The View from Nowhere

I have a soft-spot for ’60s mind expansion propaganda.  There is something irresistibly optimistic about the notion that life’s secrets can be easily revealed through the simple application of controlled substances.  This type of mis-information is typical for the baby boomer generation.  They are a generation singularly defined by their unreasonable amounts of optimism in all things, not least their own sense of self-importance.

In many ways I find the entire hoax offensive, that the hubris of a generation of ever-increasing irrelevance could fool their own children and grandchildren into a situation where they accept as truth the very lies and misconceptions that they themselves worked to disprove.  As much as Nixon and his contemporaries are portrayed as the enemy of the hippies, the real enemy are the hippies themselves who, for the most part, shaved, trimmed and lined up for office jobs and high paying corporate positions.

So, knowing this, is the only option to discard the information and attempt to discover new truths?  This approach seems short sighted and as much of a mistake as the cultural experimentation of the past.  No, it seems that there are lessons to be learned, foremost amongst them is that the status quo possesses incredible inertia and it will take Herculean effort to move them, much more than good vibes and a sense of righteousness.

Although I am generally distrustful of Boomer heroes, Hunter S. Thompson stands out among them.  He put it best when he described the “meat hook realities” in store for the “failed Seekers” who followed Timothy Leary down the rabbit hole of LSD mysticism.  He was referring to the hippies of his day but the same could be said of all of the Seekers to come.  After the eight hours of enlightenment we unfortunately are forced to remain residents of this world.