Stuck in the 60s

Protesting for fun and profit

Michael D. Shaw Oct 16, 2025 @ Mike's Point of View

 For most of us who lived through that period, it ended —in every sense—either when we graduated from college, or entered the workforce. Realistic assessments of this fractious era would rightly view it as pretty much a terrible time, replete with war, assassinations, and unrest. On the positive side—for many—was the sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll, although the rampant drug use harmed many more lives than is acknowledged even now, nearly 60 years later.

Yet, as we Boomers grew older, we all knew contemporaries, who seemed to be stuck in that era. Some would follow the Grateful Dead, while others, who had achieved some degree of success, seemed locked into the naive politics and mores, and even fashions of the 60s, although in no rational manner did they apply to their current lives.

Admittedly, hippie sightings became increasingly rare, but these people are still around. I recall attending a public meeting in DC in 2007, organized by the EPA regarding regulation of a particular chemical. A few minutes after the meeting was called to order, a high-ranking EPA scientist was scheduled to speak. And, then it happened…

In what can only be described as a time warp, the very image of a 1968 hippie chick walked into the room. I whispered some inquiries to a few people around me, and I was assured that, yes, she really does dress that way all the time. Do I need to add that her “scientific” presentation was dripping with flower child sentimentality, and actually called for the chemical in question to be regulated to a concentration lower than what occurs in nature.

Several people, myself included, challenged this absurd notion, but she earnestly replied that this was what “their models” called for. Bear in mind that the chemical in question here is essential to healthcare, and needed better analysis than might be proffered by someone viewing her job as protecting the public from EEE-VILLE chemical companies.

Viewed in the context of a 60s protest, this attitude makes perfect sense, right?

Of all the protests that occurred then, up to the ones occurring now, other than the demonstrators being against something, has a practical solution to the problem at hand ever been put forth?

You can hate ICE all you want, but how does that solve the problem of massive illegal immigration and open borders? The Vietnam War was a disaster from the get-go, but I never saw any demonstrator or politician offer a detailed critique, along with recommendations on how to better handle the matter. And, in retrospect, such a critique would not have been difficult at all.

“Boy genius” Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara consistently argued that “on paper” our strategy should crush the enemy. I guess he didn’t realize that running a war is a wee bit different from production planning at Ford. Of course, Bobby Mac took care of number one, by resigning in 1968 at the very height of the war, to take over the World Bank.

Good luck finding a single media story of the time either criticizing McNamara or the military leadership falling into the old cliche of “the generals fighting the last war.” Oh sure, we were reminded on a daily basis how many of our soldiers were dying, but when the whole tragedy came to an end on 30 April 1975, there were no stories about how Ambassador Graham Martin was a hero, who saved American and allied lives.

And, even though public opinion was vastly against the war by then, no one in the media had the courage to state, flat out, that 58,200 of our men died for nothing.

But there were protests then, and there are protests now—featuring some of the same people. Relics from the 60s trying to relive their glory days. Full marks for noticing that the entire Democratic Party platform is essentially one big protest against Donald Trump.

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