A half century ago, a much younger version of me wandered these streets. The Summer of Love arrived with flowers in its hair, then split the scene with peace sign held high, the sweet aroma of mota filled the air, hair grew longer, anti-war marchers filled the streets, and songs like "All You Need is Love" by The Beatles gave young hearts hope for a better world. Whether or not we helped put an end to the crimes of Empire in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia is debatable. After all, the bombing stopped, but capitalism and free market economics now enslave the working poor populations of those countries, so maybe Nixon and his handlers truly did win the war. With an end to the Draft, and our sorry asses no longer on the line, my cadres in peace and I put away our love beads and bellbottoms, cut our hair, and joined the minions of our countrymen, in search of the American Dream.
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A half century roared past in the blink of an eye. John Lennon's lyrics of love were answered by assassination, and his dangerous message seemed to evaporate like a monsoon rain from the potholed streets of Phoenix on a blistering June afternoon. Love is all you need, love is all you need, love is all...and poof! Collective amnesia. Nobody seems to remember that forgotten message from the late '60s. Empire now juggles a half dozen and more wars at a time. Bombing for dollars has become the norm, and nobody even talks about wars any longer. After all, as my century-old fascist Auntie proudly proclaims: "War is good for the economy." My ancient contemporaries have few interests beyond their immediate financial futures. Younger folks have been lured into hysterical conversations about gay rights, civil rights, immigrant rights, gun control, and sexual exploitation, but never, never, NEVER do you hear a word about the rights of all those millions of innocent foreigners who've been raped, robbed, and turned into hamburger by Wall Street's Military Killing Force. In fact, war has become more popular and acceptable than ever, as it is glamorized by video games, heroic bloody movies and television shows, and a fawning, mindless, manipulative, military boot-licking media.
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A half century gone, and I've gotten old, blotchy, grizzled, and tired. I've joined a few thousand other fans of John Lennon's message of love, and have written about this crap until I'm blue in the face. My friend Steve Church was right when he said: "I can't simply keyboard a revolution into existence." And it appears that revolution isn't about to happen in the foreseeable future. Neither because of nor in spite of my efforts. It seems that Empire has won. Its citizens have been successfully convinced that war is, in fact, the only way to carry on world business, and there is no longer a debate about the morality of such a system. To even question the basic motives and goodness of the U.S. Military would be tantamount to treason. To refuse to stand for the rocket and bomb glorifying national anthem is just about the quickest way to make enemies in this bloody land. I know this from personal experience. My country right or wrong, Love it or leave it, God bless our troops, and blah, blah, fucking blah.
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A half century ago, I prowled the streets of Phoenix, Arizona, sowing my wild oats. Now the crop has ripened and fallen to the ground. Old age arrived unexpectedly and uninvited, carrying with it the gifts of discomfort, heartbreak, disease, loss, and misery. And now, each evening as I watch the smog-orange sunset over the McDowell Range, the dread of my own mortality has been replaced by the excitement of a new adventure. What lies beyond Death's door? Nothing...or perhaps Paradise? I'm betting on a long nap, but I'll try to report back. And unfortunately, when I'm naught but ash, blowing across Teton glaciers, I'll leave behind the one major impediment keeping homo sapiens from understanding that love is all you need. Love is all you need. Love is all you need. WAR! The very vehicle which wrote the history of mankind. Will the dirty business of killing so many hundreds of millions of ordinary folks for fun and profit ever end? Piracy! The very best pirates in history now wage wars and shadow wars in every corner of this sphere. A world still controlled by the progeny of the original pirates.
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A half century ago I knew so much more than I do today. I'm now too fucking old to even care to debate the relative advantages and disadvantages of Capitalism and Communism, or to follow the world stage political theatrics. I'm leaning very strongly toward believing that a final end to war will not come from within the belly of this beast I call home. Our best hopes lie with the Bear and the Dragon, and I sincerely wish them success in declawing the Eagle without ruffling too many feathers. And perhaps there's still hope that homo sapiens will become a less violent and greedy bunch of monkeys, and understand once and for all that love is all you need. Love is all you need. Love is all you need. And to understand once and for all that this amazing blue sphere has more than enough Paradise to share with all.
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And "What is Paradise?" you might be asking. I only discovered the true meaning recently. Surprisingly it was printed on a beer can. And so I leave you with the definition of "Paradise" from a can of Mason Ale Works Cash Imperial Coffee Stout:
JOHN R. HALL, Senior Contributing Editor John R. Hall is a street-trained agnotologist with an advanced degree in American Ignorance. Other hats include: photojournalist, novelist, restaurateur, mountaineer, grocer, nurseryman, and janitor. He’s written three novels which have been read by almost nobody: ‘Embracing Darwin’, ‘Last Dance in Lubberland’, and ‘Atlas fumbled’. An untrained writer and college drop-out, he began his short career in journalism writing the ‘Excursion’ column for The Jackson Hole News & Guide. More recently he penned the ‘Left Column’ for The Molokai Island Times; appropriately on the island once known as a leper colony. John currently resides, writes, and protests injustice in the shadow of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, and walks among the spirits of those who once occupied the 79 Disappeared Pueblos. 
What will it take to bring America to live according to its own self image?
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At 70 I understand everything this article says. In 68 we got our heads smashed by Daley’s thugs. We all understood that the Democratic Party was anything but a promoter of democracy. I went to a frat house and gave out acid. People came up to me and said how beautiful it could be, that it could always be this beautiful, and when I looked in on them a decade later they were buying McMansions and driving suvs. Convention had taken over. No one was a freak anymore. Everyone except me was watching Saturday Night Live. I was a street… Read more »
When the bad guys win, it seems inevitable.
When the good guys win, it seems miraculous.
John Hall has more “common fucking sense” in one eyelash than all of the miscreants in power, who now are leading the U.S. and the world to ruin, perhaps final destruction, combined.
How is it possible to be so inspired by such brilliant writing, and at the same time feel such utter hopelessness?
nice piece which myself (and the posters below obviously) can identify with. in retrospect “the 60’s” however probably weren’t that big a deal. in the long run. hopefully at least some “of us” moved on to a deeper otherness born of a longer view of history than just the transitory illusions of the social reality of the time. the question of whether humans will survive their folly is of course still an open one. the coffee cup quote by the way is from johnny cash. i sustain hope from things like watching up close and personal recently one of the… Read more »
I feel you John ! I remember well the late 60’s and thru the 70’s living with the horror of what “We” were doing to Vietnam and after all that protest finally it stopped and thinking it could never get that bad again in this country, surely somebody had learned their lesson in government, and of course, thru Carter and Reagan and on to today, it never stopped, it morphed and disguised itself, and now today the war machine openly flaunts itself walking around in broad daylight like a naked porn star with a hard on bragging about how big… Read more »
The 60’s were actually a very big deal for social justice. This current frightening state we are in can not and will not last forever. You remember that arc of justice, right? How many folks recall driving through the deep south at the age of 9 and were subjected to harassment by racists and then remember MLK’s speeches, his life and his murder? How many remember the Civil Rights Act being signed into law by LBJ, himself a man of conflicted principles? There were countless other accomplishments as well. These were not small victories. Too many middle class rebels turned… Read more »