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Nostalgia March 2018

Social Insecurity

Make Love, Not War—Then Take a Nap

By Michael J. Murphy

Truthfully, I never was a real hippie. Oh, I dabbled in the long hair, bell-bottoms, beads, etc., thing. And I spent my fair share of lonely days and nights hitch-hiking across various states.
But I never got into the commune-living, drug-taking, free-sex (dang it) stuff.

Occasionally during my teaching career some smart-aleck student would ask, “Mr. Murphy, were you one of those pot-smoking, long-haired hippies, wearing beads and sandals?”

What I wanted to say was, “Yeah, we weren’t cool like your generation. Wish I could byoung like you guys. Then I could get hit by a truck when crossing the street while watching cat videos on my $999 phone.” But, instead, I simply said, “No.”

Truthfully, I never was a real hippie. Oh, I dabbled in the long hair, bell-bottoms, beads, etc., thing. And I spent my fair share of lonely days and nights hitchhiking across various states. But I never got into the commune-living, drug-taking, free-sex (dang it) stuff. As far as counterculture or antiwar movements, I wrote a few poems, that’s about it.

Lately I’ve been thinking maybe it’s still possible to revive certain aspects of the hippie movement for my age group. With the marijuana legalization cloud wafting across the nation, the bumper crop of vegans chomping away at changing our eating habits, and all the talk about nuclear war, what better time than now to dig out that necklace with the peace sign on it?

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that my fellow seniors spray paint psychedelic flowers and mushrooms all over their nice white four-door sedans. And it goes without saying that my wife and I are not about to go roll around half-naked in the mud at Woodstock. Well, she can, but I’m just going to sit in my rocking lawn chair and watch.

However, there are definitely counterculture and antiwar opportunities for golden-age hippies that, with a few commonsense precautions, shouldn’t result in back or hip injuries. For example, with legalized medical marijuana in over 20 states already, there appears to be ample justification for cool seniors to get involved in the marijuana legalization movement. And I say “Right on, dude!”

Why, the list of potential health benefits of marijuana for seniors blows my mind: treats glaucoma, slows the progression of Alzheimer's disease, stops cancer from spreading, relieves arthritis discomfort, soothes tremors for people with Parkinson's disease, protects the brain after a stroke, and more.

Sure, a person’s short-term memory performs worse when high. But, heck, I can’t seem to remember diddly-squat nowadays anyway. So, like, what was I just talking about? Oh, yeah, the weather has been lousy here too.

And isn’t this the ideal time for some of us retired folks to jump back up onto the antiwar bandwagon? On second thought, don’t jump. Better use your step stool just to be safe.

The big challenge is finding something at our age that we can do to protest the swirling threats of war. First of all, it’s probably not wise to call for boycotts of corporations in the military-industrial complex when we own their stock in our IRA.

Obviously, the “Hell no, we won’t go” chant is no longer relevant. That is, unless we’re protesting going to the doctor for our Medicare annual wellness checkup. I guess staging a sit-in demonstration on a college campus is also out of the question. I mean, who’s going to help us get up off the floor?

Another issue custom-made for a grey-power hippie revival today is preserving the environment. As a member of the environmental advocacy group Greenpeace back in the ‘70s, I never did attempt to save whales from Japanese harpoons. But I did sneak into a zoo one night to open the sloth’s cage and set it free. Unfortunately, by morning it was only halfway out the cage door so was easily recaptured.

One recent social crusade that most clearly has all the earmarks of a throwback to the hippie era is the #MeToo movement. Feminists clear back in the ‘60s were calling for an end to domestic violence and sexual harassment also.

For seniors some of that women’s liberation movement stuff from back in the day is impractical, like wearing miniskirts. And although no women that I have talked to are willing to burn their bras, a few portly men my age declared that they would gladly burn theirs for the cause.

The hippie slogan that inarguably still rings true for me today is “If it feels good, do it.” Thus, I am now heading over to the couch to mellow out and take a very groovy nap.

 

Mike Murphy retired after a 35-year teaching and coaching career. He has a master’s degree in English from the University of Nebraska and is an Associated Press award-winning columnist.

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