Sure part of growing up is probably moving to the political center. I sure did. I was a little too young to be part of that movement. Maybe it wasn't your people's voice, but a large voice undeniably. And in a democracy, that's supposed to count for something.
I'm merely pointing out that "free inquiry" and "strong values" are polar opposites. People that bolster one, are doing so by denying the other. You can't have it both ways - either you're open or you're closed. The positions are antithetical. Yet we expect them to coexist in some precarious balance. Hardy, har, har.
What was shocking was that was one weird era there on all sides. Polarization galore. This is the same polarization that exists in many Creationist-Darwinist and Choice/Pro-Life discussions. In our discussions up to now, your rhetoric has generally been even and temperate. Yet, just reading your words now:
So he told a bunch of grunting rutting hippies to shut the hell up. Who cares? They were spoiled brats anyway.
rings terribly in my ears and evokes many conflicted memories. This suggest even now people are fundamentally polarized on this period. Those "hippies" were not all dirtbags - my sister was in the UC system at the time so I got first hand reports. Remember Angela Davis. UCLA. Sis' was there. 7 years. From 69 - 76.
There was no reason to expect fundamentally pre-WWII values to exist in people asked to fight in Viet Nam. Can you image a more stark contrast in combat objectives? Saving the world from jackbooted warriors vs. dropping napalm on indigenous people. Hmm, I can't imagine why.
The establishment group (money, position, power) was comparing their emotional frame of reference to the latter who had decided that the TV War was ugly and pointless (poor, weak, young). And the latter felt powerless. I would argue that their feelings were justified since they couldn't vote. Certainly, as much as black people were in the 50's. There was no vote, only conscription to a rich man's war, or so the songs went. I believe they were absolutely sincere in their beliefs.
Thanks for the links. |
