One of the things that popped into my mind on the first day of class when we were discussing the overview of the class was, strangely enough, a Don Henley lyric. It came from “The Boys of Summer,” which is his famous post-Eagles song that has been overplayed so much to the point where it is, quite frankly, exceedingly irritating. However, I still recalled the phrase, “out on the road today, I saw a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac.” As we further discussed the class and started moving into the material, this lyric still stood out to me because it matches a really interesting theme that seems to apply to so many “68ers.” Henley himself was a young person during the “long 68” and experienced, “The Thing,” as Enoch Powell called it. “The Thing” can be interpreted in many different ways, but it seems to fundamentally mean the movement across the world, especially in the western world during that time. This ranged anywhere from civil rights, political movements, violence, and counter-culture that help define the dynamic nature of ’68. Of course, Henley is referring more to the counter-culture aspect of “The Thing” by mentioning “Deadheads,” a term used by some lovingly and by others with disdain to describe the followers of the Grateful Dead.
When you think of the the late 60s, Deadheads are kind of the epitome of counter-culture, with many of them emphasizing lifestyles of anti-materialism, free love, and (not always, but often) drugs. Henley points out a glaring contradiction he observed in the 80s. The very ideals of being a Deadhead just don’t seem to be compatible with owning a Cadillac. Henley points out that the 68ers have grown up, and in the end they wind up living the life they tried so hard to avoid in their youth. However, they still carry on the memory of ’68 and the impact on their lives. This seemed especially profound considering Vinen’s discussion of how impacts of ’68 extend decades later, with people like George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, whose lives were shaped by ’68, even though they seem to be living a contradiction. While so many people seemed to live on past the “long ’68,” its impact is still clearly relevant and present decades later.
It is very interesting that your point about the lasting impact of ’68 carries on was discussed during the presentation of Geoff Brown and Sam Lord. Although I do not know enough about Bill Clinton to say whether he was part of “The Thing” or not, as argued by Geoff, I would like to say that even though some ’68ers went on to become the people they most hated, this does not mean that their initial attempts were not efforts in the right direction.
In most cases, one person or one group’s action cannot make a big difference. If the existing system works against them and tries to absorbs them, they most likely will be defeated and become part of the system one day. While there were successful attempts, such as some Civil Rights movements, most attempts were unsuccessful. ’68 was one of them. However, if the ’68ers genuinely worked towards their goal, but was defeated and absorbed into the system, does that make them hypocritical? I think not, unless they voluntarily join the system, which I don’t have enough evidence to argue for or against.
Really enjoyed your post. You made a good point about how people’s ideals generally change as they get older whether it be they matured, are in a different state economically, some traumatic event happening to them etc. Thats not to say that all is lost though. My grandfather grew up during the depression and had to fight off his 7 siblings for scraps of food. Today he is not in a position where he struggles to put food on the table but any food that is wasted genuinely pains him. So while his state of living has changed, his experiences growing up stayed with him just as the ’68ers grew up but kept much of what they learned from their experiences. Perhaps this is when change most takes place: when those who are protesting take the social status of those who they are calling for change from.
I really like the connection you made here, especially to 80’s music we all know. I never actually thought about the meaning of that lyric before, but music really is one of the best ways to look back at a time and see what was happening.
This particular point about kids in ’68 growing up and becoming hypocrites against what they fought for in the 60’s I think was inevitable. I think that some ’68ers were actually hypocritical at the time, before they even grew up. I think that a good example of this is fighting for the common good, for ideal, for a better society, all the while trying to make your own autobiography more interesting . It is the selflessness contrasted with the self-centeredness that makes these people seem hypocritical. Even discounting this, they were bound to contradict themselves when they had the motto, “don’t trust anyone over 30,” because everyone grows up and becomes the generation that youth do not trust.