Groovy Idea!

We need to finish what we started in the ’60s.

Now, when I say that, I’m not talking about bringing back bell-bottoms, tie-dye, lava lamps and smoking a joint in the back of a Volkswagen bus.

Although, at 69, I’m willing to negotiate on a couple of those.

I’m talking about the spirit of the ’60s.

Because something happened in America during that decade.

People woke up.

Young people started questioning things their parents had simply accepted.

Why are we at war?

Why are Black Americans being denied equal rights?

Why are women being treated differently?

Why should we automatically trust the government?

Why should we automatically trust corporations?

Why should we automatically trust anybody?

People started asking questions.

And that is where change begins.

Not with answers.

With questions.

And then the country got punched in the gut.

John Kennedy was assassinated.

Malcolm X was assassinated.

Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.

Robert Kennedy was assassinated.

Four enormous voices of change, gone.

And by the end of the decade, America was exhausted.

Vietnam.

Riots.

Protests.

Violence.

Division.

People didn’t know what the hell was going on.

And eventually the ’60s ended.

But the questions didn’t.

They were never completely answered.

So here we are.

Fast-forward more than half a century.

2026.

And I think we’re experiencing another awakening.

But this one is different.

Because we’ve got something those people marching in the streets in 1968 could never have imagined.

We’ve got the internet.

Think about that.

I can be sitting on a park bench in Greensboro, North Carolina, holding a little piece of glass in my hand, and have access to more information than the greatest libraries in human history.

Government documents.

Historical records.

Scientific research.

Economic data.

Different newspapers.

Different countries.

Different opinions.

Different people.

Different worlds.

But there’s a catch.

The internet can make you smarter…

or it can make you absolutely crazy.

Because for every piece of good information out there, there’s misinformation, propaganda, conspiracy theories, algorithms and somebody trying to sell you something.

So having access to information isn’t enough.

We’ve got to learn how to think.

Question the source.

Read the other side.

Check the evidence.

Ask, “How do I know this is true?”

And here’s the biggest one:

Talk to people.

That’s what I’ve been doing.

I’ve been going around talking to strangers.

Different ages.

Different backgrounds.

Different beliefs.

Different lifestyles.

People I probably never would have talked to before.

And something remarkable happened.

The more people I talked to, the less frightening everybody became.

Because underneath all the labels, people aren’t nearly as different as we’re constantly being told they are.

People want a decent place to live.

They want to be able to afford groceries.

They want healthcare when they’re sick.

They want their children to have opportunities.

They want safe neighborhoods.

They want decent schools.

They want dignity.

They want some hope.

And they want somebody to listen to them.

That’s it.

And suddenly I started thinking:

Maybe this is how you revive the best part of the ’60s.

Not by recreating 1968.

God knows we don’t need to recreate 1968.

We take the best part of it and move it forward.

The curiosity.

The questioning.

The music.

The creativity.

The willingness to challenge conventional wisdom.

The willingness to talk about things nobody wanted to talk about.

And most importantly, the belief that ordinary citizens could actually change something.

Because somewhere along the way, too many of us stopped being citizens and became spectators.

We watch politics like football.

Red team.

Blue team.

Our team scores—we cheer.

Their team screws up—we laugh.

Meanwhile, we’re sitting in the stands.

But democracy isn’t supposed to have spectators.

We’re supposed to be on the damn field.

And that doesn’t mean everybody has to agree.

I don’t want everybody agreeing.

That sounds terrifying.

I want people thinking.

I want people questioning me.

Question the Truth Party.

Question Democrats.

Question Republicans.

Question the government.

Question corporations.

Question the media.

Question the guy talking to you on the internet.

Question everybody.

And then go find the evidence.

Talk to your neighbors.

Talk to somebody you disagree with.

Talk to somebody you’ve never met.

And then participate.

Vote.

Show up.

Ask questions.

Attend the meeting.

Write the letter.

Run for something.

Volunteer.

Help somebody.

Do something.

Because maybe the revolution we need in 2026 isn’t people throwing rocks through windows.

Maybe it’s people opening doors.

Maybe it isn’t screaming at each other.

Maybe it’s talking to each other.

Maybe it isn’t about overthrowing America.

Maybe it’s about showing up for America.

That’s the revival I want.

Take the awakening of the ’60s.

Take the technology of 2026.

Take the wisdom we’ve gained from everything that’s happened in between.

And let’s see what happens when millions of ordinary people decide they’re not spectators anymore.

No violence.

No hatred.

No political messiah coming to save us.

Just citizens.

Awake.

Curious.

Informed.

Engaged.

Talking to one another.

And participating.

We don’t need to go back to the ’60s.

We need to finish what the ’60s started.

Same awakening.

Better tools.

More voices.

And another chance.

Let’s not waste it.