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Anyone Over Thirty Is Dead…

When people like that Blot on the landscape criticise young people like Greta Thunberg for trying to save the planet I feel like nothing’s changed since the sixties…

What arrogant tossers we were in the sixties thinking that we’d make the world a better place… But at least we tried before we all gave up and voted in the conservatives!

Actually I’m now actually in my sixties so I have a bit of perspective on the decade of free love and…

Well, I sort of missed the sixties because I was just a wee bit too young to take advantage of all that free love although I am old enough to remember Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young singing:

We can change the world
Re-arrange the world
It’s dying … to get better

Actually now it’s just dying… Although I have made the point many, many times that the world will continue on. We’re just ensuring our own extinction along with several other species… The cockroaches will survive. The Kochbrothers clearly aren’t as resilient… Nor as appealing.

Yep, the sixties when anyone over thirty was dead and Timothy Leary exorted us to “Turn on, Tune in, and drop out…”

How did that song go again? And why did we need to go to Chicago? Who were the Chicago 7? And who was the brother bound and gagged?

Though your brother’s bound and gagged
And they’ve chained him to a chair
Won’t you please come to Chicago
Just to singIn a land that’s known as freedom
How can such a thing be fair
Won’t you please come to Chicago
For the help that we can bringWe can change the world
Re-arrange the world
It’s dying … to get better

Politicians sit yourselves down
There’s nothing for you here
Won’t you please come to Chicago
For a ride

Don’t ask Jack to help you
‘Cause he’ll turn the other ear
Won’t you please come to Chicago
Or else join the other side

We can change the world
Re-arrange the world
It’s dying … if you believe in justice
It’s dying … and if you believe in freedom
It’s dying … let a man live his own life
It’s dying … rules and regulations, who needs them
Open up the door

Somehow people must be free
I hope the day comes soon
Won’t you please come to Chicago
Show your face

From the bottom of the ocean
To the mountains on the moon
Won’t you please come to Chicago
No one else can take your place

Yep, history is written by the winners. Although I must confess that I suspect that were Trump to have his way and we start nuking hurricanes, history won’t be written by anyone at all.

Maybe the cockroaches…

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22 comments

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  1. New England Cocky

    I am very disappointed that there is a pic of Scummo on this post in the promo column.

  2. Rossleigh

    Sorry, but it’s compulsory to have images of him on all posts from this point on and we are all expected to use that thumbs up salute wherever possible.

  3. Matters Not

    RE:

    we were in the sixties … we tried … we all ..

    What’s with the collective noun? Having lived through those times, my recollections are somewhat different. ‘Twas a minority then as it is a minority now. In Queensland, Beattie was at the forefront, leading the charge protesting agin’ Joh. Now he’s on SKY co-hosting with Campbell Newman. The Premier is Annastacia Palaszczuk, daughter of Henry, one of Beattie’s contemporaries. She now uses the exact same language Joh used all those years ago.

    How does it go – “plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.”

  4. Miriam English

    Well at least one of the multi-billionaire Koch brothers has died… and before he even reached 80. All that money, and everything he touched turned to shit. I won’t say this about many people, but the world is much better without him. Hopefully his nasty brother will follow him soon.

    Rossleigh, I won’t bore you and the readers with my long list of the ways the world is getting better. Just let me say that we really only have 2 major problems confronting us: climate destabilisation, and collapsing biodiversity. They are very scary problems, but I’m actually optimistic that we will solve them.

    I think the current crop of deranged politicians are serving a useful purpose: they are going to make people so angry at being so blatantly and constantly lied to, that there will be a major change to prevent politicians abusing their position. And when that happens in one place I think it will catch on like wildfire. After that, solving our 2 major problems will be easy.

  5. Rossleigh

    Matters Not, you’re right of course. It was only a few who thought they could make a difference. They did. But then as The Skyhooks asked, “Whatever Happened To The Revolution?”
    It wasn’t that we all got stoned and it drifted away! More like we all got property and it suddenly became less urgent…

  6. Aortic

    Miriam, admire your optimism. Just watched Four Corners and the hounding of a an agent turned whistleblower and his lawyer who blew the whistle on the egregious and totally unlawful spying on the negotiations with Timor Leste on the sharing of the resources in surrounding waters. This resulted in an enormous advantage in Australian in terms of income from same, obviously disadvantaging the host country. Christian Porter, in the name of the ubiquitous ” National Security” has invoked legal action against said whistleblower and lawyer and is making moves to have the trial in private again in the holy name previously mentioned. The lawyer stated that ” once this is over I’ll have a lot to say on a lot of issues” and he has been backed by a former leader of Timor Leste. If I was the attorney general if he goes ahead its this move I would be afraid, very afraid. The redoubtable Andrew Wilkie has rightly warned that with raids on the ABC and journalists, including said lawyer and whistleblower, we could well be on the way to a police like state where speaking against the perceived political right could result in same. I think it was Mencken who said ” it is the aim of all practical politics to keep the populace alarmed, thence clamorous to be led to safety.”

