Leary, Liddy, and Baby-Boomer Perspectives

[Psiman]

Two pre-boomers shepherding late boomers in video circa 1982.

They have a dinner conversation starting around 33:40, in which Liddy's wife presents the sole voice presenting arguments in favor of traditional sexuality.

It contains some background nudity between the 46 and 48 minute marks.

 

[Thomas More]

Two pre-boomers shepherding late boomers in video circa 1982.

They have a dinner conversation starting around 33:40, in which Liddy's wife presents the sole voice presenting arguments in favor of traditional sexuality.

It contains some background nudity between the 46 and 48 minute marks.

I saw both of them on separate occasions as speakers at my university in the early 80s.

I remember Leary saying the sixties hippy generation would be in control eventually and put all their ideas into practice. The college audience consisted of the tail end of the baby boomers, but had much different attitudes. College students voted strongly in favor of Reagan in those years. He ended up being right, but he expected it in the 90s, and it took until Obama to really be like he expected.

Liddy was about what you'd expect. I remember him saying he had expected to be whacked, and he told his superiors that if they were going to do it, tell him to go to some street corner, and he would go. He told them not to do it where his family would be at risk.

I also remember him talking about picking a wife based on having good upbringing and good genes, such that she would produce the best children and be a good mother to them. It sounded cold blooded to me at the time, but now I agree fully.

 

[Psiman]

I remember Leary saying the sixties hippy generation would be in control eventually and put all their ideas into practice. The college audience consisted of the tail end of the baby boomers, but had much different attitudes. College students voted strongly in favor of Reagan in those years. He ended up being right, but he expected it in the 90s, and it took until Obama to really be like he expected.

We didn't get what Leary or the hippy generation wanted, but the overlords definitely catered a lot of their message to them. The last exchange between Leary and Liddy in the video bared the former's idealism against the latter's warning of the threats facing the then-free world, that if the Soviets won Leary would be killed and Liddy would end up in a gulag. We got something closer to Liddy's worry, I think.

I also remember him talking about picking a wife based on having good upbringing and good genes, such that she would produce the best children and be a good mother to them.

This topic comes up in the video. This attitude appears when families get involved in mate selection, but not usually when a couple pairs in an open sexual market.

 

[stadtaffe]

Two pre-boomers shepherding late boomers in video circa 1982.

They have a dinner conversation starting around 33:40, in which Liddy's wife presents the sole voice presenting arguments in favor of traditional sexuality.

It contains some background nudity between the 46 and 48 minute marks.

That Leary and his promotion of LSD.

Us younger generations can at least be thankful to not have done that (speaking for myself at least)

Then there was mention of "Harvard"

I started watching a documentary about Benjamin Franklin, one of the American founding fathers. As a non-American I have not really seen that sort of stuff before so it is all new and was quite interesting. The topic of Harvard came up there as well and Franklin's severe dislike for it back in the 1700s a very long time ago, wealthy parents sending their not so intelligent students there all those hundreds of years ago but the only useful thing they learn there is how to enter a room with poise. Even now in 2025 Harvard seems to be in the news. What is it about that one university that should have it being contentious in the 1700s, in the 1970s and again in 2025..

Had not heard of Liddy, but imagine that all the Americans have. From a quick read it appears that he burgled the White House at some point and went to jail for it.

Liddy and Leary both appear to be quite full of wrongness.

That clip was probably from that 1983 documentary Return Engagement

Return Engagement (1983) ⭐ 8.0 | Documentary

1h 30m

www.imdb.com