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August 15, 2005
How will you remember this decade?
Will the first decade of the 2000s be known as the 1960s of the new millenium?
This question popped into my head this morning as I was driving to work, listening to the song, Road To Joy by Bright Eyes. It’s songs like this one, protests by passionate people like Cindy Sheehan, and art by painters like Steve Mumford and Fernando Botero that make me think the answer to this question might be “yes.”
Even so, this will be known as a decade much more subtle than the 1960s. Similar to the 60s, a war has been progressing for far too long. But, quite on the contrary, the world’s youth, too involved in text-messaging and playing their PSPs, can’t be bothered to organize any sort of movement like the hippies of the past did. Their parents, immersed in the throngs of pseudo-politics, commercialism, and the pollution of 90s apathy never were bothered by anything. And their grandparents have all but forgotten about the idealism of their youth. (Of course, sometimes, they’ll remember the days when they sacrificed their middle-class lives and white-bread reputations to speak out against something they didn’t agree with when they watch movies by people like Oliver Stone.)
No, this won’t be an era that future generations will try to emulate twenty years from now (like what happened with the 60s). Sure, The OC and Punk’d might generate some clothing comebacks years from now, but no one will wish they’d lived between the years 2000 and 2010.
Why are the Green Day‘s and the Sheehans so few and far between these days? Why do we look down at the crowd of people on the corner holding up signs that say, “Honk For Peace”? Is our involvement something worth believing in really that difficult to embrace?
I’m no different, you know. I drive past protesters and wonder if they’re really doing any good. I listen to my old punk rock collection and reminisce about the days when things mattered to me. I shop at CostCo and change the channel on the television when scenes of war appear on the screen.
And this is what the current generation is going to be looking back on twenty years from now.
Anyway, if you want to do something, but don’t know what, here’s one idea:
These vigils will take place on August 17, 2005, at 7:30pm. Click the link and find out if there will be a vigil site near you.
If anything, join Cindy and others in prayer for our country and our troops. Pray for those who belong to other countries and find themselves in the midst of a bloody battle. Pray for those who do not have a voice or a country that supports them.
Posted at 2:35 pm
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C’mon, we’ve seen some dude skate over wall of china, we made a movie about the Dukes of Hazzard and bald guys like me have a chance of being sexy. Ain’t all bad.
Actually i wonder about that too. Our country is slowly abandoning the God that’s blessed it in so many ways. Our schools, our policies, our laws. Our homes. I wonder if we will recognize our own species in another generation with all these gross tats and body piercings. See, i sound like a grandpa already.
dennisthemenace () - August 15, 2005 at 4:57 pm
Todd M (URL) - August 15, 2005 at 10:21 pm
There are two things I’d like to ask the crazy Sheehan lady:
1.) When your son joined the military, did you not take a moment to think, “hmmm, he might die”? I was unaware joining the military also included a clause that said “We won’t get you killed, and if we do, your Mom can go crazy and protest against the rest of the family’s wishes, ruining your sacrifice, and making an idiot out of herself.”
2. How does it feel to have the national media because you’re not with your husband in California mourning your son and working out your differences?
(http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0815051sheehan1.html)
/end bitter rant/
Don’t get me wrong. I voted for Bush, in my opinion, the lesser of the two evils. I don’t like we are in a war. I don’t like that we could have instead spent the billions of dollars on pushing the automakers to energy efficient vehicles like the guy who has a Prius that gets 80mpg thanks to extra batteries. But that’s politics, that’s our nation, that’s how stupid our system is most of the time.
But hey, God is working in all of it, in some very, very, strange way. So I’m going to let Him take care of it.
Another cool energy company ;) : http://stirlingenergy.com/solar_overview..
/paraphrase the President of Stirling Energy/ “A 100 mile by 100 mile farm would eliminate the US’s dependence on foreign oil” — freakin’ amazing stuff! Now there is something I’d support!
Kevin () (URL) - August 15, 2005 at 10:31 pm
Todd… I agree with every point except for one… For the bulk of the 1970s, the U.S. was coming down from a war. Here in the 2000s, we are in the midst of one. Maybe by 2009 (e.g., 1969), people will be more willing to act up again… But, I could just be dreaming. In actuality, I hope the war is long over by then anyway.
Kevin… Thanks for your thoughts… A little disheartening, though (from a idealistic standpoint, anyway). Sure, the Sheehans are having marital problems and you can blame Cindy, partially, for not being with her husband… Still, people fail to mention that hundreds of marriages fall apart when a child dies — even when the parents try to stick around and work things out. Now, I’m not defending divorce as the proper path, of course, but I don’t think Cindy’s absence has anything to do with it — I could ask, “Why isn’t her husband in Texas with her,supporting a valiant cause”?
Now, about knowing that your child might die when theyjoin the military… Yeah, that’s true. But, war changes everything. Watch a few episodes of American Dreams (I even shutter to think I’m using a television show as an example here, but it works). You’ll quickly learn how many people, whowere gung-ho nationalists in the 60s, quickly changed their minds once the Viet Nam War got underway.
