Thursday, January 20, 2011
I Love College
Ronald Reagan made extremely clear statements of the inappropriateness of the link between the extreme counterculture/hippie movement and a university campus. What formality should be displayed on a college campus? As productive as the Berkeley sit-in may have been, how productive is the hippie movement in terms of an education? Are these students in their noble struggle against the conforming powers of super plaster man in fact bettering themselves with sex, drugs, and rock & roll? The purpose of an education seems to be more in line with Joan Didion's lessons of the power of vocabulary and language rather than diction defined by imprecision, yet, Ken Kesey seemed to believe his pranksters were much more enlightened than its nom-acid using counterparts. Where does this hippie movement fit into our pre-conceived notions of a formal education? Is there a place for LSD?
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Well one way to view it is that LSD was a catalyst. Perhaps the whole hippie movement was a catalyst for an overall learning experience in terms of organizing against "the man." In fact, it could be said that such display of raunchy protest was a product of its times, and as such, should be taken as a sense of education not in the formal way that was perceived before, but an education for the times that these students were in.
ReplyDeleteI really don't know what to think of the hippie movement...an response to "the man"?..the government?..suits and ties?..shower heads?.. Whatever it was, there is no doubt drugs and narcotics were indeed the catalysts. Did they inspire the movement, or did the movement inspire their widespread use? Regardless, where does acid belong on a college campus? Sure, maybe the artists, writers, poets, etc. could gain some inspiration from surreal visions, but could mathematicians, engineers, or biologists benefit in anyway from taking drugs? If any benefits are to be had, could drugs then be considered as giving those who take them an unfair advantage? That would mean taking drugs, would technically be cheating O_o...however one looks at it, drugs don't end up belonging on a college campus...hmm...this all seems irrelevant to the original post :(...poo
ReplyDeleteI was contemplating a similar idea when we were watching the documentary on Monday. If there were a similar movement today, would I be willing to give up everything to participate? Obviously some of the hippie protestors ended up successful in life, but then you see the interviewed members of the Weatherman and i don't think I would choose their life. For those involved in the hippie anti-war movement on college campuses it seems as if education was not a priority at all. I do agree that a large majority of education has to do with the power of vocabulary and language, but isn't life and the things we experience as individuals also a form of education? As I see it, the hippie movement is a revolt/rejection of the status quo; everything it stands for and every tool used to create it, including formal education. Could it be argued that the hippie movement focused more on education through experience and LSD was a catalyst to those experiences?
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