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Challenge Authority: Memoir of a Baby Boomer
The Baby Boomer generation (estimated at around 75 million) became politically active in the 1960s and 1970s, leaving its’ mark on society. The sheer size of this human tsunami rolled through American society and fueled the continuing Civil Rights, Gay Rights, and Women’s Movements and agitation against war. It also coincided with (caused?) loosening social mores, the sexual revolution, widespread recreational drug use, political correctness, identity politics, diminishment of personal responsibility, and excesses in many areas.
The 1960s mantra of “Challenge Authority” was the basis of my political activism. What exactly does “challenge authority” mean? Certainly more than disobeying your parents as a kid. Or calling the police “pigs.” Those are juvenile acts of rebellion. Challenging authority is not an attention getting ploy to display your courage or smarts or just for the sake of a good fight. A key component is resisting the temptation to act impulsively. In short, it's okay to break certain rules. But know why the rule exists, and have a good reason for breaking it.
In a serious political context, challenging authority does not have to be negative, especially when done with a clear purpose. Challenging authority is a form of nonviolent direct action. You must know what you want to accomplish—hence the need for focus, confidence, and hard facts. A legal/moral/ethical foundation is a prerequisite for such disciplined non-conformity.
The title Challenge Memoir of a Baby Boomer tells it all. Each of the five chapters contains at least a couple of challenge authority stories. In most cases I still believe my challenge, or at least questioning authority, was justified and the correct path. However, a few times my challenging authority was a dismal failure, often due to my immaturity and lack of experience.
Politics and humor play a prominent role these stories. Some vignettes include my challenging the Selective Service System (The Draft) for 2 ½ years during the Vietnam War era; learning a Zen-like concern for quality while leaf raking as a work-study student in my undergraduate years; being a war tax resister for many years; hosting an “Untying the Knot” party with my first wife while getting divorced; doing jail time (along with 1,959 others) for civil disobedience in trying to stop the opening of Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant in California; twice running for Santa Barbara City Council in the mid-1980s as an avowed socialist and being the only candidate to openly support gay and lesbian rights; and bungee jumping out of a hot air balloon on my 40th birthday.
The stories are supported by more than 600 original letters and emails from and to me that examine the issues of the times—politics, relationships, and the culture—from the 1960s to the present. Additional documentation includes published articles about or by me, my journals, considerable Internet research, poetry, and hundreds of photos.
The book contains 44 stories, with many complementary photos, in five chapters and more than 73,000 words.
The 1960s mantra of “Challenge Authority” was the basis of my political activism. What exactly does “challenge authority” mean? Certainly more than disobeying your parents as a kid. Or calling the police “pigs.” Those are juvenile acts of rebellion. Challenging authority is not an attention getting ploy to display your courage or smarts or just for the sake of a good fight. A key component is resisting the temptation to act impulsively. In short, it's okay to break certain rules. But know why the rule exists, and have a good reason for breaking it.
In a serious political context, challenging authority does not have to be negative, especially when done with a clear purpose. Challenging authority is a form of nonviolent direct action. You must know what you want to accomplish—hence the need for focus, confidence, and hard facts. A legal/moral/ethical foundation is a prerequisite for such disciplined non-conformity.
The title Challenge Memoir of a Baby Boomer tells it all. Each of the five chapters contains at least a couple of challenge authority stories. In most cases I still believe my challenge, or at least questioning authority, was justified and the correct path. However, a few times my challenging authority was a dismal failure, often due to my immaturity and lack of experience.
Politics and humor play a prominent role these stories. Some vignettes include my challenging the Selective Service System (The Draft) for 2 ½ years during the Vietnam War era; learning a Zen-like concern for quality while leaf raking as a work-study student in my undergraduate years; being a war tax resister for many years; hosting an “Untying the Knot” party with my first wife while getting divorced; doing jail time (along with 1,959 others) for civil disobedience in trying to stop the opening of Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant in California; twice running for Santa Barbara City Council in the mid-1980s as an avowed socialist and being the only candidate to openly support gay and lesbian rights; and bungee jumping out of a hot air balloon on my 40th birthday.
The stories are supported by more than 600 original letters and emails from and to me that examine the issues of the times—politics, relationships, and the culture—from the 1960s to the present. Additional documentation includes published articles about or by me, my journals, considerable Internet research, poetry, and hundreds of photos.
The book contains 44 stories, with many complementary photos, in five chapters and more than 73,000 words.
