As a child of the hippy/flower-power/Woodstock/60’s generation, I ask, WTF happened???

Abbie Hoffman became disillusioned and committed suicide.

Jerry Rubin became a Wall Streeter and was run over by a car in front of his LA penthouse.

John Lennon was murdered in his adopted New York City.

My generation discovered the stock market and said screw the hippies and yuppies; Show Me the Money!

My generation became the greedy establishment we had always railed against. We were ‘enlightened’ by the Age of the Internet, and we used it to get everything we wanted: fame, fortune, Ferraris.

If you think the next gen, Z or ZZ or ZZZ, will be any different, check out TikTok. All the "Influencers" want to be rich and famous for being rich and famous, without doing the work. Entitlement replaces effort.

Wealth and power corrupt absolutely. Life is still nasty and brutish albeit a little longer now. No. The next generation will be drowned by myriad problems just like every other generation, except that they are more likely to physically drowned in rising, heated oceans. A gift from my generation.

Sorry for the pessimism. I do still “Imagine,” but it never seems to get any further than that. The only real hope for the next generation to change the world is to completely redesign the world:

Racial Equality

Economic Equality

Sexual Equality

Class Equality

Spiritual Equality

Equality Equality. Period.

Try preaching that on a presidential debate stage today and be prepared to be hooted off stage by the deranged MAGA crowd screaming, “Socialism!”

And, of course, "Freedom!" And "USA! USA!"

My father’s generation saved the world from fascism. My generation toys with embracing it. Lincoln’s “last best hope of earth” was democracy. When will we ever see the equality that democracy promised?