Remembering the 70s

I've been surrounded by images and icons of the 60s and 70s lately.  Watching Mad Men, which has become our substitute for Lost for now, reading The Help which is about the same time period as Mad Men, (early 60s), attending the Troubadour Reunion tour with James Taylor and Carole King, finding old photos of my family during that time.  I don't remember that much about experiencing the "culture" of the 60s since I was so young (2 in 1960), but I know it was a special generation full of changes, experimentation; mostly humans adapting to the industrialization of the previous generation, the wars, and the growth of media and political awareness.  It seems to me we can learn a lot from that generation's angst and attempts to make sense of the growth of capitalism and the spreading of democracy throughout the developing world.

Some people probably see the 60s decade as full of anger, violence, and the loss of morality in society.  Yet I think a society has to go through these growing pains so generations following can learn from the negatives and make their culture better.  I'm sure we have learned a lot from the 60s and 70s, but when I look at the human condition today, I don't see the improvements I would expect to come out of such a turbulent time.  I think the proof that we didn't learn to live differently after those times is that the 80s were classified as the "Me Generation."  We took on the angst and growing pains of the previous generation for ourselves as individuals, not so much for our collective population.  We became more liberated in many areas of our lives, and we thought we were enlightened and free and advanced.  But perhaps we didn't change collectively as a culture.

Of course I'm talking generally here of the American experience, and it's only my opinion, my frustration about the state of the world today within this huge context.   I'm seeing some parallels these days, or rather some behavior and lack of maturity that disturbs me and points to this lack of learning from and applying the behaviors and activities of the 60s and 70s.

For instance, race relations, previously called the Civil Rights movement.  Yes, it could be called a "movement" of the time, but it was so much more and was meant to pass along so much more to the next generation than I think it did.  Then, people of different "walks of life" who held "radical" beliefs of equality for all races were moving out of their comfort zones, after previously only  discussing the issue privately with friends or like-minded citizens. They began to openly challenge the status quo with the hope of affecting change.  They went from holding secret beliefs and hopes to taking action - for themselves and others, to change the unjust ways.  This is true for both black and non-black people -  they put their reputations, relationships, and sometimes even their lives on the line by stepping out and joining the protest, writing about it, or talking about it publicly, trying to convince others of their conviction.

I do agree that the Civil Rights movement was needed to force the laws to change, to allow for those previously denied rights to be incorporated into our American legal system formally. And that is a major accomplishment, one which was brought about by sacrifice, determination, bloodshed and cooperation between people of adverse points of view. I just wish the people of today could remember those times and use the struggles and determination to make change that will last, change beyond legal change, to make our society more innately open to inclusion and true justice and peace for all people.