The Streeterville summer has taken a break from rain and lightning and thunder for a day of partly cloudy skies. Streeterville Bay is active with boats once again. Navy Pier is, no doubt, humming with activity and raking in the cash on this fine day in the middle of August. The Streeterville Weather Service tells me that it is 82 sunny and pleasant degrees, just the kind of day for spending and making money.
Speaking of money, my broker called this afternoon and assured me that we had recouped most of our losses recently. My ROTH IRA is currently only 25% down from where it was when the economic shit hit the fan, when the Bull Market suddenly morphed decidedly into a Bear. It all seems a little unreal. The money is on paper, and sometimes it comes and sometimes it goes. It's like reading a novel, entertaining, but then real life goes on. For that matter, the fact that I can say that my broker called me seems a little unreal. When and where and how did the long-haired kid from Arkansas get to be a guy who has a broker and lives on the 14th floor overlooking Lake Michigan?
For a long time I resisted money and comfort. I grew up in the 60's and 70's and the whole peace and love thing dictated that you were supposed to eschew (Gesundheit!) material comforts. We all thought it was a movement that was going to change the world. Crosby, Stills, and Nash sang "We can change the world, rearrange the world...." There was a lot of talk about justice and freedom and capitalism and greed. We were all about the former and all against the latter. What we didn't realize at the time was that a great deal of the idealism was being marketed to us.
Is it really surprising that I know all the words to a Coca-Cola commercial? "I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony...." Remember the 7-Up commercials with Peter Max graphics? Psychedelic dude. Three-fourths of the peace and love sentiment was being fed to us via rock and roll bands, who were selling a product via recording companies and FM radio stations. We knew how to look hip because it was all over the television.
Looking back on it, among those who really thought they were sticking it to the man, avoiding the capitalist, materialistic trap, the most ardent were usually the ones with the most expensive stereo systems and the most extensive album collections. They were the ones who wore clothing most likely to be seen on TV. Now overlay this scene with lots of marijuana and cheap wine. Welcome to 1972.
The funny thing is that last week was the 40th anniversary of Woodstock. It was advertised as 3 days of peace and love. What it was was one of the best marketing schemes in the history of capitalism. Yes the gates were crashed and it turned out to be free for a lot of people who wallowed in the mud and got high. Gail Collins of the New York Times mentioned on the op-ed page last Sunday that she barely remembered any music. It was a big party, well and a huge traffic jam. It was also sold to the rest of America as a highly grossing film. Didn't go to Woodstock? You saw the movie. You bought the album. Liked the people on the album? You went out and bought the albums of the individual groups. This wasn't a rock concert. It was an industry.
Now, 40 years later, they're still marketing this crap to us, this time as nostalgia. If you hadn't noticed, there's a movie coming out. If you hadn't noticed there are reunion concerts. It won't go away. The thing is to recognize it for what it is. Did you see any pictures of the 40 years later concert? No mud. No nudity. Still some marijuana, but very little LSD. The big advance? Folding chairs with cup holders. Ladies and gentlemen accept it. We've been marketed to. We just don't have to be so damned uncomfortable in the process. Bring a good bottle of wine, and some hors d'oeuvres while you're at it. Frankly sitting on the ground and being uncomfortable never was all it was cracked up to be. Peace and love dudes and dudettes.
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