Lastly (because this is becoming another tirade, which I apologize for)... When we say, “God will work it out,” what exactly does that mean? Couldn’t that possibly mean that God will use the youth of the world to change minds and policies? In my opinion, when we make a statement like that, we’d better be actively listening for God’s word and commandments in our lives, or nothing will ever be worked out.
timsamoff () (URL) - August 16, 2005 at 08:26 am
DH () - August 17, 2005 at 08:29 am
timsamoff () (URL) - August 17, 2005 at 08:35 am
dh () - August 17, 2005 at 08:51 am
Well, I’d tend to disagree slightly about the benefits of the 40s over the 60s, but that’s ok. I know where you’re coming from.
timsamoff () (URL) - August 17, 2005 at 09:22 am
dh () - August 17, 2005 at 09:27 am
In any case, I’m not saying that the 60s (or any decade for that matter) was better than any other decade… What I’m wondering is whether or not the youth of this decade will react similarly to the youth of the 60s. That’s all.
timsamoff () (URL) - August 17, 2005 at 09:36 am
You also forget that America in the 1930’s was not a military power (only 5th in the world), even in pre 1941 America it wasn’t. We also forget that the US supported the Allies not the Axis after 1938 (Lend Lease) solely when it became evident of Hitlers military intentions so to say that America didn’t do all it could is a little bit of a generalization but I agree with you America could have responded sooner.
So as you see I don’t “limit my view to America”.
My post was to point out that if there is a reaction like there was in the 60’s it will probably become an overaction like typical reactions have become in the past.
dh () - August 17, 2005 at 10:13 am
Don’t get me wrong. I voted for Bush, in my opinion, the lesser of the two evils. I don’t like we are in a war. I don’t like that we could have instead spent the billions of dollars on pushing the automakers to energy efficient vehicles like the guy who has a Prius that gets 80mpg thanks to extra batteries. But that’s politics, that’s our nation, that’s how stupid our system is most of the time.
When he says “that’s how stupid our system is most of the time,” does he not realize that he is the system he’s criticizing?
He voted for the man who took us to war in the first place. Eighteen hundred American lives and counting because Bush is settling a personal score, not a patriotic one. (Meanwhile, Osama bin Laden sits safely tucked away in his cave, watching the whole thing on CNN and Al-Jazeera as his dialysis machine whirrs contentedly in the background…)
He voted for the man who threw away billions of dollars of budget surplus that would have helped rebuild New York after 9/11, that would have helped fund the war in Afghanistan (the only war we should have fought).
He voted for an administration comprised of former oil executives who are the reason we’re paying more at the pump, who are failing to decrease our dependence on foreign oil because they’ve always been in bed with the Saudis, and who rejected the Kyoto accord because they’re in ExxonMobil’s back pocket. This isn’t environmental policy to them — it’s their retirement plan.
He voted for the man who, for all his posturing as a Christian, has an ideology every bit as hateful as that of the enemy we’re fighting in the war on terror —excuse me, the global struggle against violent extremism… No, wait, I take that back. I’m being told now that it actually is a war on terror.
Now, would someone please illustrate to me how Bush is “the lesser of two evils”?
Then, in the very next breath, Kevin drops this load:
But hey, God is working in all of it, in some very, very, strange way. So I’m going to let Him take care of it.
Do me a favor, Kevin: Don’t. Ever. Vote. Again. Your right to make lousy choices then classify the consequences as God’s will has just been revoked.
Sorry this turned so ugly, but we have met the enemy and he is us. I’ll be over at my place if anyone wants to move this fight off Tim’s lawn.
Shepcat () (URL) - August 17, 2005 at 1:08 pm
dh () - August 17, 2005 at 4:29 pm
1. Yes, dh, I may fairly be called hostile. Sorry if any of that got on you. I can be reasonable and agree to disagree with people who don’t share my views,
but Kevin made some dangerously naive statements above that, I fear, reflect the thinking of a lot of uninformed Americans, as well as a lot of Christians who have been scammed into believing that a vote for George W. Bush is a vote for God.
2. I think Kevin’s characterization of Bush as the lesser of two evils was actually comparing him to John Kerry, not Saddam and Osama. The sticking point in that characterization is that our “war president,” who comfortably avoided service in Vietnam, has risen to power in part by smearing heroic veterans who actually went — men like John McCain, Max Cleland, and Sen. Kerry — then cutting veterans’ benefits even as he sends tomorrow’s veterans off to war.
Shepcat () (URL) - August 17, 2005 at 6:39 pm
DH () - August 18, 2005 at 08:24 am
http://www.glcq.com/bush_at_arpc1.htm
But, this is completely off subject… I appreciate all of the comments, but I’d suggest taking this conversation to e-mail if you wish to discuss anything more beyond the scope of the original Blog post.
timsamoff () (URL) - August 18, 2005 at 08:42 am
dh () - August 18, 2005 at 10:14 am
