Our Altamont

Andrew Bacevich is generally presented as a conservative, but he is more a pessimist than anything else. I can't remember having read him say nice things about anything at all. Here he is not saying nice things once again.

The insurrection of January 6 was this generation’s Altamont Moment. As did Altamont, it shattered delusions that never deserved to be taken seriously in the first place.

An infamous December 1969 rock concert in southern California that descended into mindless violence, Altamont demolished fantasies of the Sixties as an Age of Aquarius. Occurring just months after Woodstock had seemingly affirmed illusions of peace, love, and good dope giving birth to a new and more enlightened society, Altamont exposed the dark underside of such expectations. A post-mortem published in Rolling Stone accurately characterized Altamont as “the product of diabolical egotism, hype, ineptitude,” and sheer greed.

I'll let that pass, in the spirit of trying to let political commentary go. Only one thing: remember who the good guys were at Altamont. 

1 comment:

Eric Blair said...

Bacevich is a concern troll, and always was.