Counter Culture and John Wayne Memories

I'm listening to "In A Mellow Tone"(Verve MGV-8180)), recorded in the fifties by Johnny Hodges who was from Cambridge,Mass.Hodges played for Ellington in his big band and all but one of the songs in the album were written by Ellington.It's a tribute record for one of the greats in American jazz who brought light to a dark time throughout the world.I'm reading two books currently,"Madison and Jefferson" by Burstein/Isenberg and "Ten Technologies To Save The Planet" by Chris Goodall.Both books are very good and I'm going to read them today because it's rainy and cold and winter still has its hands around our spring.I love fifties jazz but I remember the fifties and early sixties as a time young people were quite violent.Living in the Bronx during that time could be very uncomfortable for many young people.There were numerous gangs(not necessarily designated with names) and one for each neighborhood who took pleasure in giving a beating to anyone who strolled through their avenues at the wrong time.My neighborhood had a big gang of older teenagers who collaborated with other gangs to fight for reasons unknown to me.As a young child(under ten),I remember watching large numbers of people chasing others with bats,knives and an occasional zip-gun(homemade).It was an interesting reality show but one wouldn't want to be caught short without your brothers by your side.Marijuana wasn't used in the white sections at the time by a majority of teenagers and I remember most drank beer and whiskey. Gangs(comprised of the majority of teenagers in the neighborhood) had a pecking order based on physical skills that were displayed from time to time to keep order and respectability.The alcohol consumed didn't help this violent process but America had just been through a Depression and a World War and it was the mainstay of white culture.War movies were the craze and John Wayne fought someone(and won) in every movie( many young men went to Vietnam with a false image of the hardships of full blown modern warfare).Violence was acceptable as apple pie even if more people seemed to attend church than they do today.Men were rated by how well they played sports,how funny they were and how they fought on the playgrounds.Academics were approved and respected in the school environment,but the hand and fist laid claim to the streets and boulevards.Less than 15% of young men went on to college in the union municipality of NYC.(one out of every three jobs)

Then came the Beatles,then came the drugs, to wash all the violence and nonsense away.A few tokes on a joint and nobody wanted to fight anybody for any reason.John Wayne was a symbol of everything wrong with America.The times were changing for the common male who saw life a little different than his dad.The hippies stole from the Beats and its dogma spread like fertilizer on a field.The violence model was over for them..the competition,the closed shop of us verses them evaporated into the colorful sunset of compassion and cooperation.Initially,with the influence of marijuana,nature became the new"god" to be respected and worshiped.Following the city sports teams, became something of the past.Magically,every living thing was as important as the humans who shared this glorious space.Every human had dignity,equality and a right to live freely under a common sun.The world grew bigger everyday as the counter culture opened its arms to the poor in our own society and throughout the world.Who wanted to fight the Vietnam men when we opposed fighting our own neighbors.Our thoughts were cooperative instead of competitive as we rose each morning to help, give and share instead of taking and keeping for oneself.It was an opening,an expanding viewpoint that wanted economic equality,the destruction of impoverished housing,clean air and waterways,cooperative,democratic jobs,smaller,interesting(alternative) schools,cheap, quality organic food and a fair judicial system. We looked outside ourselves because we knew the answer to our own happiness was connected to everyone else.This form of spirituality has remained for fifty years and continues to grow because it is embedded in every religion and every culture.This connectedness runs through every message from every religion man has followed and respected.The world counter culture took it out of the hands of administrating clergy and fastened it on to every corner post throughout the world.The uprisings in the middle east is the flowering of this thought process that was reinvigorated by my generation, in mass, fifty years ago and will continue into the distant future.It is the only way the planet will survive.

I know that the use of drugs wasn't the healthiest avenue(maybe we would have changed without them..many lives lost) to reach a new consciousness but they did bridge two different worlds that remain today.The counter culture was taken to a place where government was seen as a solution(Kennedy) to issues instead of an obstacle(Reagan).Revenues from taxes(progressive rates with each million earned) were inherently good because they could be given to others who need protection from an economic system that didn't supply enough quality jobs or educate our children fairly.All the important issues today(S.S,Health care,energy,environmental regulations,economic justice,quality food,etc.)are welcomed by those who look outside themselves when they think about the importance of government in the lives of the vast majority.Those who see the government as an obstacle think of themselves first and what they can do to limit it(supply side economics were proven false many times over).I believe that perspective must die for the world to survive and flourish.No more John Wayne(Marion Morrison...father of Jim..didn't you know that) movies where American men are honored for killing other human beings.No more multi-millionaires, billionaires that rob from the populace greedily for their own consumption.No more looking inward that ravages humanity in the long run down each poverty filled road.World Democracy demands an opening of oneself to the plight of others as we revere the land and water that surrounds our towns and cities.I'm still waiting for my brothers and sisters to see the light but my real hope is in the faces of our grandchildren who will inherit a world much different than the Mickey Mantle(Willie Mays was better) fifties.They will see the interconnectedness better without the distortion of drugs we had to use.They will understand their plight because they will need each other more to survive(international unions).I hope I'm around to see a little piece of it.Peace my friends and no more money allocated to destruction of other men.