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Some Semi-Serious Thinking
Mar. 6th, 2003 12:50 pmLast night, there was a special on PBS called "This Land is Our Land" or something like that. It was a reunion concert with a lot of folk singers from the 60's like Kingston Trio, The Brothers Four, and people like that. I love old folk music; I grew up on the stuff. I sat there and listened, singing along while Alex put together a piece of furniture for his mom, when it hit me. (An interesting thought, not the furniture.) A lot of the old anti-war folk music that was sung in the 60's could apply to a lot of the anti-war sentiment today.
Something else that brought this to mind was a radio show that Alex and I were listening to as we drove full boxes to his house and brought empty boxes back to my house. There's a Republican woman (I can say that because she reminds the listeners that she's a Republican about every five minutes) named Laura who does this talk show. Alex and I like listening to her because all she does is make fun of people and it's fun to argue with her illogical statements. In any case, last night she was commenting on a large protest called "Books not Bombs" that was happening at Stanford University. She said something about "Well, I guess nobody has to study out here anymore." Apparently, many of the professors had cancelled classes to allow their students and themselves to attend the protest. Also, some of the elementary schools had cancelled classes in support of this protest. The main comments that Laura seemed to make on this protest were about the appearance of the protestors (scruffy) and how stupid she thought the whole "left-wing brainwashing conspiracy" was. This drives me crazy. It also makes me wonder: Did people feel this way about the college-age protesters during the Vietnam War?
I would just like to say this: I am (will be in the fall) a college student. I have been a college student for over five years. I am not brainwashed. I have not been pressured to join any sort of political or social group. I simply feel that war is wrong.
In any case, the protests and the comments about the protests also made me think about what I know about the 60's. The country was divided, as it is now. Some supported war, and some didn't. Those who didn't were seen as dirty, lazy hippies for the most part. (Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is what I understand happened.) Today, more people are protesting, and it's not just the hippies. It's much bigger than that. Most of the people in the entertainment industry here in America seem to think that war is a bad idea. Most of the people I talk to, including veterans, seem to think that war is a bad idea, at least without U.N. support.
I, personally, am confused. I don't think I have quite all the information, but the more information I get, the more I think we shouldn't go to war, ESPECIALLY on our own. Still, whenever I hear those 60's folk songs, it makes me think about the cycles of history. What goes around, comes around, as they say. Are we going to have a repeat of Vietnam? I hope not, as I heard it was hell. But with the country (and the world) divided as it is, I wouldn't be surprised.
I know this rambles quite a bit, but I just had to get some of this semi-coherent stuff out of my head. Comments? Questions? Clarification?
P.S. For those of you who are wondering, everything is going fine with the wedding. Clothes are almost done. A few fiddly things need to be finished, but things are going great. Thanks, everyone, for your support!
Something else that brought this to mind was a radio show that Alex and I were listening to as we drove full boxes to his house and brought empty boxes back to my house. There's a Republican woman (I can say that because she reminds the listeners that she's a Republican about every five minutes) named Laura who does this talk show. Alex and I like listening to her because all she does is make fun of people and it's fun to argue with her illogical statements. In any case, last night she was commenting on a large protest called "Books not Bombs" that was happening at Stanford University. She said something about "Well, I guess nobody has to study out here anymore." Apparently, many of the professors had cancelled classes to allow their students and themselves to attend the protest. Also, some of the elementary schools had cancelled classes in support of this protest. The main comments that Laura seemed to make on this protest were about the appearance of the protestors (scruffy) and how stupid she thought the whole "left-wing brainwashing conspiracy" was. This drives me crazy. It also makes me wonder: Did people feel this way about the college-age protesters during the Vietnam War?
I would just like to say this: I am (will be in the fall) a college student. I have been a college student for over five years. I am not brainwashed. I have not been pressured to join any sort of political or social group. I simply feel that war is wrong.
In any case, the protests and the comments about the protests also made me think about what I know about the 60's. The country was divided, as it is now. Some supported war, and some didn't. Those who didn't were seen as dirty, lazy hippies for the most part. (Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is what I understand happened.) Today, more people are protesting, and it's not just the hippies. It's much bigger than that. Most of the people in the entertainment industry here in America seem to think that war is a bad idea. Most of the people I talk to, including veterans, seem to think that war is a bad idea, at least without U.N. support.
I, personally, am confused. I don't think I have quite all the information, but the more information I get, the more I think we shouldn't go to war, ESPECIALLY on our own. Still, whenever I hear those 60's folk songs, it makes me think about the cycles of history. What goes around, comes around, as they say. Are we going to have a repeat of Vietnam? I hope not, as I heard it was hell. But with the country (and the world) divided as it is, I wouldn't be surprised.
I know this rambles quite a bit, but I just had to get some of this semi-coherent stuff out of my head. Comments? Questions? Clarification?
P.S. For those of you who are wondering, everything is going fine with the wedding. Clothes are almost done. A few fiddly things need to be finished, but things are going great. Thanks, everyone, for your support!
