Deep Spirits

I can see some truth in that. I say some truth, because some (many?) hippies were slightly too obsessed with drugs, which makes it seem as if life itself was not interesting enough and an escape was needed.
That is not a garden of eden, wouldn't you agree?

'Slightly obsessed with drugs'........that certainly was part of it all right!

I have no answer to that point, seems a shame we have to 'be out of it' before we can be loving without an agenda.........it would seem thats the case ?

hmmm.....

Jade yes its true that being into drugs was part of the hippie lifestyle but to be a hippie you do not have to conform to the cliche. If I were living back in the 60s I doubt if I would do anything worse than pot and I don't think I would even do pot much at all. I agree that it is said that lots of hippies are/were obsessed with escaping from life but I instead try to take advantage of life as much as I possibly can without the aid of alcohol or drugs. I believe in tolerance, peace, love and understanding. I also love music. I do not think that it is wrong to do drugs but it doesn't really go along with my lifestyle at this point in time. It is sad when I see someone get really caught up in escaping reality and sometimes I wish that that aspect of the hippie counter culture did not exist.

Peaceandlovegirl......i do think its possible to have a 'natural' high from doing things with awareness, things like music and being in nature etc.....its a wonderful quality to have, and quite rare, so dont lose it!
d.

I agree. I'm going to take a "leap of faith" here and boldly claim that most of us here will probably agree on that aspect.
Some drugs are ok, but they should never be important, e.g. a dominant aspect of one's life.
Losing oneself in the moment or in other people should be (and is) possible without any external helpers. If you are wasted during such a moment, then you inadvertently miss the moment... and that's a pity and defeats the entire purpose as well as the joy of the experience.

So... peace.png (5.92 KiB) Viewed 5754 times

As I walk on
This wicked world
Searchin' for light in the darkness of insanity.
I ask myself
Is all hope lost?
Is there only pain and hatred, and misery?

And each time I feel like this inside,
There's one thing I wanna know:
What's so funny 'bout peace love & understanding?
What's so funny 'bout peace love & understanding?

And as I walk on
Through troubled times
My spirit gets so downhearted sometimes
So where are the strong
And who are the trusted?
And where is the harmony?
Sweet harmony.

Cause each time I feel it slippin' away, just makes me wanna cry.
What's so funny 'bout peace love & understanding?
What's so funny 'bout peace love & understanding?

So where are the strong?
And who are the trusted?
And where is the harmony?
Sweet harmony.

Cause each time I feel it slippin' away, just makes me wanna cry.
What's so funny 'bout peace love & understanding?
What's so funny 'bout peace love & understanding?
What's so funny 'bout peace love & understanding?

~dermot
Yes, it's a shame..... when we don't actually 'have to be out of it'. The agenda most fall subject to is they expect love for loving another. Expecting kindness for offering it, etc.
Expectations are a downwards spiral.

~peaceandlovegirl
Drugs are not a prerogative but they were a distinct 'trademark' of that era just like the other distinct trademarks. Witnessing that period in all its glory is a tempting idea.

They were also wars raging during the era of peace, love and understanding... it wasn't just peace and free love all over the globe. That's something to remember.
Dermot, you said it couldn't happen now?
Why not?

i would want to see the evolutionary leap man made to make him what he is today . was he genetically altered by annunaki aliens , as the sumerian records indicate . was Gods hand at play ? or was the fact that the annunaki were Gods creatures automatically make it Gods hand ?

Jade: Thats true, there was alot of destruction and murder and sadness during that time but isnt there always? Wars have pretty much always been going in one form or another and I think what defines a time period is how people react to war. In the 60s some people reacted by protesting and trying to promote peace. I just cannot seem to find the kind of peace-loving hippies nowadays as there were back then.
Maybe I'm wrong, it could be that I am glorifying the 60s too much with unrealistic interpretations but I try my best not to. I try really hard to keep things in perspective and if I don't do a good job then I will change.

Dermot: I agree and I'm going to try my best to never lose that quality

The reason there were so many people speaking out and taking action to... in some way... protest the Vietnam war is mainly because of the draft. Back then people were being forced to go... nowadays they aren't. Unemployment is high, money is tight, and college is expensive... and the government is offering it all to all who will join... plus! You get recognized for doing something wonderful and selfless for your country!

You can't very well get angry at the government for sending people who volunteered to be sent can you?

And then there is the aspect that in the Vietnam war the "enemy" weren't all wearing uniforms so when reporters would show video of American soldiers dragging a guy out into the streets and shooting him without mentioning that this guy was what was known as a "pacer"... and a pacer was a person that would work in the US camps or bases and they would count the number of steps from a certain point to a barracks or even an infirmary so that they could be pulverized with mortar fire from outside the walls with precision. Or little girls selling Cokes to US soldiers with ground up glass... not to mention all the other psychological traumas the soldiers were put through that I won't get into... these examples are meant only to point out that the media (back then) brought the stories that soldiers destroyed a village of men, woman, and children without mentioning that this entire village was also responsible for the destruction of a field hospital a couple of weeks earlier...

So you have people scared of being drafted, or outraged that someone they love has been drafted, and to profit from these you have the media throwing one sided stories on the fire to sell papers... yeah... there's a problem... But now, you have an economic crisis in a country that has benefited for decades from a war time economy to produce jobs that wouldn't exist without war... and a media that will now cover up atrocities because they make more money through investments than through the actual media they pedal, which the war helps make them money through their investments so it is in their interest to support the war. On top of that, the media is more a method of population control and diversion than that of information in which case the supreme court has already stipulated that while "falsifying or manufacturing the news can be considered immoral or unethical, it is not against the law" in a case against Fox News by a couple of their investigative reporters.

The internet is the best source for unbiased information but the government knows full well that people are only going to look for information to support their own theories and opinions rather than disprove them and as long as they can... then nothing will change because all they do is strengthen their own arguments.

What is there to protest? There is no unified majority! Most countries I know do what they can to keep the people separated... all black people are either professional athletes, thieves, or drug dealers... all Hispanics are either illegal aliens, thieves, or gang bangers... and then there is religion... this side of town that side of town... North... South... prep, head, cowboy, punk, hippie... etc... "United we stand, divided we fall"...