Cover of current issue of TIME

Here's the story, and as we always say, folks, keep abreast of Climate Change News at the Almanac.

Long live dirty rotten hippies!

It was sometime around 1975
a few years either side.
We said that the Soviet Union would implode soon,
because we read the samizdat.
Of course, years later the Czech Velvet Revolution
was named for Lou Reed & Velvet Underground, but the '70s
We were dismissed as dirty rotten hippies.
We said that the next global challenge
was Islamic fundamentalism
because we talked to concerned, moderate Muslims.
We were dismissed as dirty rotten hippies.
We said climate change was coming
because we read the science.
We were dismissed as dirty rotten hippies.
We said that car traffic would make cities unliveable
because we saw the signs of the times.
We were dismissed as dirty rotten hippies.
We started recycling in our own homes.
We lobbied local councils about recycling,
and were given the bum's rush.
We were dismissed as dirty rotten hippies.
We said that population pressures and deforestation
would lead to mudslides and other catastrophes
because we kept abreast of ecology.
We were dismissed as dirty rotten hippies.
We said that US conservatism would shift to neocon,
because we read the right books and papers.
We were dismissed as dirty rotten hippies.
We said the US would end up invading the Middle East
because we read what the conservative think tanks wrote.
We were dismissed as dirty rotten hippies.
We said that the rate of destruction of the planet would increase
because we weren't blinded by corporate propaganda.
We were dismissed as dirty rotten hippies.
We said that oil was running out,
and our lives would have to change;
that we would need to find alternative energy sources urgently
and that soon prices of fuel would go sky high.
We were dismissed as dirty rotten hippies.
We said that ID cards, surveillance cameras etc would increase
because we had a good analysis of the corporate state's goals.
We were dismissed as dirty rotten hippies.
We said that wars would increase, not decrease as promised
because we analyzed the military-industrial complex.
We were dismissed as dirty rotten hippies.
We said that crime would increase and jails be corporatized
because, again, we read the right books and papers.
We were dismissed as dirty rotten hippies.
We said that people sould soon be able to work from home
via interconnected computers
(though the personal computer did not exist yet)
but warned that people might generally work longer, not shorter hours
because the technology would be co-opted by employers.
We were dismissed as dirty rotten hippies.
We said that corporations would grow massive
and push Ma and Pa capitalism to the wall
because we had a grasp on corporate capitalism and globalization.
We were dismissed as dirty rotten hippies.

How are we doing so far, man?

We said that Permaculture held the material solutions.
Because we were decades ahead of what the media know.
We were dismissed as ... you guessed it.

Long live dirty rotten hippies! Join us!


Tagged: global+warming, climate+change, environment, permaculture, sustainability, activism, action, progressive, war, peace