03-02-2021, 02:53 PM
(This post was last modified: 03-02-2021, 10:36 PM by Eric the Green.)
(03-02-2021, 09:50 AM)Captain Genet Wrote: For me "idealist" means a person who is driven by a desire for nobler life, not driven by either carnal pleasure, acquisitive impulses, or glorification of one's tribe. Is Trump an idealist? No, he only cares for money, power and sex. Were hippies idealists? Some people might suppose they were, but a life of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll deserves to be called hedonism, not idealism.
True, but the hippies were idealists, as well as hedonists. They had a vision of a society based on love and sharing. I guess it was described in part by John Lennon's well-known song "Imagine" or the Youngbloods' "Get Together". For me though, idealism goes well beyond a personal conception of a noble life, but a vision of what our lives together can be. That often means political, or economic relations, what our cities should look like, or going back to the land and preserving Nature, etc.
There are some ideals in sex, drugs and rock'n'roll too. Being able to enjoy life, and not just work for a future life or for money, is an ideal. Sex is a power within that is creative, motivating and vitalizing. Drugs included means of expanding consciousness, and used correctly, with proper set and setting, they can connect you with the highest visions and imagination. But they are not for everyone, including me. Rock'n'roll is an art form that can be extremely crass and gross, but also can rise to the highest levels of sensitivity, revelation, elaborate sound and harmonies, blissful joy and physical energy and rhythm. It's a matter of which music you choose. So, the notion of "sex, drugs and rock'n'roll" is not as simple as its detractors claim. (btw the older version of this was "wine, women and song")
My choices of music in the rock/pop field are listed here (and it's highly influenced by the hippie, psychedelic cultures, but not limited to it):
http://philosopherswheel.com/ericrock.html