New York Daily Photo: Yippies
There has been a long history of activism in The United States of America. When my turn came to make a mark on society, the folks rallying around common sense called themselves Yippies. In time, in an attempt to be taken more seriously, we joined the Youth International Party. Peaceful loving people worldwide have understood for decades that the war machine, corporate welfare and oligarchs have stolen their wealth from the poor and middle class, but there has been little that we could use for leverage to loosen their stranglehold on power, until now. We are kicking off a new century and the prospects for continuing to fleece the lower and middle classes for the enrichment of a miniscule portion of the population are wearing thin. Yippies were first mentioned on the evening news back in '68, during the Democratic National Convention. They were the young people who wanted to camp out in Grant Park. There probably were a few agents provocateur in the midst of the protesters, but the Yippies were there to stand apart from the party regulars and demand a voice in the "liberal" party of the time.
The newsmen painted them with a wide brush, claiming that they were violent activists who were mainly there to smoke pot, do other drugs, engage in lewd and lascivious behavior, ultimately designed to bring down civil society. I am the first to admit that there was a large contingent of anarchists that were included under the umbrella of Yippies, but so too were lesbians, gays, war resisters, and a wide variety of outsiders who knew the score and were willing to stand up for a better way. The police attacked them ruthlessly with water cannon, tear gas and mounted goons and it did make for some pretty good television, but only if you bought into the "fact" that these people threatened all that we hold dear. The beatings and bashing that went on brought a summary end to the youthful vigor of those who wanted to change our country for the better and in a very striking way. Today, there are still those among us who remember the "threat" posed by the Yippies, but have forgotten that what they really stood for was never mentioned on national television.
Now that the ruling class has determined that we are no longer a threat, they have pretty much had a no holds barred approach to extracting corporate welfare from the state. The oligarchs have ridden the waves of apathy and dislocation provided by the economic collapses of the last several decades to new heights and enjoyed golden parachutes whenever the tide of public opinion went a different way. They have also guaranteed themselves a way out whenever responsibility for their deceitful actions has come about. The straw man of economic and social collapse has been beaten like a dead horse, but many in the power and control crowd still point to the fact that our nation is on the ropes as being the fault of hippies, yippies and women who pump out babies for welfare benefits they blame "illegals" who suck up the jobs and demand services that only "real Americans" are entitled to. Any group that can be conceived of as a minority has had to take licks from the wealthiest sector of society, but only to assure that no one, no organization and no group would include them under their banner ever again.
Luckily, there are growing numbers of people who have experience with being demonized by the rich and powerful interests that have driven the ship of state onto the reef. The millions who lost their homes have been demonized by the apologists for wall street, the billions of humans worldwide who make up an amorphous blob called poverty-stricken have been held out as their own worst enemies, making bad choices that have led to their sorry state. Those whose sexual orientation can be questioned know what it is like to be hated and demonized by those willing to capitalize on the hate of others and the peaceful loving people around the globe have been painted out of the national discussion of nation after nation as youthful idealists, incapable of coming to grips with reality. This attempt to ostracize the vast majority because they belong to a minority only deserving of hate or pity has led to inaction and non-participation in areas that have the power to change society for the good. The wealthy have known this for decades.
The signs of days gone by may fade, but the spirit of the sixties still lives within a generation that has come of age and continues to strive for something better than we were given. We wanted clean air, water, soil and a healthier environment. We still do. We wanted a society that did not tolerate rape, oppression and unequal rights. We still do. We wanted to be judged on our merits, not what other people said about us or called us. We still do. Friends that have been politically active for all of the intervening decades continue to point to the hopeful fact that the old folks keep dying off, but there is a growing segment of the population who are young enough to believe the lies that continue to be told. A new generation has been lining up to be exploited for the ruling classes benefit. A new generation of journalists has been made aware of how dangerous telling the truth can be and a new cadre of pigs has been taught to wield their batons (or worse) against anyone they do not understand or who do not look like them.
When I was a child I was told to believe in America a s a great "melting pot", one where everyone was equal and free to reach their potential. I'm not sure what they are teaching young people today. Many of the old hippies believe in their own powerlessness. They have reached an age where comfort is more important than their ideals and they have seen generations of intransigence exhibited by the powers that be. Trying to get people to go to a rally of protest event is difficult when they have to work twelve hour shifts to make ends meet. Asking for someone to sign a petition when no one looks at petitions anymore, or to stand up for what one believes in only to be slapped down again by the media looks less and less inviting each and every day. It seems far easier to organize a walk for cancer research or a fund-raiser for muscular dystrophy than it is to get people to oppose the building of another stealth bomber or drone base. The Yippies never went away. Our values have been passed down to our children and grand children and that will never be ended. Peaceful loving people everywhere, honor your power and understand, our opposition is coming to the end of their rule. The bag of shit they have been holding over our heads has become threadbare and each day gets a new hole poked into it. There will be a deluge of bad crap raining down on us when it eventually fails, but crap can be made into wicked fertilizer.