  7. Kaye Lee

    I came across a very interesting article from the 1960 IPA Review which described the political importance of the 50s as “the decade of the gadgets.”

    “At the beginning of the decade there were, for every 100 Australians-10 motor cars, under 10 refrigerators, well under 10 washing machines, 14 telephones. Today there are, per 100 people-18 motor cars, 30 refrigerators, 20 washing machines, 20 telephones. In 1950 there were no T.V. sets; in 1960, 2 out of 3 homes (in Melbourne and Sydney) had television.”

    So important was this rise of gadgets, the IPA said:

    “industrial peace and political stability are closely connected with the multiplication of the gadgets and its accompaniment, hire purchase finance. For the mass ownership of the gadgets— from washing machines to “pop-up” toasters—is revolutionising traditional political and industrial attitudes.”

    Whilst conceding that this “does not reflect, in itself, any improvement in morals, or character, or understanding, it does reflect a vastly higher standard of living for the wage earners.”

    According to the IPA, the continued lack of success throughout the 50s of the Labor Party stemmed primarily from the fact that they had failed to recognise the significance of the “gadgets”.

    “The great majority [of wage earners] are becoming “men of property” and men of property are conservative. What they have, they do not want to lose. This is economically, socially and politically one of the most portentous developments of the 1950’s.”

  8. wam

    The no tv 50s were the time for listening little richard buddy holly and elvis with the platters, the goons, jok, marilyn, the clancy brothers (got chucked out of the opening of the Feathers for republican songs annoying the pommies) knew the words to all beaz and dylan, went to an odetta performance and met her outside, one of lord’s shiny blacks,then went to beatles concert which cured me from ever wasting my money on bands again.

    You were born into pig iron bob’s 3 decade, so you had nothing to do with conservatives unless you voted for fraser in 1975.

    Never thought of pollies as religious nutters till the rabbott, just old school tie arseholes.
    But hell aren’t the christians top hypocritical dogs now??
    ps went to a party in Elizabeth in 63 we got there late and everyone was dosed with LSD it was frightening enough to never try drugs.Bot it is time to decriminalise the growing of marijuana for personal use.

  9. David Bruce

    Many memories revived, Rossleigh! I remember in my classroom, watching the TV towers being built at Gore Hill in 1955-56. Then 3 years in the 60’s in Vietnam and other Asia Pacific battlegrounds changed my whole perspective on life. All the way with LBJ was the catch cry then!

    Now I am inclined to agree with ME about our planet. I was in Tonga when the recent underwater volcano erupted and created a new island between Nuju ‘alofa and Ha’ apai. It appears we may benefit from that event as it seems to me that the Earth is capable of healing itself.

    https://www.coolum-news.com.au/news/giant-object-floating-towards-australia/3815104/

    How many humans can our planet support in the manner to which we are becoming accustomed? Will future humans populate other parts of our solar system, our galaxy? Are we already there? I wish I knew where the trillions unaccounted for by the Pentagon were “invested”!

  10. Rossleigh

    Yes, Henry. Archly was my favourite six-legged poet. Unl8ke many politicians he had feelers, even if his use of capitals was flawed…

  11. johno

    Nuking hurricanes, please, when are the americans going to get rid of trump.

  12. Terence Mills

    Curious approach that Sky-after-dark (SAD) have to anything pertaining to climate change.

    Chris Kenny and his crew – he seems only to have expert panels made up of his colleagues at Newscorp which can’t be healthy – were talking about the Amazon forest fires and the massive amounts of CO2 being released into the atmosphere and with great glee they informed us that all this rubbish about global warming was dwarfed by what was happening in the Amazon rainforests : somehow that justifies continued denial and lack of action on man made climate change – so that’s alright then !

    Another thing I’ve noticed when I peer into the abyss that is Sky-after-dark is that they have embarked on a campaign to reclaim and resurrect Alan Jones’ reputation and paint him as a warrior for the underdog and the battler. It really doesn’t seem to matter what Jones does or says on 2GB he will always be a hero to Newscorp and Sky.

    Curiously – to me at least – Sky are doggedly committed to tearing down any remaining shreds of a legacy that Malcolm Turnbull may have left this country following his term as prime minister. Admittedly they don’t like Kevin Rudd or for that matter anybody who isn’t John Howard but I still don’t see why they would still be vilifying and denigrating Turnbull after more that twelve months since he left office.

