It’s Time to let Woodstock Go

by Marykate Linehan

With the 40th anniversary of Woodstock this past weekend and the upcoming release of “Taking Woodstock,” many are graciously reflecting on how this iconic concert defined an entire generation. While sifting through each grandiose remembrance pertaining to this celebration I indubitably discovered what was clear all along—that nearly half a million drug induced concert-goers ultimately changed nothing.

There’s no question that this was the best music festival to ever occur, not just due to the copious amounts of drugs but also its impressive roster of influential musicians (the most prominent of which are not even alive to see this celebration). This recession has made this country nostalgic for a better time but glorifying Woodstock and claiming that the world somehow halted for peace and love for a three-day weekend is both bogus and sad.

Woodstock was the pinnacle “movement” for the counterculture that has since slipped between the cracks of this post-modern world, making their entire viewpoint nonsensical, which is why there is no love involved with political decisions. As far as hippies actually accomplishing something, they certainly turned generations of children into pot smoking, peace enforcing, Urban Outfitter shopping idiots, so congratulations.

It seems to be an ongoing trend these days, to romanticize the past in order to momentarily forget about how shitty the present is. Think about it this way, if the counterculture couldn’t accomplish anything during the 60’s, what the hell could they achieve now? Let the music live on and leave the acid trip behind.