MARINA DEL REY, CA -- On the 30th anniversary of Woodstock, the festival should be remembered for what it was: an orgy of destruction, said a senior writer for the Ayn Rand Institute.
     "Woodstock does not stand for peace and love, or any other positive value," said Robert W. Tracinski.
     He noted that it is no accident that the Woodstock hippies called their philosophy the "counter-culture," because it was defined in terms of what it was against:

• The hippies were against property rights and capitalism -- so they trampled neighboring farmers' fields, destroyed property, and stormed the festival's ticket booths without paying.
• The hippies were against any "inhibitions" -- or standards -- concerning sex; many acted on these views, engaging in orgies of indiscriminate sex.
• They were against moral responsibility -- their crude motto was: "if it feels good, do it."
• They were against civilization and favored a primitive, tribal lifestyle -- and they proceeded to look and act like savages, smearing their bodies with mud and immersing themselves in a mindless mass of 500,000 people.

     "Above all, the hippies were against reason," said Tracinski. "They arrived at Woodstock with no thought of how they would feed, clothe, or shelter themselves for the next three days, an approach eloquently and chillingly replayed during last month's restaging of the festival, which ended in a violent riot and rape of four women.
     "It is time to tear the benevolent mask off Woodstock and recognize its real essence. Instead of worshiping the irrationalism of it, we should rededicate ourselves to restoring and defending: reason, individualism, moral responsibility, and civilization."