches towards enlightenment and utopia.

The hippies aren't the problem –peace, love and understanding isn’t the problem, the problems are much too complex for scape goats and pat answers. A closed mind towards a myriad of possible solutions to the problems that plague us is not the answer either. So the progressives are on the right track. They are the ones who are not afraid to talk to Syria or Iran. Why are we not talking directly to Syria and Iran and North Korea – that’s childish. It doesn’t mean we talk to them naively. But talking directly is the only way to foster understanding. Remember the cultural exchanges of the cold war and Nixon and China. That stuff works! Yeah Nixon I said Nixon. A hippy said Nixon because hippies know that no one nation, race or person is either all good or all bad. To over simplify and not see the truth even when put forth by such a sad fixture as Nixon is not very enlightened. There's a balance that needs to be achieved to reach our global potential and the sooner we all come to some sort of understanding the better. Your mom taught you to share. The US better figure that out both with its citizens, its international partners and enemies. That doesn't mean roll over and have your lunch money taken but it also doesn't mean being a blow hard either and taking someone else’s lunch money. Hippies go by the credo of live and let live. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. There is much wisdom there and the path to utopia lies in those words. We can do it! Any other thought is self defeatist.

Peace Out