One of the reasons that I love Daniel Quinn’s Ishmael so much – is that he does such a great job explaining (at least to my mind) – how things got to be this way. And I certainly don’t disagree with anything Daniel has to say – but I wanted to add my own caveat with regards to how things have become so screwed up in the U.S. (unless someone out there wants to tell me that everything is fine, or, has a better explanation).
It was the goddamned Viet Nam War – that solidified the nonsense – but the assasination of JFK was probably the catalyst. Factor in sex, drugs and rock-and-roll (though not necessarily in this order), and you have a recipe for folks trying to make sense of things on their own — because most-of-us sense that there is no uber power, no super consciousness, that is taking care of us.
I remember that great scene in “Back to School“ featuring 2, late greats: Rodney Dangerfield and Sam Kinison – with Sam K portraying a college professor who goes off on that now famous diatribe about the Viet Nam War. Elsewhere I have mentioned the staggering statistics of what percentage of America’s homeless population is comprised of Viet Nam Vets – and ol’ Robert McNamara just croaked…well at least he admitted this war was a big mistake (what war is not a big mistake?). But can you imagine being a teen in the 60s, and experimenting with pot one moment, perhaps lying on a reddish shag carpet and watching “Bewitched“ or “Star Trek,“ and the next moment — be transported to the jungles of Southeast Asia ala´ “Apocalypse Now“?!
Mix the horror and brutality of war with America’s addiction to escapism: witness the recent film “Hangover,“ (which was rather clever and somewhat classy till the last-couple-of-snapshots) and you essentially see that since the late 1950s – the U.S. has been throwing one, big long, escapist party! Not much vison and long-term planning can be generated in such a long party (and now comes the excruciating hangover!).
In “Up in Smoke,“ Cheech and Chong showed us exactly where we were headed – and though Obama admitted to pot usage and is still addicted to nicotine, while Dubya admitted to nothing – but Slick Willie snorted as much coke as Dubya (and that is reportedly mountains) – but didn’t inhale and you realize that our fearless leaders have been just as much of the party as the-rest-of-us. So the question I ask of Americana is: Who has been minding the store? And the answer is: “Nobody.“
As most of my readers know – I’ve been working with juvenile incarcerees for 17 years now – and the one thing we all agree upon – is that any gains they make in the 9-or-so-months they stay-with-us are gone with the first hit of the pipa – or, should I say: Any lasting positive changes invariably go up-in-smoke?!