There has been a long history of activism in The United States of America. When my turn came to make a mark on society, the folks rallying around common sense called themselves Yippies. In time, in an attempt to be taken more seriously, we joined the Youth International Party. Peaceful loving people worldwide have understood for decades that the war machine, corporate welfare and oligarchs have stolen their wealth from the poor and middle class, but there has been little that we could use for leverage to loosen their stranglehold on power, until now. We are kicking off a new century and the prospects for continuing to fleece the lower and middle classes for the enrichment of a miniscule portion of the population are wearing thin. Yippies were first mentioned on the evening news back in '68, during the Democratic National Convention. They were the young people who wanted to camp out in Grant Park. There probably were a few agents provocateur in the midst of the protesters, but the Yippies were there to stand apart from the party regulars and demand a voice in the "liberal" party of the time.
The newsmen painted them with a wide brush, claiming that they were violent activists who were mainly there to smoke pot, do other drugs, engage in lewd and lascivious behavior, ultimately designed to bring down civil society. I am the first to admit that there was a large contingent of anarchists that were included under the umbrella of Yippies, but so too were lesbians, gays, war resisters, and a wide variety of outsiders who knew the score and were willing to stand up for a better way. The police attacked them ruthlessly with water cannon, tear gas and mounted goons and it did make for some pretty good television, but only if you bought into the "fact" that these people threatened all that we hold dear. The beatings and bashing that went on brought a summary end to the youthful vigor of those who wanted to change our country for the better and in a very striking way. Today, there are still those among us who remember the "threat" posed by the Yippies, but have forgotten that what they really stood for was never mentioned on national television.
Now that the ruling class has determined that we are no longer a threat, they have pretty much had a no holds barred approach to extracting corporate welfare from the state. The oligarchs have ridden the waves of apathy and dislocation provided by the economic collapses of the last several decades to new heights and enjoyed golden parachutes whenever the tide of public opinion went a different way. They have also guaranteed themselves a way out whenever responsibility for their deceitful actions has come about. The straw man of economic and social collapse has been beaten like a dead horse, but many in the power and control crowd still point to the fact that our nation is on the ropes as being the fault of hippies, yippies and women who pump out babies for welfare benefits they blame "illegals" who suck up the jobs and demand services that only "real Americans" are entitled to. Any group that can be conceived of as a minority has had to take licks from the wealthiest sector of society, but only to assure that no one, no organization and no group would include them under their banner ever again.
Luckily, there are growing numbers of people who have experience with being demonized by the rich and powerful interests that have driven the ship of state onto the reef. The millions who lost their homes have been demonized by the apologists for wall street, the billions of humans worldwide who make up an amorphous blob called poverty-stricken have been held out as their own worst enemies, making bad choices that have led to their sorry state. Those whose sexual orientation can be questioned know what it is like to be hated and demonized by those willing to capitalize on the hate of others and the peaceful loving people around the globe have been painted out of the national discussion of nation after nation as youthful idealists, incapable of coming to grips with reality. This attempt to ostracize the vast majority because they belong to a minority only deserving of hate or pity has led to inaction and non-participation in areas that have the power to change society for the good. The wealthy have known this for decades.
The signs of days gone by may fade, but the spirit of the sixties still lives within a generation that has come of age and continues to strive for something better than we were given. We wanted clean air, water, soil and a healthier environment. We still do. We wanted a society that did not tolerate rape, oppression and unequal rights. We still do. We wanted to be judged on our merits, not what other people said about us or called us. We still do. Friends that have been politically active for all of the intervening decades continue to point to the hopeful fact that the old folks keep dying off, but there is a growing segment of the population who are young enough to believe the lies that continue to be told. A new generation has been lining up to be exploited for the ruling classes benefit. A new generation of journalists has been made aware of how dangerous telling the truth can be and a new cadre of pigs has been taught to wield their batons (or worse) against anyone they do not understand or who do not look like them.
When I was a child I was told to believe in America a s a great "melting pot", one where everyone was equal and free to reach their potential. I'm not sure what they are teaching young people today. Many of the old hippies believe in their own powerlessness. They have reached an age where comfort is more important than their ideals and they have seen generations of intransigence exhibited by the powers that be. Trying to get people to go to a rally of protest event is difficult when they have to work twelve hour shifts to make ends meet. Asking for someone to sign a petition when no one looks at petitions anymore, or to stand up for what one believes in only to be slapped down again by the media looks less and less inviting each and every day. It seems far easier to organize a walk for cancer research or a fund-raiser for muscular dystrophy than it is to get people to oppose the building of another stealth bomber or drone base. The Yippies never went away. Our values have been passed down to our children and grand children and that will never be ended. Peaceful loving people everywhere, honor your power and understand, our opposition is coming to the end of their rule. The bag of shit they have been holding over our heads has become threadbare and each day gets a new hole poked into it. There will be a deluge of bad crap raining down on us when it eventually fails, but crap can be made into wicked fertilizer.
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