Trends…
With me, of course, it’s all about Culture — and our Artists. Voices. Images.
Every decade has had its own vibe: Roaring Twenties, Dirty Thirties, Fighting Forties, Fat Fifties…
Then came the decade we Boomers embraced and helped create. The Sixties.
1960 was just a rehash of the boring 50’s.
But in 1961 university students were discovering Robert Heinlein’s STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND and Tolkien’s LORD OF THE RINGS and zealously spreading the word.
And 1962 saw a cultural explosion: the Beatles and James Bond were released in October of that year. The British Invasion would change, and define, the Sixties.
American mainstream publishing and television still ignored us for most of the decade but it didn’t matter — our culture was in our Music! Our Singer-Songwriters defined the Boomer Generation. Still do.
By the way, the first genuine Boomer moment for me on TV was in 1967 when I first met Science Officer Spock — a character created by a WWII combat veteran who believed that Humankind could be better than what his generation had experienced: “We must strive to be more than we are.”
I’ve written that the best writers of my Boomer Generation (those who caught our times and our soul) are our Singer-Songwriters. We first heard their songs on the radio and tripped out on their revelations. Bought their vinyl recordings and played them over and over again my friend. And now I scoff down their doorstopper autobiographies — memoirs, memories, memorials.
Somewhere in my youthful reading I came across the Romantic Poet’s idea that, with the collapse of Religion as our cultural foundation, it was The Poets (i. e. Creative Artists) who are the priesthood of our New Times.
From Edgar Rice Burroughs: “It has remained for man alone among all creatures to kill senselessly and wantonly for the mere pleasure of inflicting suffering and death,” said Tarzan. To Bruce Cockburn: “You gotta kick at the darkness till it bleeds daylight – Lovers in a dangerous time…”
There’s a new Decade, these Twenty-Twenties, coming together right now. Who will be its Voices?
I’m thinking that — finally — we’ll be seeing that Renewed Spirituality so often predicted! A recombination of Traditional and au courant. I have reasons to feel this. Stay Tuned. And Peace, baby.
“Live Free, Mon Ami!” – Brian Alan Burhoe
“It is the struggle itself that is most important. We must strive to be more than we are. It does not matter that we will not reach our ultimate goal. The effort itself yields its own reward.” – Gene Roddenberry
Bonne Année 2022!
2022 Trends: Culture & Spirituality – What Will The 2020’s Be Called?
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