This oldies site is a good one:
http://oldfortyfives.com/TakeMeBackToTheFifties.htm
It caused some delirious elation in me, more than could be legally expected, as I jumped around and danced wildly, especially to At the Hop. I hope y'all have attached good speakers with separate bass to your 'puter.
As I rest my knees, it occurs to me that we, the first of the Boomers (1946-50), lived during some unique, idyllic times. I acknowledge that all time-spaces are unique and that there have been studies of the underside of life in America in the 1950s (e.g., domestic violence and racism), but being born not long after the Depression and very soon after WW II (although collectively we suffered from some of our fathers' psychological repercussions from war) afforded us the milieu of renewed hope and confidence of our world getting better. Though the Cold War was a sobering check on unfettered optimism (for many years I had serious dreams of nuclear war), the Zeitgeist of 1950s America was still that the City upon the Hill was reachable and we were very nearly living on that Hill.
Perhaps dystopian times are upon us now, but at least I can dance wildly--in both body and spirit--at the Hop, on the Hill, in my rock-'n-rolled embodied space.
Showing posts with label Boomers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Boomers. Show all posts
11 January 2009
11 September 2008
FRODO SMOKES WELTSCHMERZ
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/shared/news/stories/2008/09/DRUGS_ELDERLY05_PBP.html?cxntlid=inform_artr
Whoever chose the headline that says Boomers are the biggest druggies misinterpreted the data given in the article linked above. Those data show clearly that 9.5 % of 12 to 17-year-olds reported using illicit drugs in the previous month (although, happily, the rates have been dropping), while only 4.1 % of 55 to 59-year-olds reported this activity.
Second, in the older cohort, out of the five years, two show declines, while the last year--2007--shows a large percentage increase. This says to me that the data are not very reliable, unless the researchers are able to explain the variation appearing in such a short time.
Third, is a 4.1% use-rate among the older age cohort--about 1 person in 25--such a large use-rate? If the trend towards a quickly rising use-rate is true, then perhaps there is a growing problem.
Disclaimer: I do NOT use any illicit drugs whatsoever, and very nearly no legal ones (exception is caffeine, but no alcohol. I'm about as clean as you will find.)
I wonder how the researchers speculate as to the reasons for increased illicit drug use among Boomers? Retirees puttering around the yard high for close connection to nature? Aches and pains of increasing (old) age leading to anti-pain self-medication? Attempting to re-create pleasant and nostalgic memories of earlier halcyon days of past hippiedom (my case entirely!)? Assessment of current disgusting state of public discourse leading toward search for an anodyne to assuage present Weltschmerz (count me in the category, too!)?
What I'm saying is that the actual state of the world sucks (this is a post-Boomer term that evidently means something is definitely NOT groovy!), compared to an idealized state. So, some Boomers decide to blow cannabis smoke rings while daydreaming of Middle Earth. So?
Whoever chose the headline that says Boomers are the biggest druggies misinterpreted the data given in the article linked above. Those data show clearly that 9.5 % of 12 to 17-year-olds reported using illicit drugs in the previous month (although, happily, the rates have been dropping), while only 4.1 % of 55 to 59-year-olds reported this activity.
Second, in the older cohort, out of the five years, two show declines, while the last year--2007--shows a large percentage increase. This says to me that the data are not very reliable, unless the researchers are able to explain the variation appearing in such a short time.
Third, is a 4.1% use-rate among the older age cohort--about 1 person in 25--such a large use-rate? If the trend towards a quickly rising use-rate is true, then perhaps there is a growing problem.
Disclaimer: I do NOT use any illicit drugs whatsoever, and very nearly no legal ones (exception is caffeine, but no alcohol. I'm about as clean as you will find.)
I wonder how the researchers speculate as to the reasons for increased illicit drug use among Boomers? Retirees puttering around the yard high for close connection to nature? Aches and pains of increasing (old) age leading to anti-pain self-medication? Attempting to re-create pleasant and nostalgic memories of earlier halcyon days of past hippiedom (my case entirely!)? Assessment of current disgusting state of public discourse leading toward search for an anodyne to assuage present Weltschmerz (count me in the category, too!)?
What I'm saying is that the actual state of the world sucks (this is a post-Boomer term that evidently means something is definitely NOT groovy!), compared to an idealized state. So, some Boomers decide to blow cannabis smoke rings while daydreaming of Middle Earth. So?
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