It's interesting that this summer we are seeing so much upheaval that many want to compare our times to the 60's. We have programs like Aquarius that look at the time of Charlie Manson, we have protests against the police, we have legalization of Marijuana in some states but the truth is we are not in the 60's.
Looking back at the racial tensions of the 60's and the Viet Nam protests, today's protesters appear to me to be nothing more than spoiled brats. The movement against racism in the 60's was against segregation, poll taxes, and other practices designed to preserve the status quo. There were peaceful movements like MLK's group but there were also more militant groups like the Weathermen and Black Panthers that used violence to get their point across. History has embraced MLK and in truth peaceful disobedience changed more than all the bombs and riots caused in those days. The Viet Nam protest give me mixed feelings. First I will fight for their right to peacefully protest but I am embarrassed by my generation spitting on the soldiers. They were following orders from the government. They did not volunteer - they were drafted. The veterans from that "police action" - really a war, should have been treated with honor. It was truly reprehensible how we treated these young men when they came home.
Many have tried to compare Iraq to Viet Nam but for me it's insulting. First off, the number of casualties we have suffered during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined is equal to the loses we suffered in mere days during Viet Nam. Today mission creep is starting in Iraq and it could be compared to the beginning days of Viet Nam but we didn't have a President that was afraid to engage the enemy at that time. In addition, the complaint about leaving forces behind in Iraq was just stupid. We still have troops in Korea to keep the North out. It seems to me that if we were going to remove troops that should be the first place since those troops have been there the longest, however stupid that would be.
The Manson Murders were supposedly to start a race war which Manson called Helter Skelter. Manson believed he could start a race war and he and his "family" could survive the onslaught and become the golden few that were left. I have to think that Manson might be enjoying all the ridiculousness and thinking I told you so if he gets to watch the news. Get this straight, I think that Manson is a pathological psychopath that deserves to rot in prison. His goal was really self glorification; however, seeing Ferguson and the "Pool Party" in Texas, the rioting in Baltimore has to make him think his vision is coming true. I can't see what benefit these protests are trying to get - and I really don't get when protesters riot and loot in their own neighborhoods It's incomprehensible to me.
The mainstream media has vilified our law enforcement to the point where it can no longer do it's job. Our elected officials are playing into that at their own peril. The President should be ashamed getting involved in local issues - especially without all the facts. Meanwhile discipline in any form appears to be abuse. No one should have to pay the consequences for their behavior - especially if they're African-American. I find this highly offensive. The message shouts, "it's okay, you can't help it! You have no education, self-discipline, hope. We will take care of you and you can act like an abhorrent two year-old. It's not your fault that you have these temper tantrums. It's not your fault you can't follow the law or treat others with respect." HOW DISGUSTING!
Parents are now getting letters about the school lunches they send with their children and yet school lunches have gotten so disgusting the crap we were served as kids actually looks good now. If parents dare to question curriculum they are called uneducated, zealots, racist, or all three. Home schoolers are looked at as zealots because they want their children in an environment that champions learning not memorization of ridiculous principles that have no historical basis of success. Socialism/Communism has failed in every country that has tried it. Corrupt government officials get rich and fat off the labors of a few while the rest starve. Income equality in socialism only exists on paper - it has NEVER worked in the past. Think of it - Stalin, the Castros, "Little Kim" and Putin all live in palaces while the rest live in servitude.
Now we have two classes of people those who believe in our laws and Constitution and those who think they are above the law. The second group seems to think it need not listen to those in authority, looting and violence is acceptable, that anyone that disagrees with them can be vilified into silence. We are seeing shades of the holocaust with beheadings of anyone that does not agree with the current despot. Christians, moderate Muslims, and Jews all seem to be at the top of that list. Women regardless of color are at a dangerous, bloody turning point where disobedience is punished by death in any number of horrific ways. We are allowing butchers to dress themselves in the cloak of leadership when they are nothing less than all that is evil in the world. We have politicians, as well as President Obama, that find it expedient to pit American against American so that their own shortcomings as leaders are overlooked.
In the 60's the drug culture embraced LSD.
Tune in, turn on and drop out was all about dropping acid and checking out of the culture. Marijuana was like smoking a cigarette back then. Sex, love and rock 'n roll were anthems of the 1960's. There was an innocence mixed with an undercurrent of cynicism that ran through the culture with a message that few actually followed. Groups like the PLO and Black Panthers terrorized communities. It's interesting that in the last Presidential elections the Black Panthers were there to make sure everyone voted (translated: the right people voted.). We have ignored our progress and are reverting back to the early days of the 60's - even though those days are long gone.
Yes the world is imploding. Yes stupidity seems to have the upper hand right now. Yes we can ignore what history taught us and drop out much more effectively than in the 60's if we want to. Yest evil can win yet again . . .Yes there is hope if we as individuals stand up and say enough is enough. Yes there is hope if we as individuals demand real solutions, honesty, and adherence to the principles that made us great. However, for now it appears that we need to sink much deeper before we as a people have the courage to stand up and say, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!" Then we may finally take control of our lives and move forward to become great once again.
