What Did Altamont And Woodstock Accomplish

Are millennials babyboomer’s greatest achievement?

From the strict standpoint of evolutionary biology, the answer is yes. But the same thing can be said of any generation that lives long enough to successfully reproduce itself so it’s not really saying all that much.If you asked a typical Baby Boomer what their greatest collective achievement was, you’d hear all these great stories about marching for civil rights, advancing women’s rights, ending the war in Vietnam, etc. What you would not hear about would be their role in escalating the average national divorce rate up to 50%, their advocacy of sexual promiscuity, drug abuse, rampant materialism, crippling reliance on psychotherapy, economic selfishness, and their unmitigated gall in largely embracing conservatism in the political and moral arenas after decades of self-congratulatingly flipping the bird at those principles.In terms of assessing the Baby Boomers’ collective opinion of themselves, it’s important to keep in mind how Boomers love to wax nostalgic about the ideals and cultural significance of Woodstock, all the while hoping no one ever mentions the Altamont Free Concert.

Why was The Woodstock festival important?

Woodstock was important for a number of reasons, but in many ways it's become a single symbol for events that took place over several years. There were a number of large outdoor concerts at the time, most of which, such as Altamont and Isle of Man are barely remembered. Woodstock was planned to be the biggest, and ended up even bigger than the planners intended. The crowds were so huge that they swamped the admissions gates, knocked over fences and just kept coming and coming. Because it was big and making headlines, even more people decided to go. It became a free concert because the producers couldn't handle ticket-taking.So size was one major reason Woodstock was important. Another was just the quality of the bands who played. Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Jefferson Airplane and so many more were the major bands of the underground music scene, something which hasn't existed for decades, but was a major part of the 60s/hippie movement.The main reason Woodstock is important, though, is that it has become a cultural touchstone. Half a million young people were there, they lived in peace for three days without any visible form of security, they cooperated to share food, shelter ... and drugs. Listen to Joni Mitchell's song "Woodstock" to get a sense of the feeling of wonder and empowerment that came from the concert. It made the hippie movement feel strong and capable and gave them the sense that they could accomplish anything. Unfortunately, it also provoked the fears of the Establishment who worked to diffuse that power and to put the youth back in line. So Woodstock can be seen as the peak of a youth movement that felt like it was about to change the world, and shortly later disappeared.

What year did Neil Armstrong step on the Moon? How is this year significant to the world?

Two rather remarkable events occurred within one month of each other during the summer of 1969.On July 20, the world watched some rather grainy pictures as Neil Armstrong walked down that series of steps into history. It was the remarkable high point of a space race that had begun more than a decade earlier when the Soviet Union launched its historic Sputnik into space (1957). In twelve years, these two remarkable nations moved from sending something the size of a piece of fruit to sending something that was capable of uncoupling and then recoupling while accomplishing one of the more difficult missions ever conceived. Just as remarkable was the fact that most of the mission was guided by humans doing calculations as the computer I write this with has more computing power than anything that existed at the time.On August 15–17, the Woodstock festival took place in rural New York. For a brief moment, the world seemed to have passed into a new phase centered on music, drugs, sex, and “peace.”Why both of these things are significant is that they happened after the terrible year of 1968, when both Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated, when the US election convention in Chicago spurred street violence, and when there were street protests throughout the US and Europe.For me, this was the first summer after graduation and I was preparing to go out into the “real world” far away from Northern Minnesota. The optimism engendered by those two events was short-lived, however, as we soon grew bored with moon missions and soon realized that something like Altamont could be the B-side of Woodstock.I remember the summer of 1969 as a very sunny place.

What is or was the best decade of your life and why?

For me, the decades got better as I got older.To the point that this past decade aged 58 - 68, has without doubt been the best. Just amazing ten years. Surpassed my wildest dreams.Moved to Chiang Mai, ThailandExperienced amazing sex, love and friendshipReinvented my professional selfTraveled to every South East and East Asian countrySaw my kids become adultsPushed my professional boundaries and knowledgeLearned so much about life, people, culture, and myselfDiscovered my spiritual self, through BuddhismLaughed a lot, cried a littleLive a safe, secure, prosperous life.Had many adventuresI expect the next decade to be somewhat quieter.