    Whenever I tune in to Sky-after-dark I always feel that I’m crashing a secret meeting of the IPA candidate grooming room and I hasten back to the safety of the ABC or SBS as quickly as possible in case it’s infectious.

    So I bring these snippets to you at great personal risk.

  13. Miriam English

    Terence, that is hilarious! I am deeply indebted to you for the hearty laugh you gave me by mentioning that the initials of Sky After Dark spell out “SAD”. I’d never noticed that before. It gave me my first good laugh of the day. Much enjoyed. Thank you.

  14. Josephus

    The cockroaches will survive. Very apposite as I soon go to watch poor Mr Samsa not cope after turning into a giant beetle, thanks to the theatre version of Kafka’s ‘Metamorphosis’!

    The madness of shooting sulphuric acid at the clouds or building giant umbrellas over the planet. Deluded inventors have been fantasising that technology will fool nature ever since the 1980s. Meanwhile the icebergs melt and Indonesia plans to gobble up jungle on Borneo as Jakarta drowns.

    The cockroaches will invent their own cockroach gods and pray to them.

  15. Keitha Granville

    My husband and I, both flower children of the 60s, sat and watched the doco on Woodstock last night. Sublime.
    My favourite part is always when Max Yasgur talks to the nearly half million strong crowd, telling them how amazing it had been that so many young people could simply spend 3 days of Peace and Love, with no police, no trouble, no arguments, nothing bad. Even when they ran out of food, there weren’t enough toilets and it bucketed with rain on the last day.
    That couldn’t happen in today’s USA – someone would massacre thousands of them with machine guns. Regulations about everything would have crippled it before it started anyway.
    The sadness is that the feeling of love for others seems to have vanished. Sharing, sharing everything, loving your neighbour even if you’d never met before, wanting nothing more than anyone else. A massive amount of dope was smoked, but no-one killed anyone over it.

    We may have more THINGS now, but we have lost something more important.

    (Terence – I have to switch off Sky more often now, I can’t bear the smug bastards)

  16. Michael Taylor

    Rossleigh, when I read the title of your post I thought it was maybe a review of Logan’s Run. 😜

  17. Miriam English

    Keitha, as another flower child of the ’60s, let me reassure you that there are even more good-hearted people now than there were back then. Studies using an assistant to lie down on a footpath as if they’ve collapsed, and then counting how many people stop to help show steady improvements over the years. People are more moral and have greater empathy now, and the Flynn Effect means younger generations have increased intelligence. Increased intelligence generally brings less violence. And violence has been decreasing for hundreds of years.

    And people do share now… even more than before. The open source movement, where people give away computer programs, talks, videos, books and other works just keeps growing, doing so at a rapidly increasing rate. The Maker movement is related to the open source movement, but instead of giving away insubstantial things, they give away physical things… or more accurately they give away the knowledge of how to make those physical objects, often using 3D printers. They share plans and techniques, rapidly improving as each person improves the abilities of everyone.

    Many of these people at the forefront of those movements are the old flower children. Our optimism didn’t die out. It continues the struggle to make our world a better one. Avoid the TV, radio,and newspapers that unceasingly tell us that that we lost, that we should give up and give in to greed. We didn’t lose. From where I’m standing it looks like we are slowly winning… despite numerous setbacks and extremely powerful enemies.

    You know the old cliché about love winning in the end? Well, I think it’s actually true. Remember the recent resounding win for love in the marriage equality postal vote? Love won, defeating hate. Would that have happened 50 years ago? No. 40 years ago? No. 30 years? No. I doubt it even just 10 years ago.

    This government of dickheads wants a fake “religious freedom” law as payback for the marriage equality win, but blind Freddy can see they are all about hate. Surveys show about two thirds of the population are against extra privileges for religion. It will fail, even if it takes a few years to undo it.

    People are getting better. Not long ago if someone had stood in a public place and asserted that women should naturally be paid less than men for the same work, a few people might have taken umbrage, but most would have quietly agreed. Now they’d likely be quickly howled down.

    People are getting better.

  18. whatever

    The older/elderly folk are poorly educated and cling on to prejudiced, ignorant views that form their political mindset.
    Speaking of which…..there are more and more ‘Home-Made History’ programs on ABC Radio, where you can learn about hippies bashing up Vietnam veterans and such.

  19. Mark Nicholls

    Andrew Bolt, the ‘Lord Haw Haw’ of climate change.

  20. Mick Malin

    The Blot reminds me of the infamous Lord Haw-Haw of WW2 fame.

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