261 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2012
1 person is currently reading
21 people want to read
About the author
Tom Garrison
7 books2 followersI am the youngest of four children to two Dust Bowl Okies who migrated to Shafter, California in the Central Valley. My family was fairly apolitical, with Republican leanings. I graduated with a BA in political science from California State College, Bakersfield in 1974 (magna cum laude); earned a MA in political science from University of California, Davis in 1976; and finished everything but my PhD dissertation (ABD) in political science at University of California, Santa Barbara in 1980.
I began political life as a typical McGovern liberal, moved left to become a card carrying member of the Socialist Party USA, and in the late 1990s evolved into a libertarian.
More than 25 years ago my wife Deb and I began seriously exploring the American Southwest. During the first several years we concentrated on areas fairly close to our then home in Santa Barbara, California—the Mojave Desert around Barstow and Baker and Death Valley. We later branched out to Joshua Tree National Park and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in south central California. In the early 2000s Arizona became a favorite destination. Finally, we began exploring southern Utah in 2006. In the fall of 2009 we left California and settled in St. George, Utah. St. George is a great base camp for adventures in southwest Utah, southern Nevada, and northern Arizona.
I began political life as a typical McGovern liberal, moved left to become a card carrying member of the Socialist Party USA, and in the late 1990s evolved into a libertarian.
More than 25 years ago my wife Deb and I began seriously exploring the American Southwest. During the first several years we concentrated on areas fairly close to our then home in Santa Barbara, California—the Mojave Desert around Barstow and Baker and Death Valley. We later branched out to Joshua Tree National Park and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in south central California. In the early 2000s Arizona became a favorite destination. Finally, we began exploring southern Utah in 2006. In the fall of 2009 we left California and settled in St. George, Utah. St. George is a great base camp for adventures in southwest Utah, southern Nevada, and northern Arizona.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 28, 2013
The last Libertarians I remember seeing in the flesh were a couple of college students shouting humorous but unprintable things about Dick Cheney downtown while they handed out leaflets. Spirited but extreme was the thought that went through my mind.
So I was curious to get a more balanced perspective on this political viewpoint.
This collection of short essays from two dozen former self-proclaimed leftists who came to embrace Libertarianism did just that. From college students to businessmen, plainspoken to eloquent, these pieces reflect opinions that are accessible to Democrats like me who think it’s important to see the other guy’s POV.
Although I’m still a (disgruntled) Democrat, I came away with a deeper understanding of a position not unlike my own. Living in the People’s Republic of San Francisco, I found myself sharing many of the sentiments of these everyday people looking for a voice in a limited political landscape.
Tom Garrison’s compilation of these stories is thoughtful and thorough and his piece and foreword some of the most insightful. If you want a quick deep dive into a political stance different from your own, you won’t go wrong with this collection.
So I was curious to get a more balanced perspective on this political viewpoint.
This collection of short essays from two dozen former self-proclaimed leftists who came to embrace Libertarianism did just that. From college students to businessmen, plainspoken to eloquent, these pieces reflect opinions that are accessible to Democrats like me who think it’s important to see the other guy’s POV.
Although I’m still a (disgruntled) Democrat, I came away with a deeper understanding of a position not unlike my own. Living in the People’s Republic of San Francisco, I found myself sharing many of the sentiments of these everyday people looking for a voice in a limited political landscape.
Tom Garrison’s compilation of these stories is thoughtful and thorough and his piece and foreword some of the most insightful. If you want a quick deep dive into a political stance different from your own, you won’t go wrong with this collection.
March 15, 2014
This is a compelling memoir from a regular guy just like you or me, who grew up with the Baby Boomers during one of the most turbulent periods in history. The difference is that Tom Garrison has a way with words many of us don’t. His hunger for knowledge took him from a sun-baked Southern California agricultural town (where a rite of passage was to water ski on canals behind pickup trucks) on to the university system of the Golden State at its educational peak, where he gained a PhD in Political Science and a formidable talent for local politics. You won’t find Keith Richards or A-List stars in this story but you will find a journey that parallels your own if you were one of the tens of millions born in the 50s.
July 28, 2012
The stories here are wonderful, especially because they come from a very diverse group of people, young and old, male and female, gay, intellectual and so on. These are real people who have learned that the burdensome ways of federal, state, and sometimes even local government squash the entrepreneural spirit and infringe on our freedom to be left alone. There's sure to be at least one story in this book that will strike a chord with you!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews