There was the understanding that perhaps the
normal fabric of American life was also needing
to be corrected, not just economic inequality
but the way in fact we were living. And you
saw movements like the commune movement, where
people in fact tried to emulate things like
what's seen in Israel and in Vermont, in certain
periods of the 60's I would say right here.
There were probably a dozen communes, land
which was sometimes, depending on particular
situations, communally owned. People were
trying to farm it. Trying to raise kids in
a communal way. Experiments with new ways
of living.
Uh, you saw explosions in almost every area
of academic life. Right now we're in a conservative
period. Academics are basically very conservative,
but at that point for example in the whole
area of psychiatry, and Rik is of course a
psychologist. There was a new movement called
Radical Therapy, questioning for example,
the whole definition of mental illness.
Who in God's name is mentally ill? Is it not
mentally ill to go off in a stupid war and
kill somebody and get yourself killed? So
the whole issue of sanity vs. insanity and
that got kinda mixed up because you got some
really crazy people like Charlie Manson and
his friend, who as opposed to loving human
beings, going out murdering people. Needless
to say, a little bit of confusion in that.
So you had also a lot of very heavy politics
going on. You had a revolution, revolution
in the air but it wasn't just revolution.
It was cultural revolution and you had in
city after city. Horrendous battles, between
young people and police. Very bitter struggles.
Uh and you had, I think, as I reflect. Constantly
what one was thinking about "What's the relationship
from the 60's to what's happening right now?"
And certainly one of the things that one understands,
I think and it's a point that I'll probably
talk about more later. Is the relationship
between young people and the issues that they
talked about, and moderate income people and
working people. Very important issue which,
we'll get into at some other period. Because
after all is said and done, what we should
remember, that out of the 60's, Richard Nixon
was elected president in 1968. He won a landslide
in 1972 and despite the fact that he was involved
in Watergate and almost went to jail, the
republican party came within a hair of winning
in 1976 and some of you may know who's president
of the United States today.
And what is the relationship between all of
that activity that I'm talking about over
here and the reality of what has happened
here? Who is involved in all these things
I am talking about? How did it effect the
average man and woman, who were not involved
in this process? And if you talk about the
need to make social change, how do you do
it politically? What is the relationship between
radical activity and working people? And elderly
people? And I think certainly one of the problems
that has gone on for many years in the Left
movement today, is that there has been that
separation. Okay? Now, also during this period
of time. Phenomenal things were happening
around the world. Not only in the United States
of America. Some of you may or may not know,
that in '68, I think it was. There was almost
a revolution in France. Not just a word revolution,
there was almost an overthrow of the French
government. Charles De Gaulle who was president
at that time was busy running around to Germany
and other NATO countries in order to make
sure he had the troops to put down what they
expected to be a revolution in France. Of
workers and students, they were working together
by the hundreds of thousands and millions,
who were prepared to make demands on the French
government, which would've make the overthrow
of the French government quite a possibility.
Uhm, I haven't yet put together in my own
mind what comes out of the 60's, I mean, what's
left, what was important, what was good. Uh,
what was not good. I think one of the things
that one sees as one gets old. We get old,
is you look back and you see sometimes the
superficiality of it and sometimes not. You
see people like to remember, guys whose hair
was down to their backs. They were ever so
radical my goodness. Nothing was too radical
for them and now, conservative lawyers, conservative
business people and you understand that for
many people. Things happen in a faddish type
way. Everybody's doing it, why not me? I'll
become a revolutionary this week too! It's
the "in" thing to be. And certainly there
was a lot of that, on the other hand, I think
what you also can see now is that people who
lived through the 60's, uh in many ways learned
a great deal about the world that they live
in. Developed a very strong sense of commitment,
which many people have kept for many many
years and it manifests itself all over the
country today. Okay maybe I'll stop at that
point and maybe accept some questions. Don't
be shy.
