Strange, I put on the Sounds of Silence cd I got for my birthday today

[acmavm]

and it took me back to the days when it first came out. And then I realized that we are living through times that are even worse than they were then, when the music first came out. But those days were the days of change, when the American people (especially the young) were starting to realize exactly how inept and corrupt our government was. And we all realized that something had to be done. And the music that came out at that time had a lot to do with it. It gave a public voice to our outrage. And it passed on the message that things needed to change, and we could change them. And we did.

I got a bunch of CDs from my daughter. I have a lot of these already, but I have them on vinyl. (I don't have turntable anymore, so I haven't really listened to them for a long time.) I got Simon & Garfunkel, Steeley Dan's Show Biz Kids, Time Loves A Hero by Little Feat, Van Morrison's Tupelo Honey, Neil Young's Live Rust, and a few more. But Simon and Garfunkel, being nice and mellow was what I put on first. And immediately I got a feeling that I'd been through all this before.

But the difference was that the government at the time realized that they had to be careful, that the American people weren't ignorant buffoons who would swallow any half-assed lie they were fed, and then not notice the difference when they started to tell a different tale. They operated in secrecy but their actions were blatantly apparent for all to see. And see them we did.

The current administration has been operating on a theory that since they got away with the theft of the 2000 election, they could get away with ANYTHING. And believe me, the things that these people have been caught at are as bad if not far worse than what brought about the revolution of the 60s and the 70s. But people cared, they understood the concept of the impact of present actions on the future. And we really understood that war made under false pretenses was illegal and immoral. And there was an understanding that you might have to pay for your actions in making your voice heard. And many did pay. (Kent State, the Chicago Seven are two examples.) We are living through the same thing now. But people are afraid. They don't understand that freedom has always come at a price. They have become so complacent, they think that since those battles were fought and won, then they can sit back and take everything for granted, that those victories were a permanent thing. Well, the human condition being what it is, the fight is never over. There are always schemers out there looking to take over. Our jobs as Americans is to MAKE CERTAIN that they don't succeed.

These kids today, they are very nostalgic for the 60s and 70s. They need to understand that what is happening will effect their lives, take away their freedoms, bankrupt the economy and saddle them with a debt that they will never be able to pay, that their chances at education are being taken away by this bunch of thugs in Washington, that the chance for finding employment that will support them and their families is disappearing. They need to get involved. They need to be made to understand the seriousness of the situation. It's their future that is in the live of fire, literally. Just like those years they seem to wish they had lived through.

Well, I'm fixing a turkey dinner and having some of my family over for my birthday. So I'll go back to making the dressing and listening to the stereo, and I feel a little better since I got this out of my system. But in the back of my mind is always the question, when will people get off their complascent, lazy asses?

[newyawker99]

1. Congrats acmavm!! 600 posts

:toast:

[HEyHEY]

2. never

they have the mass population so concerned with possesion's getting laid and looking good. That few care, and the rest don't even want to get involved

[Iris]

3. what we need to hope (and pray, if you do that) for

is that young people will begin to see how corrupt and inept corporate America is and then demand a gov't. that will address that corruption rather than participate in it.

One thing to keep in mind is that young people think everything they discover is new. I am holding out hope that a few of them will start to awaken and spread that awakening around to their peers. They've grown up in an age where journalism is another form of entertainment, but there's still documentation of journalists who were rough and tumble, blue collar types. You can still check out a video of All the President's Men. At some point, some aspiring journalist might just step up and pick up the reins and then, maybe, some of Bush and his ilk's appeal to the young will begin to erode.

[regnaD kciN]

4. Then and Now...

But the difference was that the government at the time realized that they had to be careful, that the American people weren't ignorant buffoons who would swallow any half-assed lie they were fed...

Two words for you: Warren Report

:tinfoilhat:

[jafap]

5. all lies in jest

still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest. Lie, lie, lie. Lie lie lie.

Myself, I would rather be a nail than a hammer. A nail gets pounded in once, but a hammer pounds in thousands of nails - and remember Newton's second law.

Anyway, happy birthday. It must be great to be back home in Lincoln.

[mark0rama]

6. Beautiful testimonial to the power of music

I loved your post, but what really resonated with me was not your political concern (well-expressed though it was), but your demonstration about how these feelings were unlocked by the music.

It reminds me of something Cameron Crowe said when talking about making "Almost Famous": Every month through his adult life (and probably much of his adolescence), he's made a mix tape of whatever music he was listening to at the time, and he finds that listening to those tapes cues up whatever he was thinking and feeling at the time - better than a diary.

Why don't you do yourself a big favor, and get a turntable again? You might be able to find one fairly inexpensively at a yard sale.