George and Patti Harrison at Haight-Ashbury, 1967
I’ve just watched Part One of Martin Scorsese’s HBO documentary on the life of Beatle George Harrison. Part One takes us up through the time period of the “White Album” (1968) and gives us insight into some of George’s motivation in pursuing Eastern philosophy. Yes, you were right. “Drugs” did play at least a small role. But, it turns out; George Harrison quit the drug scene rather early on, fearful of the long term effects. If he had only been as fearful of the long term effect of exposure to tobacco the world might be a better place for his continued presence.
One particular part of the story had some real resonance for me today concerning recent events in the news. There was film of Harrison’s visit to Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco in 1967. This was at the height of the “Psychedelic Era.” In an interview recorded much later, George is sort of narrating the film of his visit. He talks of how he had hoped to see some sort of creative paradise filled with shops and artisans busily creating beautiful and imaginative arts and crafts. Instead, he found a disarray of young people, most of whom were stoned to their gills, wandering about aimlessly.
In describing his disappointment with the “Hippie Movement” he found in San Francisco, Harrison described the people he saw as “Spotty Youth.”
This brings us to today and the current “Movement” to “Occupy Wall Street” and other places of power… yet ironically, not the prime seat of power, Washington D.C. because that would be “politically incorrect.” I’ve been watching news reports of the “Wall Street” protests. Much of the main-stream media has been cheerleading for these folks. Yet, just who are these people?
"New York Day of Rage" from zombietime.com
The primary faction behind organizing (sort of “organizing”) this “Occupation” was the Canadian group billed as “Ad Busters.” Yes. That’s right. Canadian. Remember that come time for the NHL hockey playoffs. The hacker group known as “Anonymous” has also had their rather small forces in attendance. They’re the ones wearing those faux Guy Fawkes masks that were passé 20 minutes after the movie was over.
We also see the usual gang of “useful idiots” (in Stalin’s words) who are waiting for their chance to break some windows and their counter-parts, the aging hippies who have yet to exhaust the trust funds they inherited from their grandparents back in the Haight-Ashbury days. And, the “Truthers” who “just know man! They just know!”
Add to this, the influence of the “Center for American Progress” (Van Jones’ new gig after getting caught using the Federal Treasury as a Piggy-Bank to reward Obama 2008 donors) and their offshoot, “Campus Progress” and I think it’s pretty easy to see why these protesters were never headed to Washington and the real source of their alleged ire. They are simply tools being used by the DNC and the political Left. At this point, we must mention the fact that this “growing” protest movement has failed to attract even 5% of their “expected” numbers. Bill O’Reilly has pointed out that “The Black Eyed Peas” attracted a crowd of 30,000 at Central Park just a few days before, easily outnumbering the rather scanty crowd on Wall Street.
And finally, that’s where the George Harrison connection comes in. George had seen “spotty youth” wandering about in his time, without any clear direction and without even appearing to give much thought to their actions. In the Sixties they had LSD to numb their minds from the terrible ennui that defined their existence. The protesters near Wall Street though, draw from a miserable apothecary of failed ideas and broken promises. They have no balm for their tortured minds and must live day-to-day with the searing realization that the free wireless LAN in Lower Manhattan simply will not allow all of them to watch themselves on YouTube at once.
These are today’s “spotty youth.” They are well fed, lightly taxed and without a care in the world. And so, they must invent cares. Heavy and important cares. They also must import their anger from Canada, where, as luck would have it, so many American manufacturing jobs have fled due to the oppression of the union thugs who are about to join the aforementioned spotty youth. There really is no wisdom to be found here and certainly no answers to today’s pressing problems.
