A conversation with a disappointed man
A month ago now, I happened to get into a conversation about the state of the world with someone I didn’t know well. The other party in this exchange was a man of a certain age, someone who’d been active in the peace movement in the 1960s. He was lamenting the apathy that young people today show towards war and other injustices. He saw human nature as basically bad, and he was a great big bummer to talk with.
I did, however, learn one interesting thing from the conversation—not from the man but from talking with him. I learned that it’s his fault.
His generation had the draft. Every young person coming up at that time knew that she-he would be profoundly and personally impacted by our government’s dealings with other governments. By threatening their lives and the lives of their nearest and dearest, the draft insured that young people would be invested in the big picture.
And this man’s generation took that away from all future generations.
I’m not mad at him or his generation for getting rid of this easy (and scary) way of inspiring social engagement. I’m mad at him and people like him for fundamentally altering the fabric of this country and then looking down on my generation for not being more like them.
Gwenn Seemel
Chú Xam (Vietnamese-American)
2008
acrylic on canvas and eyelet
36 x 24 inches
(Part of Apple Pie, a socially engaged series about the American identity.)
Then again, when I take a step back and when I consider the more recent events on Wall Street, I see that it’s about more than having the draft or not having it. It’s about the complexities of modern life.
Maybe I’m oversimplifying a time I didn’t live through, but it seems to me that the world looked a whole lot more straightforward to the average person in the 60s. By that I mean that most people didn’t have access to the kinds and quantities of information that we have access to today with our technologies.
In fact, when you look at it in that light, Occupy Wall Street is that much more impressive. Not only have the protestors managed to rally together even though their lives aren’t being held hostage by the draft, but the very technology that too often numbs, distracts, and scatters us has been used to get the word out when mainstream media was, for some impossibly undemocratic reason, refusing to cover the protest.
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CATEGORIES: - Philosophy -
(2) Comments / Commentaires: A conversation with a disappointed man
I know it and I’m glad for it! I think the only movements for social change that have any real impact are the ones that draw from the strengths of a variety of people.
And I can’t tell if you don’t like the phrase “of a certain age” or not. I didn’t mean it to be offensive, but I guess I could see how it might be annoying…!
Saralinda...
I, too, am of “a certain age.” I was a freshman in college when Nixon waltzed into Cambodia. Being a “good girl,” I protested, but very politely. Over the years, I have thought long and hard about the issues that were so important to us then and I have come to the conclusion that we tried our best, but young idealists are a rare species. Year after year, our agenda was revamped, remade, and even corrupted by others “of a certain age.” So today, I watch the news and pray very hard that new leaders will come forth to pick up the banner. “Occupy Wall Street” is a start. I have never been and am not an anarchist. I still believe that peace and justice is possible in our society.
So not all people of my generation look down on your generation. We grow older and wiser and more tired, but we still believe in the power of Youth.
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