Boom! Voices of the Sixties

In Tom Brokaw's new book Boom! Voices of the Sixties he explains with the help of 100"class of 68s" what the legacy of the 1960's was. He mentioned on the Today Show that he thought in some ways, they went too far.

I have to agree. (Disclaimer, I havent read the book, I'm speaking of personal opinion) - I totally agree that radical changes have been made on behalf of the "civil rights" and "feminist" movements. However, these are the 2 areas in which I think that the FOLLOWING generations have taken TOO FAR. And in some ways, haven't gotten NEARLY ENOUGH out of it. There is a serious LACK OF RESPONSIBILITY in PASSING DOWN THE VALUES OF THESE MOVEMENTS! They were about EQUALITY people!

Yes, women have gotten SOME places with the feminist movement, they are ALLOWED in the workplaces not allowed before, but we still don't get paid equally, and a lot of the younger generations took a bad turn when using sex in the workplace to get ahead. That means that to get ahead THE REST OF US have to use sex- or we dont' get ahead. And that's not fair. It's become common that you wear low cut shirts or flirt with your boss to get ahead. In turn, the sexual revolution allowed for birth control and women's control over their own bodies. HOWEVER it has gone TOO FAR in that we have 11 year olds getting birth control handed to them free at their middle school with NO EXPLANATION OF HOW TO USE IT, COUNSELING, ANYTHING!!! What? That's not progress! That's here, let the little boys take advantage of you. Please, please get pregnant... you can handle it, after all you're 11! And we have college girls having sex with their professors to get grades and having sex with all of their classmates (to their future shame) to "get their satisfaction-it's their right to have as much booty call as they want with anyone they want and no one should call them names." The more sexual partners you have, the more likely you are to get HIV, AIDS, and any number of diseases. Where did the message get messed up? How did we go from "I, as an adult, have right over my own body" to "I'm going to use my body to get ahead and cheapen myself." And the older girls that do this tell their younger sisters and neighbors and friends to do the same. Kids. Just little kids. And when young teens, especially don't even know what "gettin their own" acutally means. Without thought to the consequences, responsibilities or emotional fall out.

It is up to US, the kids of the boomers, the grandkids of the boomers, to TURN THIS AROUND! Teach your kids about sex being for love, no matter what the media says. Teach them about their bodies being their own, that they are NOT currency, that sex in exchange for something is wrong. That you won't get anything by having a random person's baby. Or by being a baby daddy. That it will slow down their careers. It's true. Don't even try and tell me that no one had to take one day off of work for a sick child or not accept a job because they like the school district their kids are in. Or have to work in a lower job than you are capable of because you couldn't finish your education. Youngsters shouldn't have to make that choice. That's an adult decision - which is why kids shouldn't have kids. (And dont write me hate mail because you had a kid young - I'm not talking to you personally. You probably know better than anyone what it feels like to have this ideal turned against you.)

It is up to US to lower the teen pregnancy rate that keeps going up DESPITE the availability of contraceptives, and that starts early. In the home. Teach your girls AND boys about the adultness, the responsibility, the life changing events that happen when you enter that world. If they can't handle the responsibility - pay for their own birth control, pay for diapers, sit and talk as an adult with their parents about sex and consequences, or talk to a health provider, to their future partner about consequences what have you - then they aren't ready.

On the second front, the civil rights front. The ONLY negative things I see about this are #1 good people are afraid they'll be sued or beat up for an offhand remark that ISN'T racial in the slightest and #2 people are suing for "past discriminances" such as slavery that none of us in the real world in 2007 can do a darn thing about. No, we can't help you, like we can't help ourselves as descendants of American Indians that were killed off by the millions or the Chinese who built the railroads. Sorry, we just can't. Yes, I know there are still unfairnesses in this world. I have to deal with them too, but I am pulling myself from lower class to maybe middle class by the time my kids are grown by hard work. You do the same. And how about asking what people mean by a statement before automatically filing a grievance? It may have had nothing to do with anything, and you'd ruin someone else's life because you have too active of an imagination?

Again, the ideals have been taken too far, by the next generation who wasn't there, and who has inflated the ideals of peace and equality to something that it was never meant to promote. This isn't about greed. Or "gettin what's coming to you." It's about equality. And since black men are paid more for the dollar than white women, I'd say they got a little bit farther than women did. Not equal, not fair, but a little bit farther. And this was done by rational thinking, not by suing for ancient wrongdoings. How would Dr. MLK Jr. feel if he saw his own people trying to get rich the easy way instead of proving themselves? That's not equality.

Take responsibility for yourself. Make the good changes in your life. Live honorably. "It's better to be hated for who you are than beloved for who you're not."