Blame the Hippies for Western Defeatism

Submitted by Dave (United States), Apr 28, 2017 at 22:56

Up until the 1960s the West had its act together. The West held together well during the Korean War, just as it had during World War II. Israel was very popular after it won the 67 war. There was a confident sense of the rightness of Western values. Then the Vietnam War came along, and the Civil Rights Movement. Reaction, or overreaction, to those developments catalyzed the hippie movement.

Here are some of the hallmarks of the counter-culture: Disdain for traditional employment; social leveling involving disdain for wealth and love of the poor; love for all mankind regardless of racial or cultural differences which led to a pacifistic approach to defense (if we're as bad as they are, why defend ourselves?); hatred of traditional religion and government and its power; ecstatic spirituality aided by psychotropic drugs.
These tendencies bear a striking resemblance to some Christian beliefs: The concept that the Lord will provide (Luke 12:27) so work is unnecessary; the many verses denigrating greed and elevating righteousness over wealth; the exhortation to love one's enemies, to love the stranger, to turn the other cheek; equality of Man from Genesis 1:26-7 on how the Lord made Man in His own image; the emphasis on visions of John in the desert and other spiritual ecstatic experiences of the prophets and saints.

The hippies twisted these sacred and valuable teachings and used them to emasculate and demoralize the West. They discouraged pride in the uniqueness and special value of Western accomplishments through dogmatic cultural relativism, consequently scorning the need for a robust physical or moral defense. They discouraged hard work and excused welfare dependency. By using love of all as an excuse, they have been key in shutting down free speech in the name of anti-racism. They glorified and popularized drug abuse in the name of expanded consciousness, harming millions. They were suckers for Soviet propaganda demonizing Israel as an oppressor of the "Palestinians" (hippies love hating oppressors) since Israel used military force and was not sufficiently loving to her enemies. And, of course, criticizing Islam violates cultural relativism.

It's a short step from seeing Israel as oppressive to demonizing Jews in general, and so the Left is now a warm home for anti-Semitism. Thus, the counter-culture, allegedly so progressive, ironically takes us back to an earlier, uglier age. Its members, now all grown up, have managed to taint academia and the media. They campaign for open borders and sanctuary cities because they hate the nation-state. They have done much to undermine the West through self-hatred and defeatism, making victory over evil much harder. They may disdain organized religion, but they are religious heretics under their skin.

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