Private property makes all the difference

Public property on the left vs. private property on the right.

In his book "Confessions of an Unconfined Raving Nut," Paul Krassner talks about the Yippie visit to the Woodstock Music Festival and how that was what the Yippie "Festival of Life" was supposed to be. Other than Pete Townshend tossing Abbie Hoffman off the stage, I suppose.

Now pause for a moment and reflect on the differences between the two locations. The YIP gathering presumed that permits would be granted by a Chicago government agency. After all, it is public property, right? Well, the bureaucrats running Chicago did not feel the same way as the Youth International Party and denied permits for the gatherers to sleep in the public parks. Violence ensued as the Yippies clashed with police, the police representing the public.

Flash forward about one year to Woodstock, NY. That town banned th concert in their community, even if it was on private property. So the promoters found Max Yasgur's dairy farm in the town of Bethel, NY. That is where the concert took place. Bethel banned off duty police officers from working the event too.

So, you see, the answer is not more government, but less. Ironically, the Yippies were advocates of much more government (not Jerry Rubin's want of free pot in drugstores, administered by more government).

The Woodstock/Bethel event was staged by young businessmen who might not have gotten their business off to a great start, but they did manage to have about a million people watch 3 days of music without a riot.

Ⓐ Steve Ⓐ