I don't want to re-live the 60's!

     Two posts in one day? Sheesh........ I have been thinking about another topic which has motivated me to write another opinion. As a child of the 60's I was caught up in the philosophies like "If it feels good, do it" and "Peace, Love, Dope" and "The New Morality". Now that I'm older and  little wiser, I can look back and see how silly all that was. The first saying I mentioned was basically hedonism- like I talked about in the post just below this one. Can people really not understand how destructive to society in general it would be if everyone just did what they felt like when they felt like it??
     I attended a reunion one time meeting with many people I hadn't seen in a couple of decades. One of my really good friends during my high school years attended with his "partner". Most of our classmates did not respond positively about his "coming out" as it is usually called. When asked why he would choose that lifestyle he said something about not being happy in his marriage and having never "tried" anything with another guy before. He tried it and found he liked it.
     Another story- we were spending time with another old friend at another time and discussing the upcoming holidays. She asked what our plans were for New Years Eve. She said that she and her husband always spent a few days at a casino. The food was good and inexpensive and they enjoyed the gambling. They were "careful" about gambling in that they put aside a certain amount of money and limited themselves to it.  We told her that we never gambled. We just couldn't see the point in it. You could lose a big amount of money in a very little amount of time. We couldn't justify sustaining the business that causes so many heartaches in so many lives, just for "FUN". She said, "Well, have you ever tried it? You might like it."
     There are so many things that people justify simply because they "like" it. Obesity has become a major issue simply because we keep trying things and liking them. Unwanted pregnancies are a result of trying something and liking it without considering the consequences. Theft (pickpocketing, armed robbery, scams, etc.) are a result of people just trying to get what they "like".
     As for "Peace, Love, Dope"- peace is certainly a desirable thing. I really hope for, strive for, and want peace. But I recognize that people like criminals, Hitler, Ivan the Terrible, and any number of humans disrupt the peace in the process of pursuing what they have justified to themselves as appropriate to have or do. The only way to stop them from continuing their rampage is to fight back- not as "peaceful" as just letting them do what they want, but I think it's necessary. Love is certainly a positive thing. However, the love usually referred to more and more is actually lust. People "show love" by wanting to have sex. The 60's promoted free sex between people- in groups, singly, several different people in a night, whoever attracted you. Women's Lib encouraged more use of birth control and started the philosophy that abortion should be considered like birth control therefore it should be up to the woman and her "right" to do with her body what she wants.  Dope- well, that's quite a topic these days. As much as I would have applauded its legal status in the 60's, I have wised up over the years. I think we are headed toward major regret over marijuana. It's a more "peaceful" public intoxicant than alcohol and not as addictive as heroin or cocaine. However, is it really a good idea to socially promote a public intoxicant simply because so many people "like" it? My observation during my pot-smoking years was that dope made people "dopey"! We thought we were deep, philosophical thinkers but Yellow Submarine was only a good movie if you were stoned. And, if you think there's a problem with obesity now, just wait until more people get the munchies when they're stoned! One of the reasons we stopped smoking pot is that it was just mind-numbing. It didn't provide motivation to succeed or improve or even do ANYTHING. There is a problem now with the "younger" generation who want what they had growing up without having to go without for awhile to build up their possessions and equity. If we have more un-motivated, stoned people, welfare and government assistance is going to shoot up.
     "New Morality"- in the words of a psychologist or somebody at the time, the "new morality is just the old immorality". Boy, is that true! Sex with whomever, whenever has existed since at least the time of Noah when God decided the earth was so filthy it needed cleansing. There are lots of stories of ancient civilizations in Rome or Greece where men had boys as sex partners. The saying goes, "those who refuse to study and learn from history are doomed to repeat it". So, what happened to those old civilizations who thought they were so smart? Can we never learn???
     Whether you believe in the existence of God or go back to Ghandi or Kant, there is ample evidence that moral disintegration is truly a concern. Over and over again, people try to promote vices, weaknesses, and immoral behavior- 50 years ago or 2000 years ago. We can't expect to support all the old social ills with repeated attempts to justify them. We can either learn from the past, or repeat it.