I confess.

Aged Hippies are getting me down. They are all around us. And they won’t let us forget.

Don’t get me wrong. Much good came from the 60’s. I’m a part of that generation and proud of it. I’ve still got my “Civil Rights” card having gone into Strom Thurmond country in Aiken, South Carolina to teach in an all Black School, back when that was cause for members the Ku Klux Klan to flash a gun at the stupid (albeit, idealistic) white kid from Berkeley.

Those were heady days.

I still stand in awe of Dr. Martin Luther King, Medgar Evers, Rosa Parks, and even have a soft spot for Eldridge Cleaver, Bobby Seal and Huey Newton (though not so soft as it once was).

And yes. I know exactly where I was November 22, 1963.

The 60’s accomplished much—not the least of which was the raising of consciousness regarding, racism, poverty, environmentalism, gender roles, the work place, dress, sex, mind expanding drugs, family values, an ill conceived War—(No. It bears no resemblance to Iraq)—the list goes on.

With the exceptions of screwing up a couple of generations of children and the ease of divorce, much good has come out of the 60’s.

Yet, at what price?

Aged Hippies are becoming the bane of America’s existence. They drag down our world today, much the way they claimed that the “Neo-revisionist, capitalistic pigs” dragged down our society of yore.

You can spot them everywhere. Though they may be doctors, lawyers, accountants or marketeers, they still tend to dress a bit over the top—a bit out of the ordinary. More power to them. Being anti-establishment and non-conformist has its charm.

Their hair is grey and longer than most. On many, facial hair is a bit more prevalent. No harm in that.

They see themselves as youthful and still sexy. One out of two ain’t bad.

No matter how they couch it, many still smoke a lot of dope--even if they are main stream professionals. They’re not addicted. They can stop anytime they want. Over the past 40 years, they’ve done it lots of times.

They have a visceral hatred of our president and anything that smacks of religion. They look down their noses at most Americans.

Because we were right about so much back then, they are convinced they are just as right about everything today. Who can blame them?

Unfortunately, this attitude has shifted from progressive liberalism, to a born again fascism. Telling others how to think, talk, act, worship, etc. has become the coin of their realm. They alone have access to the truth.

The rest of us are pretty stupid.

They marched to the shouts of a new freedom, under fiery slogans:

“If it feels good do it.”

“Do your own thing.”

“Tune in Turn on, Drop out.”

These were the rallying cries of the individual looking to stand out from the crowd—yearning to be a non-conformist—dying to be anti-establishment.

As powerful as these sentiments were (and are) they don’t do much to enhance community living in these United States.

However, the healthy skepticism they had for big government and big business (we all loved Teddy the Trust Buster), has now somehow given way to a hatred of America, class envy and distain for individual achievement.

It is this last issue which is so puzzling today.

Our parents were told that though they came from modest or even impoverished backgrounds, they could be “somebody” in America.

So many did and so many of us have as well. But, now the Aged Hippies are extracting heavy guilt for simply feeding one’s family and sending his kids to college.

Where owning one’s own business used to be a goal and a sign of status, now it is something to be ashamed of—for there is guilt attached—either through exploitation of labor, killing animals, wasting the world’s resources, or adding tourban blight.

Many Aged Hippies fought the good fight for a long time. They became teachers, social workers, volunteers of all sorts. They truly made a difference. Unfortunately, some of their peers went to Wall St. Others started businesses.

Those that were saving the world, suddenly found themselves in their 40’s, without an interest in real estate. They weren’t getting the appreciation due to inflation which all their fellow Californians were getting, and suddenly they found themselves on the short end of the stick.

Here they had done all the good things; sacrificed; fought the good fight; and now suddenly they were “old”, with physical aches, and little to show for it.

Some, who weren’t doing the do-gooding thing, had just dropped out. They went from physics majors to day laborers. Working with one’s hands is the most honorable form of labor there is. One should never put it down.

However, these Aged Hippies soon discovered that driving a truck or hammering nails 8 hours a day, though honorable, decent work didn’t make for much of a pension. Backs begin to hurt. Knees ache.

Class envy was the inevitable result.

If that weren’t enough to really ruin one’s day, they are (to this day) wracked with guilt about sex and drugs.

Having been “repressed” as youths, they naturally embraced the sexual revolution. “If it feels good do it,” made all the sense in the world—until they became parents. Then, to assuage their own guilt, they remained silent as their children experimented with sex and drugs. Some even encouraged it among their young. Despite their protests to the contrary, one can be assured their guilt has doubled over time. (To Be Continued) `

Jeffrey Earl Warren
James Warren & Son
1414 Main St.
St. Helena, Ca.
94574
707-963-2748


Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL.com.