Whether you agree with author Tony Long or not, his recent
article on activism (or lack thereof) in the United States was a concise, well written compilation of many things I now believe.
If one thinks that the average American is a concerned, informed, and socially conscious citizen, then one probably haven't heard that more of us are
voting for American Idol candidates than Presidential ones. Even as a cynic of our bi-partisan system, this news depressed me.
Even more interesting to me than the article itself was the endless stream of reader comments that followed. It seemed like every possible stance was taken by one viewer or another, and this helped me get a rough sampling of what other people think about activism.
Some selected comments from viewers:
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HAHA--Boy, i wished you stayed in Baseball, perhaps our society would have been better off without your mush brain and worthless--this is Vietnam crap!!
If you tried that crap in any other country except the US (sit ins,another name for pot smoking)you would be at worse dead or in some political prison. I cant help wonder if you realize it was your generation that removed religon from not only all public places, (forget the fact thats what our founding fathers were CHRISTIANS) but schools, and any other place it offends them. BAHH i wonder why i bother with liberal ex hippies trying to re live the glory years.....
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What If They Gave A Protest .... ? Another possible point of view. The title of Tony's piece is a piece of leftover rhetoric from the 60's and to me, it's like the Hollerith code on the one computer card I own that also survived the 60's - quaintly interesting, but no longer functional. There are no computer card readers to interpret the little square holes in my Hollerith code, so no one knows what my card is saying. Without any communication on the receiving end, then, the data on my little rectangular card is meaningless. Given the depressed moaning I'm hearing in this forum that Tony's piece is falling on deaf ears, it would seem that Tony is also handing us data written in Hollerith code on an old outdated computer card that no longer works.
Tony's title is an echo of an antiwar slogan from the 60's - "What If They Gave A War and Nobody Came?" It was the sort of 60's stuff that passed for brilliant, insightful & socially relevant thinking at the time. But was it? It certainly seemed so to those who proffered it. The zeitgeist was that if you're not out agitated and agitating, then you're doing nothing. But what did the agitation really accomplish? What if it's not the people sitting at their IPODS who are self-absorbed? What if they're just doing something called "living their lives?" What if it was the 60's antiwar protesters with their inflamed passions who were self-absorbed? When I was a boy scout learning to build a campfire I learned that there are basically two kinds of firewood in the forest. There's pine, which is filled with rosin and burns quickly. Then there's hardwood, which burns much more slowly. If you build your cooking fire with pine, you won't have time to make your bacon do more than sizzle before the wood burns out. Build your cooking fire with oak or some other hardwood, and it'll burn for hours. That's what the "passion" of the 60's was like - a pine fire. It burned hot, the bacon sizzled a bit, and then it went out. I admire the hot flashes of fire in Tony's piece. But the question is, whatever came of it? Three decades of putting antiwar passion to work, and what do we have to show for it? Half-done bacon, served on very tarnished silver platters, listed on menus written in Hollerith code. No one gets it. Some few say, "Hey, boy, this bacon is delicious! Yummm! Boy it's too bad we don't get bacon like THIS in today's cafe's, yeah man!" And since the ancient Greek philosophers with their olive complexions are now according to properly faddish thinking classified along with Dead White Males, their admonitions are forgotten: "The Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living." Tony's life sounds like an unexamined life. He gave up baseball? Wonderful! For what? Tony, along with every Tony Long in existence, lacks the courage to examine his life. It's much easier and less painful to fling angry rhetoric. And what does the Hollerith code on my antique 60's computer card say? "F*** off, buddy." What can I say? It seemed terribly clever at the time.
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The hippies of the 60's are the reason the crime, drug are so entrenched in our society. They almost single handed destroy our nation , our traditions, our culture, that tooks the sacrifice of many generations, to allow this liberal miope to say what ever he thinks.
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So what's the fuss about anyway? The "rebel" who did his part and gave up baseball in high school? Big deal. So now he's the Andy Rooney for a semi-hip technogossip sheet. I'm with the conservatives in these arguements but what's the point anyway? The "rebels" were all yap, yap, yap, then and now. You don't kick barking chihuahuas, you step pass them and shoot charging pit bulls. Tony Long and his friends are chihuahuas. The Jihadists are the pit bulls.
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The revolution will not be televised...
As an english expat coming to America with perceptions of many countries and societal differences I was shocked at the prevailance of political and historical ignorance that passes in conversation as the foundation for individual opinion. This boards responses are disappointingly bereft of any social conscience or commitment to anything but individual prosperity, security and self righteousness. If America is failing it is because America no longer functions as a collective under such conditions. Federalism, once founded this great country, but now perhaps represents more of a threat to American ideals than it present a solution. Tony Long, if I causght his gist, is questioning our inability and unwillingness to question authority. This is what forged America in its revolution against English oppression. To state that this sentiment is 'Hippy clap trap' or suchlike only further illustrates his arguement, that the majority of Americans are self absorbed, self obsessed and self interested people who deserve to be treated with the contempt that the American Government has shown towards citizens and foreign nationals on occaisions too numerous to mention. It is the poor who die for freedom, not the wealthy. Where is Americas commitment to freedom charity, goodwill and social conscience? I for one am grateful Mr Long for asking. I am sorry that so many who reponded lack the forbarance and humility to introduce further intelligent debate to these pertainant questions about the social change, accountability and individual freedoms that allow Americans to speak as loudly and as brashly as do. As Mother no doubt said to you all. If you got nothing to say then say nothing at all.
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I'm getting sick and tired of the ex-hippies/flower children/baby boomers talk about how great the 60's were. That they marched in the streets, protested the war, made love, etc. Anytime I hear about some group marching or holding a vigil or whatever, I want to puke. A lot of the crap going on nowadays is because of the baby boomer generation. Your parents suffered through the Great Depression AND World War II and decided to give you the world on a silver platter and you pissed on it. Politcal correctness? A boomer invention that has stifled free speech to the point that no one will say anything of any consequence because of fear that they will be labeled as a hatemonger. We do need a revolution. We need a revolution AGAINIST the boomer generation that has screwed up our government, school boards, etc. It's time that MY generation (labeled as Generation X by you idiots) stood up a set things right. And no, I don't mean conservative. I mean common sense right. How's about folks? What about a little common sense? I think the whole freakin' world could do with a dose of it.
Just a thought.....
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Let's roll. I'm ready and I'm not afraid. Know what freedom is. Get out of debt, sell your shit and feel alive again. Become liquid. Stop being afraid and get ready to lose what little you really have left.
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As often seems the case, the most pertinent, rational and thoughtful response, the one that responds in advance to the many of the cynics and blowhards posting below is found right up front and yet few people seem to have read or responded to it. leadott_man, your suggestions are noted and appreciated. Thank you for offering actionable advice instead of angry opinion
I might add to your suggestions: read Thomas Friedman's "The World is Flat" and then take stock of what you think about America, the world and your place in it.
Truly, I wonder what percentage of people posting here actually read, absorb and learn from all of these posts, and then return to them a week later to see the developments and track the responses to their own comments rather than simply using this as a static tool for deliving personal missives with no actual interest taking the time to observe and evaluate the arguments on different sides with a goal of further enlightenment.
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As for myself, I am left wondering if the 60's version of the sit-in, march, and rally activism is truly dead, and if so, what will the next incarnation be and when will it be here?
I had the option, and I was lazy on this one. I listened to Snowcrash on CD. At work. Yes, the book deserves more. But to be fair, I did rewind the time slider on iTunes during exciting or especially amusing parts so that I could listen to them again. It did not go in one ear and out the other. Mr. narrator and his fun voices saw to that.
