Hello Woodstock, my old friend…
A few weeks ago, my husband and I watched the HBO documentary, Woodstock ‘99. For roughly two hours, we watched commentators, organizers, and attendees recount their experiences from the weekend while attempting to answer the age-old question: “What the hell happened?”
What the hell, indeed.
First, a little history. For those who don’t know (I was, admittedly, among this group prior to watching), Woodstock ‘99 took place over three days in July at a decommissioned Air Force base in Rome, New York, in the middle of a heat wave. It was an attempt to recreate the notorious Woodstock of 1969 - 30 years later. But what started out as a once-in-a-generation kind of music festival quickly (and I mean QUICKLY) devolved into a three-day torture chamber of loud angry music, panic-inducing mosh pits made up of young white men and topless women, violence, property destruction, misogyny, illness, death, and sexual assault. Woodstock ‘99 went to hell in a hand basket real quick, and ever since, people have been wondering why.
Some blamed the heat. As a southerner, I know heat can sometimes make you do crazy things. So sure, let’s throw that in. Some blamed the patriarchy, arguing that these young white men were just itching - itching - for an excuse to exert their dominance for a weekend while getting high, getting drunk, and engaging in some heavy groping. Some blamed the culture. The festival occurred in the middle of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, Y2K was on the horizon, and the youths needed a release. Ok, maybe. One documentary commentator even blamed mass psychosis, which is a real and documented thing according to the internet. Let’s put this in the “heat makes people do crazy things” category and go with it. Some blamed the Boomers and their grasp on society. It was the Boomers, after all, who decided to thrust this 30-year-anniversary music festival on unsuspecting youngsters who neither wanted nor asked for it. Some even blamed MTV, which was on hand to cover the festival. Woodstock promoter John Scher accused MTV of biased coverage from the outset, which “set the tone” for the weekend.
In reality, it was probably a combination of all of the above. Throw all those ingredients into a bowl, add about 500,000 youths, broken toilets and overpriced water, and you’re bound to get trouble. But there’s one thing I couldn’t get out of my head as I watched the descent into chaos on my television screen: The January 6 riot at the capitol in Washington.
For 22 years, people have been trying to find the answer as to what happened at Woodstock ‘99. For the last 8 months, our country has also been grappling to explain what happened at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. On that cold, winter day, a rally meant to support the outgoing president devolved into a horrendous display of rioting and violence - all by people purporting to love their country. Why?
As a nation, we’ll probably spend years pondering that question. But what I guarantee will be missing from all the hand-wringing and think piece-writing will be this: the concept of personal responsibility. Not the “pull yourself up by the bootstraps” kind, but the “know right from wrong” kind. Young men in 1999 undoubtedly knew that a woman crowd surfing topless isn't giving tacit permission to rape her. And yet.
Yes, the rioters on January 6 were duped by internet conspiracy theorists into believing the election was stolen. Yes, they were egged on by a president they thought they needed to defend. Yes, they believed they were serving a noble cause. All that is true. But each person who stormed the Capitol weighed the pros and cons, adjusted their internal calculus, and made the decision to forge ahead. By their very involvement, not one of them stopped to think that property destruction is wrong. Period. So is theft and assault. 99.99% of the time they are not justifiable behaviors - even as a means to some glorified end.
Likewise, the Woodstock ‘99 documentary can blame the heat and the patriarchy all it wants, but that’s no excuse for perpetrating a sexual assault or for burning down a stage. At the end of the day, most of us know right from wrong and yet we choose to do wrong anyway. Maybe that’s what makes these events so disturbing. When we look at these people, a small part of us wonders if we’re looking at some version of ourselves.
In her review of Woodstock ‘99, New Yorker writer Amanda Petrusich posits that “sometimes, bad behavior is a contagion. Enmity and resentment can replicate so quickly.” Maybe. But in the course of 3 short days in 1999? Or a few short hours in 2021? Is it that easy for immorality to spread and if so, are we comfortable with that as an explanation? I’m not sure I have the answers.
What I do know is this: We make our own choices and write our own stories. Unfortunately, we don’t always get the endings we deserve, and maybe that’s why we’ll be stuck asking why for all of eternity. The rioters in 1999 didn’t get what they deserved (only 44 people were arrested). The rioters in 2021 seem to be getting theirs - at least some of them, anyway. But as we cast about for answers and things to blame, let’s commit ourselves to no more excuses. Right is right and wrong is wrong. Who’s with me?
Three’s Company
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren told Teen Vogue that abortion is about the “functioning of our democracy” and that a small number of “right-wing extremists” want to suppress the vote in order to shove their pro-life views on an “unwilling nation.” Rebuttal: Nice try, Senator. While it’s true that recent polling shows nearly 6 in 10 Americans believe abortion should be legal, only 25 percent of them believe it should be legal in ALL cases. In other words, there’s a lot of grey area in Americans’ attitudes toward what is and what is not acceptable on this issue. It also seems like the senator’s memory needs some fine-tuning. Just a year ago, her party was in the minority in the Senate. Seems a little odd to be endorsing the idea that democracy should equal mob rule.
