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I think this is orthodox Neoconism. The baby boomers were hippies who did drugs, attacked the Vietnam war, questioned authority, promoted "free love", and so on

by ojbyrne 18y ago

I think this is orthodox Neoconism. The baby boomers were hippies who did drugs, attacked the Vietnam war, questioned authority, promoted "free love", and so on. Most importantly, their independence of thought is what makes them "selfish." Contrasting them with the "Greatest Generation," whose lives were basically dictated to them when WW2 started, and supported the House Committee on UnAmerican Activities. Can we call them the "Pleasantville Generation?" instead.

anamax 18y ago
< The baby boomers were hippies who did drugs, attacked the Vietnam war, questioned authority, promoted "free love", How'd that work out? > Contrasting them with the "Greatest Generation," whose lives were basically dictated to them when WW2 started, and supported the House Committee on UnAmerican Activities. And the Soviets later revealed that there were Communists in the US govt and that they were trying to "influence" Hollywood. > Can we call them the "Pleasantville Generation?" instead. Whenever it comes down to "squares" vs "cool", you can be pretty sure that the "cool" will screw things up more. In other news, truth is not beauty and you have to be pretty stoned to think otherwise.
- ajkirwin 18y ago
  > Whenever it comes down to "squares" vs "cool", you can be pretty sure that the "cool" will screw things up more. How can you be so sure? They've never really had the chance.
- ojbyrne 18y ago
  I think it's fairly well documented that in amongst the hippies doing drugs were some key people involved in the creation of the computer, software, networking and internet industries.
  - anamax 18y ago
    http://www.amazon.com/Where-Wizards-Stay-Up-Late/dp/0684832674 http://www.amazon.com/Where-Wizards-Stay-Up-Late/dp/06848326... Also, long hair and drugs doesn't make you "cool". (If it did, meth heads would be cool.)
time_management 18y ago
Neocons are an altogether strange phenomenon. Neocons aren't conservative or liberal, so much as they're opportunistic authoritarians. In the 1960s, when they were young and believed the Left stood a decent chance of overthrowing the US government, they were communists. They weren't the same people as the hippies or civil rights activists; they were the ones mobbing and beating up returned veterans in San Francisco. In the 1980s and '90s, when their generation and the conservative movement were firmly in power, they swung from the authoritarian left to the authoritarian right, which really aren't very far apart.
DanielBMarkham 18y ago
isn't "orthodox neocon" an oxymoron? How can you have a long-standing standard for a completely new phenomenon?
- ojbyrne 18y ago
  They've been around since Reagan. And most of their principles and the key people appeared during Nixon's administration.
  - hugh 18y ago
    In that case the term "neocon" is sufficiently broad to be meaningless. We should probably make up new labels if nobody can agree on what this one means.
    - ojbyrne 18y ago
      I'm not sure why. Because of the "neo?" There's plenty of things using that prefix that are no longer new - neoclassical economics, for example.

by ojbyrne 18y ago

anamax 18y ago

< The baby boomers were hippies who did drugs, attacked the Vietnam war, questioned authority, promoted "free love", How'd that work out? > Contrasting them with the "Greatest Generation," whose lives were basically dictated to them when WW2 started, and supported the House Committee on UnAmerican Activities. And the Soviets later revealed that there were Communists in the US govt and that they were trying to "influence" Hollywood. > Can we call them the "Pleasantville Generation?" instead. Whenever it comes down to "squares" vs "cool", you can be pretty sure that the "cool" will screw things up more. In other news, truth is not beauty and you have to be pretty stoned to think otherwise.

ajkirwin 18y ago
> Whenever it comes down to "squares" vs "cool", you can be pretty sure that the "cool" will screw things up more. How can you be so sure? They've never really had the chance.
ojbyrne 18y ago
I think it's fairly well documented that in amongst the hippies doing drugs were some key people involved in the creation of the computer, software, networking and internet industries.
- anamax 18y ago
  http://www.amazon.com/Where-Wizards-Stay-Up-Late/dp/0684832674 http://www.amazon.com/Where-Wizards-Stay-Up-Late/dp/06848326... Also, long hair and drugs doesn't make you "cool". (If it did, meth heads would be cool.)

time_management 18y ago

Neocons are an altogether strange phenomenon. Neocons aren't conservative or liberal, so much as they're opportunistic authoritarians. In the 1960s, when they were young and believed the Left stood a decent chance of overthrowing the US government, they were communists. They weren't the same people as the hippies or civil rights activists; they were the ones mobbing and beating up returned veterans in San Francisco. In the 1980s and '90s, when their generation and the conservative movement were firmly in power, they swung from the authoritarian left to the authoritarian right, which really aren't very far apart.

DanielBMarkham 18y ago

isn't "orthodox neocon" an oxymoron? How can you have a long-standing standard for a completely new phenomenon?

ojbyrne 18y ago
They've been around since Reagan. And most of their principles and the key people appeared during Nixon's administration.
- hugh 18y ago
  In that case the term "neocon" is sufficiently broad to be meaningless. We should probably make up new labels if nobody can agree on what this one means.
  - ojbyrne 18y ago
    I'm not sure why. Because of the "neo?" There's plenty of things using that prefix that are no longer new - neoclassical economics, for example.