The times, were they a-changing?



Our "elder members" Billy and Chris weighed in with their thoughts on what went right -- and wrong -- with the sixties revolution, in response to a post about an alleged loss of religion in civil discourse (and vice versa):

Chris:
I don't think my generation changed the political system in any lasting and positive way. We had some issues to fight, we had the energy, we had the confidence, and we had the numbers. After the Vietnam War ended we tended to go about our lives while more or less forgetting about the political system. Worse yet, many of the ideas that we boldly espoused were shallow. They made sense in the context of the sixties, but they didn't have the well-rounded wisdom that comes with age.... I think we were right about the Vietnam
War but that has certainly not led to a war free world.

Billy :
The beginning of my disillusionment with the 60s "revolution" came in the late Spring after Kent State. One coed gave a... statement of principle.... We should go home and convert our parents to liberation , was her view. "If we believe enough," she said, or words to this effect, " we will achieve what we are seeking and America will become a new country of peace," etc. Nice sentiments, I guess, but how utterly naive.... That is not how the world works....

No-one did a post battle analysis to honestly face the question: Why did we fail ? In what ways is our ideology faulty ? Are there opportunities to repair at least some damages with people who ought to be our allies, like organized labor and "progressive" churches?...

Overspecialization. This is the problem...


Posted: Tue - July 12, 2005 at 09:01 AM        

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