Missouri Rep. Cori Bush was asked recently how she could support defunding the police while paying through the nose for her own private security. Her answer is absolutely mind-blowing. “They would rather I die? You would rather me die...You know because that could be the alternative,” said Bush. “So suck it up, and defunding the police has to happen.” Rebuttal: Imagine this scenario: Someone is breaking into your home and you call 911, but no help arrives because the police department has been defunded. Is Cori Bush ok with you potentially dying? You know because that could be the alternative… It’s nice knowing Bush values her life more than yours. Points for honesty?
President Biden’s press secretary, Jen Psaki, told Vogue Magazine that being called nice is “sexist” and “a little diminishing.” Rebuttal: Maybe a compliment is just a compliment and we should stop overthinking these things. Have you heard the story about the woman who cried sexism? Eventually people stopped believing her.
The Slip Q&A with Amelia Chassé Alcivar
In this week’s Q&A, I am so, so, so honored to feature Amelia Chassé Alcivar. Amelia has worked in Republican politics for years, which is how our paths initially crossed. She currently serves as Chief of Staff to Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, which basically makes him the luckiest governor this side of the Pacific.
Thank you so much, Amelia!
1. First, tell us a little about yourself!
I didn’t realize politics could be a job until I was in my senior year of college and ditched a long-planned internship at an intelligence agency to go work on a floundering presidential campaign because a guy I had a crush on offered me a spot. The guy didn’t work out but the job did, and I spent the better part of a decade as a political nomad, working on campaigns from Maine (my home state) to Texas. Along the way I met a fellow politico who I could spar with and not get sick of, so I married him (no kids, but we have a black cat named Lucky). I also met a governor in Maryland who gave me the opportunity to serve has his communications director and currently as his chief of staff, and I’m excited for what comes next.
2. What does feminism mean to you, and do you identify as a feminist?
I’m going to stipulate that my answer is in the context of someone who has made the choice at this stage to focus a lot of energy on my career. That’s not the only choice or the only way to be a successful woman in 2021.
From where I sit, I want to have the ability to excel in the workplace without my gender playing a significant role in my success or failure, so if that makes me a feminist than deal me in. Unfortunately it’s become a loaded term in the age of identity politics. The reality is that in my professional life being a woman has been more of a benefit than a liability. I know and believe that not all women are fortunate enough to have that experience, but I don’t think artificial constructs meant to level the playing field are the answer.
Bottom line: Equality of opportunity, not guarantee of parity, should be the goal of the feminism.
3. Ever since the 2016 election, conservative women have been criticized as being “foot soldiers of the patriarchy.” What would you say to someone who doesn’t understand how you can be a woman AND a conservative?
The concept that women must adhere to a prescribed set of values isn’t any less demeaning and discriminatory just because you happen to agree with said values. I’d argue that the fact that there are women who are committed conservatives and women who are passionate liberals and women who choose not to focus on politics is proof of progress, and anyone trying to mandate what women need to say, do, or believe in order to be considered “acceptable” is turning back the clock on that progress.
4. What’s one of the biggest lessons you’ve learned in your career thus far that you can share with us?
Get in the room! I see a lot of young professionals wait for responsibility to be explicitly given to them instead of stepping up and taking it. Find a way to get to where the decisions are being made and do the work to be able to meaningfully contribute.
5. In the spirit of bipartisanship...what do you think conservatives can learn from liberals - and vice versa?
I believe a robust arts culture is central to both free expression and American exceptionalism, and the lack thereof is one reason why a society like China will ultimately fail. At the risk of painting with a broad brush, liberals tend to do a better job than conservatives of supporting the arts. Conservatives should see creative expression as the fundamental freedom it is.
Liberals should take a page out of conservatives’ book and bring some semblance of sanity to the political correctness space. I recently met with a very earnest and intelligent graduate student who used the term “microaggressions” repeatedly and unironically in conversation, and I thought it must be exhausting to have to view the world that way.
Both sides can learn from libertarians to chill with the judgement and culture war BS and let people live their damn lives. If it’s not infringing on your rights or personal liberty why on earth do you care? Masks are a great case study here.
And now, for some fun ones:
6. What’s your go-to Starbucks order?
The one I want? Almond milk chai, which it turns out is mostly sugar.
The one I (usually) order? Grande coffee with one pump of sugar free vanilla.
7. Pick 3 famous people, dead or alive, that you’d love to get lunch with
David Foster Wallace
Margaret Chase Smith
James Baker III
Amanda’s Media Diet
Meet The New York Times’ Libertarian Podcaster - Reason Magazine
What Bobby McIlvaine Left Behind - The Atlantic
Cori Bush Wants To Defund The Police. My Neighbors Have Other Ideas - Common Sense
The SLiP will return in two weeks!
-Amanda