The unforgiving, part 2

Dickens said it first and best (in A Tale of Two Cities):

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us. . .

The 60's and 70's are largely remembered for the radicalism and violent demonstrations carried out by the counter-culture of hippies, anti-war protestors, and idealistic youths of those decades. But too many people, even those who were in the protests, forget that the protestors were in the minority. Most Americans were traditional, middle-class conformists whose reactions to the social upheaval around them ranged from quiet confusion to loud and angry calls for sending all the hippies out of the country or using the Army to restore "law and order" at any price.

In short, for every Gloria Steinem, there were a thousand Jeannies saying "Yes, Master" to a man. For every Jimi Hendrix fan, there were a thousand teens who screamed instead for The Monkees. For every kid on LSD, there were a thousand who never touched anything stronger than a beer.

There can be no counter-culture without a dominant, larger culture to define it; and the vast majority of Americans in the 60's and 70's went about the business of life in unremarkable ways. Much like today, they worked for a living, lived in the 'burbs, drove a big car, and came home to escape into the sterilized, unrealistic world of TV. Back then, it was Bewitched, The Brady Bunch, Gilligan's Island, or The Flying Nun. Today, it's very little different, although American Idol has replaced Bewitched.

Because of that dominant culture, many Americans look back 40 years and believe that life was simpler then, or they nostalgically color the past with memories of a child-like innocence filling the social and political landscapes of the day. But there was no innocence for some of us. We saw the culture around us and knew that it was mostly vapid, unfulfilling, deadening nonsense largely under the control of corporate America and undeniably designed to make people apathetic about politics but enthusiastic about shopping.

The war in Vietnam was a constant backdrop for everything that happened in American society at the time. It was difficult to escape the relentless, ugly reality of that horrid war. So of course many Americans retreated into escapism. Their lives became denials of reality--they worked, shopped, vacationed, and socialized with a deliberate and calculated disregard for the war. I remember families that ate dinner with the TV on--a TV that was showing the bloody corpses of American soldiers. Pass the butter, please was a standard reaction. They tried to rob the war of its reality by ignoring it.

Two factors drove some of the young people of my generation to begin to revolt. First, it is horrible to be surrounded by a society that will not see the elephant in the room, the slaughter in Vietnam being the biggest elephant of all. It is disorienting and typically infuriating to be surrounded by people who not only refuse to see reality but also detest anyone who tries to show it to them.

Second, young people often react to feeling powerless with either rage or resignation. Many young people in the 60's felt powerless because the larger society did not hear them and did not want to hear them. They were pointing to the elephant but the more they pointed, the more they were ignored. They became enraged. By God, they were going to be heard.

It is important, I believe, to remember that the angry youths of the 60's were driven to rage on matters of principle. Our anger wasn't because Mom didn't like our hair or Dad wouldn't let us drive the family car. It was based on significant ideas and a profound sense of an urgent need to stop the war and fundamentally change the culture that produced it.

Our anger didn't always result in violence. Rebellion and revolution ironically can be marked by simple but important changes in lifestyle--hence the "peaceniks" and hippies of the 60's. Sometimes, though, it can be violent when the rage to be heard is overwhelming and when an angry youth feels that there is no other way to be heard.

The angry young people and the legions of apathetic older Americans were the central characters in my younger years. By association with the former and by observation of the latter, I developed a set a beliefs that have stayed with me for decades and will probably follow me to the grave:

1. There is no such thing as a just war. Considering the reality of human nature, defensive wars may occasionally be necessary but never just.

2. No war is won, only survived, and there is no honor to be had on either side.

3. Materialism and greed destroy the noblest parts of being human, and sacrifice a life of meaning to one of temporary pleasure.

4. All people are born with human rights. No government on Earth has the power to decide who has rights and who doesn't. Any right held by anyone must be given freely and equally to all.

5. Capitalism is not evil. It can be an agent of social change and a mechanism by which the lives of all people are made better.

6. Corporatism is pure evil, and most corporations in America strive for it.

7. Organized religion cannot be distinguished from a corporation.

8. People everywhere are fundamentally the same in their hopes and aspirations.

9. People are basically selfish but strong societies can turn individualism into a concern for the common good.

10. Anyone representing the government of the U.S. is a liar. Anyone running for office is a liar. The U.S. government is entirely controlled by corporate America, the wealthy, and foreign governments. As a result, political parties exist primarily to advance the interests of those who control the government; and the differences between the parties are often merely cosmetic.

11. Those in power will do anything, anything to stay in power.

12. Unbiased journalists are a blessing. Biased ones are propagandists.

13. The military-industrial complex is a massive fraud, a front for the transfer of wealth to the already wealthy. It survives and prospers by creating false fears and beliefs.

14. To harm the environment is to harm ourselves.

15. Capital punishment is barbaric and it demeans any nation that practices it.

16. People will choose what is easy over what is right in a society that has established its values based on selfishness.

17. The greatest danger to individual liberty is a repressive government, particularly one that justifies and rationalizes its actions on moral or theological grounds.

I could name several more, but these are the important ones. So how, after this long preface, did these beliefs make me feel any different from the younger generation of liberals? Well, that's for Part 3, which will be the final installment on this subject.

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