i do not read newspapers. but every now and then, via friend or mailing list, i am made aware of something that sparks an interest in reply. this piece, by San Franciso Chronicle columnist, Mark Morford, is one of those items.
https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/morford/article/the-hippies-were-right-all-along-we-knew-that-2562366.php
interesting piece. shame it is written in such an angry, self-righteous, utterly arrogant style. mr. morford obviously was not a hippie, and if anything, reads like the very someone’s he’s lambasting in his article… which is ironic but most realization is so, isn’t it?
here, the ultimate point and enjoyment of the article lies not in anything morford said, in whether or not the ideas were ‘right’, or whether or not ‘hippies’ get to have ‘their moment of vindication’, but in a small and very telling truth morford seems to have overlooked entirely….
while it may well be that american has issues, while it may well be that many run deep, are shameful, and could rightfully be castigated… ‘hippies’ happened here, and the environment and culture in which all of this, any of this, could even be allowed, right alongside all that shamefulness, points to a truth that is often overlooked. it is a very simple truth, and perhaps this is why it so often suffers being ignored.
what is it?
being right isn’t as important as living right.
a simple truth the hippies knew, and many before them as well. a pity that, given the choice, rather than giving the humble appreciation morford condemns ‘the rest of the country’ for failing to grant, he chooses to indulge in the same acts.
there is a reason the hippies didn’t care if ‘no one got it’ or if they weren’t accepted. there is a reason they lived as they did and treated even those who disagreed with them (often violently) with kindness and respect.
being right isn’t as important.
and you know what? it still isn’t.