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After
the War and Good Times
By Mona Lease
Hi, all!!! The following is based on fact. I'll let you know when it's
my conjecture - my interpretation. Read on if you like - I tried to
"clean-up" a lot of it.
It might have started before World War 1 - I'm starting there. So - we
had World War 1 and it was officially ended on November 11, 1918.
On the heels of this "peace time" period came the stock market crash -
officially beginning on "Black Tuesday" - October 29, 1929.
The stock market's official crash ushered in a 10-year period known as
The Great Depression. It ended in 1939. Unemployment rose to 25% or 15
million unemployed Americans.
Germany invaded Poland which started World War 2 - September 1, 1939
and ended May 8, 1945. Germany's unconditional surrender is considered
the ending of World War 2.
During the above time periods - women won the right to have a passport
in their name and not "Jane Doe wife of John Doe." Women gained other
rights along the way.
Viet Nam began on November 1, 1955 and ended on April 30, 1975., The US
entered Viet Nam on March 8, 1965 and fought until the cease-fire of
January 1973.
May 4, 1970 saw Kent State the site of a demonstration. Protestors were
demonstrating against the bombing of Cambodia by US military forces
during the Viet Nam years. Four Kent State students (Kent, Ohio) were
killed. They were all unarmed when National Guardsmen fired into the
college crowd. This was a shock to most people.
In the 1960's and 1970's it all went "off the rails." Both parents were
working or the Mother who was divorced and had custody of her kiddies
was working.
"Latchkey kids" were born - as it were - in the late 1970's and early
1980's. These were kiddies aged 5-13 who took care of themselves before
and after school with little or no adult supervision,
The Great Depression, World War 2, Viet Nam, (there was the Korean
Conflict), and other lesser skirmishes - then living took a turn for
the better. Make no mistake here - every war - every conflict - is bad.
One life lost is one too many. I listed what I believe were the worst
of the worst.
New toys - new gidgets - new gadgets - appeared on the scene. Jobs
seemed more plentiful. Getting a bank loan got easier.
It became "fashionable" during the late 1960's and the 1970's to see a
psychiatrist - who prescribed Seconals (reds) or Tuinals (red/blues).
It became popular to visit the psychiatrist, take the prescription
pills and drink wine. It started in California and eased it's way to
the East Coast.
This became "chic" and usually women did this - which led to the pills
being called "dolls." Jacqueline Susann wrote a book about this
California lifestyle called - Valley of the Dolls. In 1967 it became a
movie.
Free sex - free love - "make love not war" - "if you can't be with the
one you love, love the one you're with" - "the pill" - the "morning
after" pill - legal abortion clinics - sperm banks - antibiotics for VD
and a host of other sexually transmitted diseases and ailments - the
rise of divorce - co.ed colleges - open nudity - nudist colonies -
weight loss pills - and on it went.
Commercials on television, the radio, and billboards had ads to sell
cigarettes... alcohol... women's feminine hygiene products... male
contraceptives, etc. Jacqueline Susann (and others) sold sexually
explicit books... anywhere and everywhere. Libraries added them to
their collection.
Hugh Hefner started his first Playboy Club in February of 1960... in
Chicago, Illinois. It was an age of living it good... living it
large... with seemingly no repercussions...nothing for which to be
sorry. ("Love is never having to say you're sorry" was another popular
phrase.).
The above information may all be found on Wikipedia.
Now begins my take. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of
times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was
the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season
of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it
was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing
before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct
the other way..." A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens… 1859.
The date assigned to the baby-boomers goes past their ending year -
1965. I'm mentoring a kid born in 1993. His parents are baby-boomers He
was raised the way they lived... into a culture that was changed with
the introduction of cell phones, personal computers and such.
With the divorce rate so high - "step-Mommies" and "step-Daddies"
appeared. A few baby-boomers" shared with me their story. Another
Daddy... another set of rules... for a while. Then another "step"
Mommy, sister, brother, etc.
I've heard stories of kids being slapped in the face by a Mom for a bad
school grade. I've heard about "sexual favors" from an eleven year old
girl to a "step" Daddy for a new gadget. I've heard of broken fingers
from beatings. I've known adults say they were told to keep quiet about
all of this or Children's Services would take them to somewhere worse.
I'm mentoring a gal close to my age who is watching her Momma die. She
said she's been fighting for her Momma since she was 6. She is now 52.
She told me stories of living in a foster home. The stories I hear are
all alike and these people do not know each other.
I'm also watching young adults (married and co-habituating) stay
together and work out their troubles. They do not want to raise their
kiddies the way they were raised. These previous kiddies know... and
they probably ALL know... that with all of the job opportunities -
raising kiddies on your own (and with both parents in the home) comes
with an unreal amount of stress. And the kiddies paid that price. One
woman told me her Mother spit on her and told her she was the reason
her Dad drank.
The coveted house with the opulent furnishings that was so popular had
an ugly lifestyle behind those closed-curtains windows.
A Reverend - who is a baby-boomer - told me we have to break this
cycle. He said that because of his beatings, he was not going to
discipline his kiddies that way.
And, I actually believe: If two parents - or even one parent - is
constantly using... say cocaine, heroin, acid, or any "laced" drug...
how can you expect a kiddie conceived under these conditions to not be
dependent on something?
In the midst of a sperm cell and an egg cell uniting (carrying all the
DNA/RNA, chromosomal information each needs) multiplying like crazy to
form a rudimentary heart and circulatory system first...how could you
expect the cells to "talk" sanely to each other with extra chemicals
thrown into the mix?
I come by this because another kiddie I was mentoring would be ok...
hold a job, pay bills and such. Then "out of the blue"… he has to go
"get high." Then he's good for another 3 months or so. It can't be
camping. It can't be fishing. It has to be "getting high." He was born
to two parents who used drugs much too regularly. I think it's in his
DNA.
I actually believe that his body can't use cells that have no specific
job attached to them because the drug's chemical imprint is missing. I
believe that missing percentage of chemical imprint upsets the
applecart (brain) and when that chemical is reintroduced (in whatever
form)...the brain and body can "reset" themselves for another extended
period of time.
I think this is why there are those that just do not seem to be able to
be healed of their addiction. And I wonder if this is the "price" we're
paying now for all of the "free love"..."free sex"..."free
condoms"..."free"..."free"..."free" - we should have paid back
then.
Thanks for considering, readers. Ya'll deserve a medal for reading that
which lurks in my mind!!
Remember the kiddies and our service people. Take good care of the
furry and feathered ones out there. Be safe and healthy. See ya next
time. Ever Toodles!! MONA
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