1968

by Eduardo del Buey

1968

In my last article, August 2026, I discussed how the baby boomer generation of the fifties and sixties fared with the guiding philosophies its members adopted as they grew up.

Profound change is sometimes the product of a violent revolution. Other times, it is the product of quiet evolution in which progress is measured in years rather than days or months and in a few people at a time.

1968 was a watershed year, one during many baby boomers tried to create change through violence. This did not work, and the result was a feeling that boomers had failed.

The most dramatic events unfolded in France, where student protests and mass strikes by up to 10 million workers, paralyzed the country, and briefly threatening President Charles de Gaulle’s government.

In West Germany, students protested the Vietnam War along with university structures, culminating in large demonstrations and clashes with police in Berlin and other cities.

Italy saw similar student occupations of universities and factory strikes, reflecting growing demands for educational reform and workers’ rights.

In the UK, anti-Vietnam War marches in London turned violent, while Enoch Powell’s “Rivers of Blood” speech intensified debates over immigration and race.

In Czechoslovakia, Alexander Dubcek took over as leader in 1968 and introduced the concept of communism with a human face. His goal of liberalizing the Republic soon led to Soviet invasion in August. His government was then replaced by a hard-line communist regime that lasted until 1990.

In the United States, the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. in April and Robert F. Kennedy in June plunged that country into grief and anger. Baby boomers felt rage and impotence at these tragedies.

Student activism, antiwar protests, and the rise of the Black Power movement defined the era’s youth culture.

Mexico also had a traumatic year.

Mexico was the first Latin American country to host the Olympic Games.

Beneath the Olympic spotlight, a broad coalition of university students mobilized to demand political freedoms, an end to authoritarianism, and the release of political prisoners. The movement grew from clashes in late July between students and riot police, evolving into mass marches that drew tens of thousands through central Mexico City.

On October 2, just ten days before the Opening Ceremony, the Mexican Army opened fire on thousands of unarmed students and civilians gathered at the Plaza de las Tres Culturas in Tlatelolco – a major Mexico City plaza.

To this day, the exact death toll remains unknown; the government reported about 20 dead, while survivors and later investigations suggest hundreds may have been killed.

Thus, at its height in 1968, the dreams of the many in the boomer generation around the world clashed with the harsh realities of the times.

Autocratic governments, military oppression, and fear of chaos on the part of many around the world all create a negative aura that seems to galvanize the very enemies that boomers oppose.

And yet today, many may still share the dream of democracy and democratic freedom for all. A dream that for many requires continued hope and effort.

Perhaps the lesson we must learn is that people must change from within rather than become members of a herd that seeks change immediately.

Each generation produces a herd that is united by literature, music, films, television, and other ties that bind.

The boomer generation is a prime example of that reality. In many cases, the herd preached peace and love.

However, as shown above, the herd also adopted violence, as had generations that came before it. And the powers that be responded accordingly.

Simply following the herd, no matter how attractive its message, is no answer.

Evolution, not revolution.

Developing your own spiritual path through meditation and self-realization can provide the individual with the tools required to deal with a violent world.

Change your world rather than change the world. We can thus avoid the mistakes of the boomers.

It can change our perspective based on self-knowledge rather than that of others, and, if we gravitate towards others who also engage in self-realization, we can help create a movement with positive values that others can share based on their own self discovery.

Dr. Wayne Dyer writes, “”If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”

Change yourself, and your world can change.

And if you do, obstacles that can seem insurmountable, such as those boomers faced in 1968 and all of us face today, can slowly be overcome.