The Jerry Garcia biography I am halfway through is enjoyable. Rather than a straight biography of Garcia, it’s really the story of Jerry and the times he lived through. The author spends half the book on his youth and the 60s. But hey, as a history nerd, I’m loving all the historical context.

During the description of the chaos of 1968 there is a section that mentions Jerry Rubin and the Yippies. The quote below–attributed to Rubin–which I had never heard before, is great and resonates deeply right now in the back half of 2025. I’d amend the idea a bit in the sense that who we vote for does matter quite a bit. However, as Rubin argues, it is so much more than that. It is what you buy, what you invest your money and time in, what types of people you hang out with, where and how you live, and what values you try to live up day in and day out, including what you do to pay the bills. As a social studies teacher, this is an important idea that I think we all want our young people to understand. Rubin’s quote makes the points succinctly and coming across it, I found it to be a powerful reminder.