[UnbrokenChain]

Don't forget - you are invited to join Dennis McNally in a live online chat on Thursday, May 24 at 7 p.m. at www.umassconnections.com. Stay informed. Keep in touch with The Greatful Dead and American Culture and the Unbroken Chain symposium, scheduled at UMass Amherst for the fall of 2007.

[pfarrell615]

the grateful dead expierence is uniquely american, were else in the world could a bunch of kids crisscross a 3000 mile country in a self sustianing mobile economy supported by the very appearence of a relatively unpopular rock band.Garcias death really was the end of a much simpler, innocent time in our country.

[paulinnc]

I am thinking about majoring in American Studies and this was one of the things I was going to look into.

[krzykat]

The Grateful Dead are the ultimate American success story! A bunch of friends who just want to make music, not caring if they "make it" and end up the greatest touring band of all time.

As Bill Graham said "God Bless the Grateful Dead, they aren't the best at what they do . . . they are the only ones that do what they do"

[wisedyes]

Yeah, you nailed it. The Dead to me were the epitome of what America is about - pursuit of happiness, freedom to be and freedom from, standing up as both individuals and collectively, a melting pot of ideas and influences that became something completely new and unique a the other end, etc etc.

It really was one of the last great American adventures a "normal" person could have.

[3daygrowth]

"jerry's death was the end of a more innocent time in our country" - 1995?
come on, my ass!! try 1885!
Vietnam, the Weather Underground, CIA involvement in South America etc etc....
Only innocent in your own eyes maybe...
Lorry

[Rusty the Scoob]

1885 was simpler but not more innocent IMHO... you had corruption, rampant street crime, organized crime, blatant racism including lynchings, etc. On a personal level we're much safer than 1885 citizens.

[FretWilkes]

Garcias death really was the end of a much simpler, innocent time in our country.

With all due respect....

"The simpler, innocent time" only exists in the little town of Willoughby.

Willoughby? Maybe it's wishful thinking nestled in a hidden part of a man's mind, or maybe it's the last stop in the vast design of things, or perhaps, for a man like Mr. Gart Williams, who climbed on a world that went by too fast, it's a place around the bend where he could jump off. Willoughby? Whatever it is, it comes with sunlight and serenity and is a part of the Twilight Zone.

[RiverRat]

.

[ugly rumor]

Don't forget the riots of the first half of the 20th century, about employment conditions, race, and during the 60's, against the war and just against, no matter what for. Watts, Detroit, Chicago, D.C., Kent State, where our government wantonly killed its own citizens (subjects), our duplicious government spouting freedom while it interfered with other governments from Argentina, Venezuela, Chile, to Iraq, Iran, etc. etc. etc. I have often said that if we spent as much time and money helping other people as we have getting ready to fight them, we wouldn't have anyone to fight. Unfortunately, human nature is always the same, down through the centuries, and those who obtain an advantage almost never use it benevolently. Ken Kesey said "People think love is an emotion, love is good sense." He was right, but shortsighted people are sorely lacking in good sense. If you take the ingredients for a cake, put them together in such a manner that you have a cake, you cannot complain because you have a cake. I am just one person, but I join those who issue the wake-up call. Treat others as you wish to be treated, genuinely, or see the results as we "progress". Someone else said that evolution is not necessarily progression. Well, it is progression, but in which direction? The Grateful Dead were one of the best things that ever happened on this planet, and the happiest moments of my life were spent in front of them. I'm so glad that my life span coincided with that experience. That whole vibe was a bright spot on the planet, but even that towards the end was losing its "love". Much like Tahiti, which was an idillic place when discovered, but corrupted quickly. If we could just keep the negatives away. "That path is for your steps alone."

[pfarrell615]

ok mabey 95 might have been alittle late for innocence but it was certianly not post 9/11,foriegnly saturated, pre bankrupt,crackberry,shrunken middle class, rude,egocentric,consumer freak,american idol rap gulf full of oil, SHIT WE HAVE TODAY

[JonnyBoy]

Dud, we're killing kittens left and right!

[Phil Lesh101]

. .

[Charlie]

Hmm... an innocent society. Interesting concept. If you ever find oe let me know.

[zambiland]

ok mabey 95 might have been alittle late for innocence but it was certianly not post 9/11,foriegnly saturated, pre bankrupt,crackberry,shrunken middle class, rude,egocentric,consumer freak,american idol rap gulf full of oil, SHIT WE HAVE TODAY

1995 was right in the middle of everything you say. It started in the 80s with Ronald Reagan and his Grover Norquist inspired movement to shift the wealth to the wealthy and "shrink government to the size where it could be drowned in the bathtub." The conservatives have been trying to repeal the New Deal ever since it happened and Ronnie Raygun was their man. HW Bush helped and Clinton made it even worse with NAFTA and other free market lies. For those of us that were aware of what was going on in the 80s and 90s, we could tell that we'd end up where we are now. If you only read one book this year, it should be The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein. Then learn about how life really did change after the Wagner Act in 1935 and how that created the middle class. Then, study how the wealthy did their best to destroy labor, which destroyed the American Dream. This debt ceiling agreement, signed today, is the real fulcrum of before and after. We are now on the direct path to becoming a third world country, where an oligarchy of the very wealthy live on the backs of the rest of the country. All the things you mention are but symptoms of the real economic warfare that started with Ronnie. The GD were a life outside of that reality, a welcome relief, however, they were not immune from darkness that existed throughout their whole existence. Innocence is an ideal, not a reality, just like free market capitalism, communism and the perfect cappucino. Lovely, and fleeting.