The 1960’s were an era of madness: down was up and up was down. Skirts went so short that panty hose were invented for women. Men’s hair came down to the shoulders and a generation of youth went around looking like Christ while denouncing religion as anti-social and depriving people of their liberties. Yet, that madness had a corny side to it. It was goofy…a good 60’s word that meant Jerry Lewishly…not taken seriously because the majority of sane people made fun of it. However, there was also relevancy to the goofiness; the youth were protesting the Vietnam War as nightly images on the three major networks showed American soldiers dead or wounded. Technology in the form of television was also bringing into the homes the evil of racism, inequality, and political corruption. So to some extent the “hippy dippy times” of the 60’s changed the way society began to look at politics, civil liberties, and justice for all.

Through the bra burning, the free love mantra, and the flower-power sub consciousness ; we 60’s Baby Boomers managed to survive and send a man to the moon, and become the generation that pushed technology to the forefront of our lives. The generation of pot heads, Woodstock, and Vietnam built this current society of wannabees that want to go back to our time and era with a vengeance. Why? What do they want to take from it? What is being emulated? The 60’s and 70’s were turbulent times that caused  the proliferation of hard narcotics and eventually the lives of many to include Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, and Elvis Presley, to  name a few. The 60’s were also responsible for the disintegration of traditional families in the name of equality and progress. If I sound like a disillusioned Baby Boomer:  I am. The problem is that what we think is great at 16 is generally banal at 30; and eventually we grow out of that stage. Unfortunately, this generation has taken banal to another level., and instead of embracing the moon landing they are embracing “getting high.”

In the 60’s drug addicts were referred to as “pot heads.” Not an endearing term, but a distinctive term that described those who snuffed, smoked, digested, or otherwise imbibed in “pot.” The term held on to describe those whose elevator in life did not go all the way up. Communities did their best to eradicate pot from neighborhoods because no one wanted a child to be a “pot head.” Fast forward to today: politicians are fighting to legalize pot because it is “harmless” or no more harmful than alcohol or cigarettes.  Really? Is that the argument that should sell us on banal! That is like saying that being run over by a truck is better than jumping off a cliff…equally non-sequitur and does little to dissuade sane people that one bad thing is better than another bad thing. My question remains: why have we given in to these morons? Have we become so immune to stupidity and self-destruction that we cannot differentiate any longer from what is good for us and what is definitely not? Are we so far on the path to self-destruction and insanity that what we considered insane and inane forty years ago is now OK? Has the world gone so mad that those of us who think pot is not OK are being labeled as insensitive, uninformed, even stupid? Really? Remember Forrest Gump: stupid is as stupid does! I am stupid because I think that someone high on marijuana has no business driving a car, piloting a plane, fixing my car, taking my kid to school, teaching my kid, cooking for me in a restaurant, and being my doctor? Well, label me stupid why don’t you, because I guarantee you that I should be in the majority not minority. Oh yes, lest we forget…medicinal pot! Let me remind…medicinal marijuana was never a question for legalization because doctors prescribed it to cancer patients without hesitation. Oh yes…the jails are full of innocents who smoked pot and got arrested. And that is bad how? It is proven and narrated by addicts themselves that they started with marijuana and went on to harder drugs. Remember Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears?  I have never known anyone who went from smoking a  Marlboro Light to sniffing crack! But above all this rhetoric; why are we so bent on promoting and encouraging pot smoking? Why do we go after a cigar smoker minding his own business in the park but give pot heads a free pass? Why do we send alcoholics to AA but send addicts to get more pot? Are we nuts or what?

We must be either nuts or plain stupid. We are both for electing officials who think that being “high” is ok. We are also morons for believing that smoking any substance will have no long-term effect on our society. Have we not learned anything from cigarette smoking? After all we banned smoking from buildings and some over-the-top zealots are after drivers smoking cigarettes in their cars. And remember, cigarettes are a legal substance. Yet we find nothing wrong in dolling out pot like confetti. I rest my case: the world has gone mad. Can we save it? Can we reverse the trend of moronic behavior? Can we bring back traditional ideals of self-accountability, responsibility and self-pride? Why are we so bent into taking our society back into the 60’s? Sobriety should be the norm and not the odd.

Up is down and down is up. Patriotism, spirituality, traditional families, accountability, responsibility, and hard work are regarded as problematic and in the way of progressive thinking: only ignorant people stick to these ideals. They must be bigots, racists, homophobic, and uneducated coots. Hating America, excusing terrorism, being a thug, being a pot head, assaulting teachers, killing cops, ridiculing religion mostly Christians, and distorting the truth in the name of activism; these are the elitists’ and progressive thinkers’ back pocket “bibles” for an engaged mind! Don’t take my word for it; listen to the news if one can call it that. Listen to the pundits explain and excuse bad behavior. Cannot judge anyone…no no no! We do not judge, punish, or hold accountable anymore because someone might get offended. Well how about the whole nation getting offended? Would that change anything? Would that bring some sanity to this insane world? Would we bring back courtesy, respect, pride, and success? Doesn’t the progressive mind wonder why cultures from the Far East excel in education while our kids come in a close 47th in science, math, and technology? Perhaps the fact that children in those cultures are raised to respect their parents, their elders, and their spiritual culture toward a successful life. What a concept? Being a thug versus being productive!

My mother is 98 years old and lives in a home where she spends her days watching, listening, and thinking. When I sometimes ask her for her thoughts she just shakes her head and says: the world has gone mad! I’m with you ma, the world has gone mad and progressively so. Her generation fought wars to win them, got married to live together for the rest of their lives, had kids to take care of them, and went to work to provide for their families. Such simplicity raised a generation of courageous heroic men who fought for their country without question, raised children who respected parents, teachers, policemen, firemen, and adults in the community. They formed communities who never closed their front doors, looked after each other’s kids, hugged each other’s kids, and helped each other in time of need. This traditional way of life was discarded as mundane by a generation of self-centered morons who have few social graces because they can tweet but cannot speak correctly, they can text but cannot spell, they can X-Box but cannot run a few yards outside in the sun, and use a calculator  in lieu of a brain because understanding addition and subtraction is a challenge; and everyone must have a trophy because we do not judge! That folks is called progress. That is called a world gone mad.  Please let me off at the next planet!