The Who Generation

["Mark R. Leaman" <mleaman@sccoast.net>]

> generations prior to the 50's.  When those 50's kids grew older, they saw
> and acted upon the oppressive state their society was in.

Kevin:

It's wasn't just the oppressiveness, but the idea that everyone's goal was
to "conform." Individuality was not incouraged. This had one effect of
leaving out anyone who wasn't in good physical health, didn't have a decent
amount of wealth, and for that matter anyone who wasn't white. See Leave It
To Beaver for details.
The true rebellion started with the civil rights movement. Their methodolgy
was imitated by groups who were fighting for other causes, such as the Viet
Nam war (hard to get behind that since we never really made any progress
year to year, just lost a record amount of people) and eventually woman's
and gay rights. Most recently, a lot of Christian churches have stopped
"turning the other cheek" and become politically active, forcing their
oppressive agenda down our throats.
The counterculture came directly from the antiwar movement. If one "dropped
out" then they couldn't very well be recruited. If they weren't conforming
then no one could expect them to be a soldier. If they did drugs, then they
weren't clear enough to react in a dangerous situation.
The US was less oppressive in the `60's than it is now. Thanks to Ronald
Reagan's so-called "drug war," a LOT of civil rights were disposed of. It
became legal for the government to sieze your property, take away your
driver's license (even when your car was miles away), and refuse you any
government loans or grants if you were caught with a single joint of
marijuana. Our current genius of a "leader" plans to legalize 3-4 million
illegal aliens, making those laws disposable and still you'll go to jail if
you're caught with a single joint of marijuana.
And that's what Won't Get Fooled Again is all about.

> and relevant it all was.  And they want the same for themselves.

This is true enough, but they see only the superficial side of it. Dress in
tie dye and follow the Dead, man! They don't get it. At all. It's not a
rebellion, it's a retreat. Most hippies were college graduates. The myth
about not bathing was just that...a myth, like the false info given about
LSD (that it made you insane, that it changed your personality, that it
caused flashbacks, that it caused genetic damage).

> It's sad.  We should all come together instead.

And rid ourselves of our most current oppressor. No names need be mentioned.

> Where the boomers failed, is that they didn't then come back to heal
things.

Understandable. We were ground under the heel of the Micropublican party,
and we were right and they knew it. They want this mess of a world...let
them wallow in their own shit. The problem with this is that now we're ALL
in the same boat: the environment is becoming dangerous, the US is becoming
a third world country, the elite is forcing their selfish (and shortsighted)
views down our throats. There is no sanity in this, and it should be fought.

> They have yet to deal with their own demise/mortality and their inevitable
> dependence on the younger generation that they produced.

Jeff:

I don't think so. It's more like you get tired of fighting for sanity...or a
lot got tired, I haven't yet. Also it's a lot easier to play the game and
make a lot of money than fight for what we all know is right. But there are
still some of us out there fighting for sanity. And we encourage the younger
generations to throw down their tie dyes and join us.

Townshend's lyrics have addressed these issues in all phases of his career.
Seek and you shall find.


"One of the interesting initiatives we've taken in Washington, D.C.,
 is we've got these vampire-busting devices. A vampire is a-a cell
    deal you can plug in the wall to charge your cell phone."
          George "I vant to suck your blood" Bush


               Cheers                 ML