The year 1969 brings back memories for many people. Some have good memories while some have bad. Today some people are still living in the late sixties and early seventies while some regret this era ever existed. What if these years had not existed? Not actually the years themselves, but what if the "Age of Aquarius", as it has been referred to, had never existed? Can you imagine how life would be different for us today? Family dynamics would be entirely different, as would the overall perception of the female population. Controversial topics such as drugs, sex, abortion, racism, etc. would be viewed with entirely different opinions from the majority of the population. How different would our lives be had the people we call hippies never exercised their freedom from the restraint they had known in their ordinary lives?

Looking back first into the decade of the fifties, we find storybook families such as The Cleavers from Leave It To Beaver (1957-1963) and the Andersons from Father Knows Best (1954-1958)(Rich). The characters in these popular fifties television programs depict family life as being perfect as perfect could be. Wives wore high heals and pearls and had th

This excerpt is taken directly from a website entitled "Make Love Not War" and discusses the theory many people had during this time of the Vietnam War. Hippies were angry at America for fighting and to comfort themselves they began "making love" instead of fighting. Even sex with multiple partners was better than war. This led to a major increase in illegitimate children along with not even knowing who the babies' fathers were. This concept also led to an increase in abortion because of women who were not ready or willing to have children but just could not resist the urge to have sex. Women developed the theory, "it is our body, and we can do what we want with it". Maybe if this era had not been what it was, women would still respect their bodies and not give themselves up like they did then and still do today.

ree hot meals on the table at the same time every day, dinner of course being as soon as the husband walked in from a hard days work. Husbands worked hard all day and came home to a fresh home-cooked meal, then relaxed in their chair while reading the newspaper for the remainder of the evening. Children played in the yard with the white picket fence. Every once in a while the kids broke a window playing ball or argued over something petty, but everyone's differences were resolved by simply saying "I'm sorry". Children respected their parents and spouses respected each other. Now everyone knows these families were strictly fictional and in no way existed in real life but how nice was it to have an example to attempt to achieve. A good example, that is.

In times of war and trouble, many people turn to their God, for comfort, for solace and guidance, for support and in grief and discomfort. Sexuality and sexual intercourse has been long used as an emotional and psychological comfort in troubled times, but what if there was something practical a couple could do for world peace to increase the psychic and spiritual vibrations of an area, of parliament, or the world? Such conscious choice for peace could ensure the act of loving and lovemaking takes on a new and higher dimension."

What if "The Age of Aquarius" had not been though? Maybe drugs would still be viewed as an outcast thing to do and not so many people would be strung out all the time, ruining their chances at a successful life because all their money and energy has become focused on where they are going to get their next hit. This is not to say that all socially accepted people would never do drugs, but maybe less people would and it would not be making such an impression on young children and teenagers. With every decade of generations, drugs become much more common and powerful. Just since 1970, the federal anti-drug budget has increased from one million dollars annually to seventeen point one million in the year 2000 (PBS). This increase could be because of increased drug awareness but I think that such a dramatic increase is also due to the fact that so many more people are using. Maybe if drugs were not so popular, the federal government would not have to devote so much money to drug prevention every year.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Age Aquarius, War Hippies, Africa Australia, Aquarius Maybe, Andersons Father, Dali Lama, Woodstock Era, Caillou Simpson's, Syndrome AIDS, late sixties, Love War, age aquarius, woodstock era, late sixties seventies, sixties seventies, family dynamics, free love, sexually transmitted, smoke drink drugs, female population, lady believe, sexually transmitted diseases, common accepted, immunodeficiency virus hiv, human immunodeficiency virus,
Approximate Word count = 2315
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)