Platt, All
> Unlike the hippies who didn't have a clue as to why their
> moral movement ended up in the pits, we know the way up. (-:
I've watched this reference to Pirsig's take on the "hippies" pass
unchallenged many times before and think now it the time to put and end
to the B. S.
Go to Google and type in +hippie,+movement,+history and check out a few
sites.
You will find that in addition to helping the spread of the drugs in our
culture, their moral idealism was also instrumental in ending the
Vietnam War, creating completely new genres of music, helped to advance
civil and woman's rights, almost single handedly founded all of the
various shades of the "green" movements world wide, including the EPA
and stopped in its tracks (to date) the expansion of nuclear power as an
energy source in the United States, to say nothing of the Sexual
Revolution. Who in the hell does Pirsig think is supporting the Sierra
Club, WorldWatch Institute, Greenpeace, and the literally hundreds of
thousands of smaller organizations like local historic preservation
societies, community arts centers, local bikeway and greenway projects?
To a great extent it's "old hippies". The former long haired baby
boomers, now between 40 and 55, who after they "turned on, tuned in, and
dropped out" grew up, dropped right back in, got a job, raised kids, got
politically involved, and in the 90's were instrumental in electing Bill
Clinton and Al Gore.
Pirsig's take that the moral movement of the hippie's died is pure
Barbara Streisand, they just cut their hair, put the beads in the
closet, and went to work for the "establishment." They sigificantly
changed our culture and continue too, for better or worse.
3WD
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