Page 4 - Contrast1963Februaryv1n2

On Free Love

"Free Love" does not exist. j~ fictional ;)o:l.th Pacific-like world in
which men and women take love, make love, when ~nd wher-e they find it does
not, nor cannot, exist for 28th-century Al:aericans. Though I do not ':Iri te
under the assumption that tlestern IvlanJland is overly- .i..opul at ed "Iith free
love advocates, I do "dsh to state my views on a commoni.lisconception.

To state the matter simply, free love is not free. No love is free

(which thought nay dLscomf'o r-t those firlll believers in the "best things in

life are •••• " idea). How can love, either purely sexual or wholly "Ii thout

physical aspects, be rea.lly free? Humans are self-centered creatures (for

no one has yet been naive enough to denj it), and for good or for bad they

Use one another. Ho met.ter what, the circumstances under which it is taken,

love is paid for. Looner or later, in SOUle hidden--or obvious--form, the

bill is submitted, the price extracted. For most people this price is guilt.

The result of the majority of sexual encounters is the damna.tion of a.

society ",ith leftover Victorian rcora l s , Generally, those who exp c rdmence

no guilt at all are either second-generation beats or accow.plished rebels,

and both are rare breeds.

Hhatever form the penalty takes, one pays somehow f'or every moment.
of the good he knows , Bu.t it is true that short-lived happiness is often
of the best, and more often than not, ten times the price is well worth the
pleasure. Therein lies the beauty of the freedom of "free" love.

Free love, by some condoned, is by its oche r name condemned. But

what is free love other t~lal1 a romantic ter.:.;. for Fromiscuity? .Andpromis-

cuity, at least among people in our society, i~'; as ree.I a sign of discontent

as I know. It is the search for the Real amon2 realities, the search of the

seldom satisfied.

Few would wi sh for the strengths and weakne s so s that make up the

promiscuous. But others of us must hope and work for a way of living that

lies some",here between the idea of free love and the rigidity of a moral code
gro ..m.. old.

Pat La\1S0n

Fragile Day Dreams

HOYI di sap pointing to di scover
That your Simply grandiose schewe,
llhen faced by t ough reality
Dissipates like so much steaml

che rri 81 Eat tingly