"The year 1968 was a terrible year and yet one for which many people feel nostalgia. Despite the thousands dead in Vietnam, the million starved in Biafra, the crushing of idealism in Poland and Czechoslovakia, the massacre in Mexico, the clubbings and brutalization of dissenters all over the world, the murder of the two Americans who most offered the world hope, to many it was a year of great possibilities and is missed. . . The thrilling thing about the year 1968 was that it was a time when significant segments of population all over the globe refused to be silent about the many things that were wrong with the world. They could not be silenced. There were too many of them, and if they were given no other opportunity, they would stand in the street and shout about them. And this gave the world a sense of hope that it has rarely had, a sense that where there is wrong, there are always people who will expose it and try to change it."
I was only a junior in high school that year, a senior for the last of it, and was only vaguely aware of what was going on. Not until I went to college in 1969 did I become involved in any sort of protest, first the mild demonstration that occurred on the Muhlenberg campus (I still have the "Peace" armband I wore then) and then some Washington marches. There was definitely something in the air that I felt and absorbed. By the end of my college years, much of the hope Kurlansky talks about was gone, especially after McGovern lost the election in '72n and the Vietnam War continued to drag into the 70's.
It seems to me that people were less afraid in the 60's. They spoke out. They fought for their beliefs with their bodies, not just via e-mail or text or Facebook. People have not given up - I applaud the Veterans for Peace who protested (130 of the protesters arrested) December 16th when they demonstrated against the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and President Obama's decision to move our troop pullout from 2011 to 2014.
What's so amazing is that, despite certain governments thinking it was all a conspiracy, the student revolutions happened at the same time, independently of each other. I was aware of Paris and Czechoslovakia, but didn't know - or didn't remember -- the details, and don't remember hearing about Mexico and the other revolts that happened back then, in Italy, Spain, Germany.
The government learned how to work the media for their own ends. We don't see the coverage we should be seeing today; the war is a footnote. How many of you knew there was a protest in December in Washington? The numbers are manipulated, photos destroyed and data skewed (that went on in the 70's too) so that the wars can go on. It happened then and happens today. There will always be truth-tellers who can't be silenced, though (Joe Sacco, Michael Herr, Michael Moore).
I knew nothing about Alexander Dubcek, and plan to read more on him (HOPE DIES LAST: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALEXANDER DUBCEK)
. He seemed to me a wise and compassionate man. If you want to learn some sharp history with a slew of anecdotes, connections, and references to music, feminism, art, philosophy of the times, read this book. It may not make you a revolutionary, but it will make you think about what matters, about what makes a nation great. It will teach you much and if you already know all about it, will make you remember.(You may be able to get a used copy at http://www.powells.com/ like I did.)
No comments:
Post a Comment