Squeaky Part 20: The Party's Over

Charles Manson’s “family” started out so peacefully, so simply; they lived, they loved, the dropped acid and admired the earth and its creatures. Charlie preached appreciation of nature and freedom of spirit to his girls. He taught them that they were beautiful, without make-up or jewelry, and that they should enjoy their bodies and others. Together, they showed how much perfectly good food and supplies the world was wasting, by living off what others threw out. They were free of most of what drives the rest of the conservative, corporate world crazy.

They had a good thing going, as far as I’m concerned! I would’ve loved to have been a part of that when it first began, when it was pure and playful, if I’d been about 18 at that time.

So how did it go SO wrong?

Well for several reasons: their secluded peaceful existence was put under strain by frequent police visits, for one thing. Cops were constantly raiding the ranch under the suspicion that the group had stolen vehicles or supplies; they couldn’t believe that people would give these “hippie freaks” gifts, or worse yet, that they had merely been discarded, free for the taking. Then, a few of the group had drug deals go badly with some unfortunate characters (Black Panthers, to be exact). And then, what I consider the most signifigant turning point: the group started taking less and less halucinagenics and more and more amphetamines. Speed and crank became prevalent in the Manson clan and mixing those drugs with mentally-imballanced and/or abused people, who see main stream society as backwards, is quite the Molotov Cocktail.

LSD makes people enter a new reality, makes them see things in a totally different way; it’s about exploring and altering perception. But uppers make people feel powerful, vengeful, confident in their rage and their ability to change things (violently if necessary).

When Bobby Beausoliel was arrested for killing a man who had sold him bad drugs (and that he sold to a few Black Panthers), the group decided in order to get him out of jail, they would have to commit copycat murders so the cops would think they had the wrong guy. “For love of brother,” they would try to throw the authorities off Bobby’s scent…

A far cry from what Bobby, Charlie and the girls were doing back in the day, just making love, tripping, sleeping, eating, and singing.