Monday, September 23, 2024

Cultural Shifts

I joined a 1970's Facebook memory page awhile back. The first thing I did was remind myself this was not going to be a page I vented my angry political crap. I had other places for ranting, raving, showing my displeasure with the world politic at this time. Some pages should be reserved for apolitical and non-religious fun and nonsense. Leave the hate and discontent at home.

Sadly, politics seems to stalk me wherever I go in Facebook. Anywhere people engage each other, ugliness, hate, and discontent is always waiting just below the surface for any chance to ruin an otherwise pleasant and funny conversation. I fucking hate it.

So, the image to the right posted on the 70's memory page. Of the many comments I read, most were just straight up reactions to the memory, not interpretative memories that may have drastically mutated in the ensuing years that brought us to how we remember those good ole days today.

Now that I have pondered the meme awhile now, I realize the meme asked for it to get political with the words "cultural shift". 

Nothing fires up a lot of us Boomers than words like "cultural shift". Most of us are sure it was better then than it is now. Seems we want to blame some group we are not part of for the perceived sad state of affairs our world is in now. It's the kids, the rich, the Democrats, the GOP, atheists, Bible Thumpers, the brown immigrants; it's always someone other than ourselves. 

No one seems to want to acknowledge that what we have today is a group grope. It took all of us to create what we are living through now. In my opinion, no group is as bad as my Baby Boomer generation at condemning the world we helped to create. When a Millennial, a G throught Z generation punk blames us and wished we were dead and gone, well, we deserve it I guess. Many of us felt the same about our parents from "the Greatest Generation" who busted our balls during those wonderful1960's and 1970s.

The more things that change, the more they remain the same. My mom always contended there was nothing new under the Sun, just reiterations with subtle twists. And now that I have lived for over 70 years, I realize that she was right.

The story remains the same; it's the set that changes. 

Later ..............................

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A perfect song to match my mood at the moment is, "The Way It Is", by Bruce Hornsby. It is a beautiful song with a serious message. I try to resist, but every time I hear it, my eyes go moist.




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