I feel the key to the division in the 1960s was the youth of the country wanting to do the “right” thing. We had been raised thinking that was important. Our parents fought in WWII just for that reason and then we saw our own government, military, industries doing what seemed to be a renumciaton of those principles. On the flip side, our parents had those very institutions carry them through both the war and the depression and felt they would do it again. Thus the framework existed for the polarization.
These days, the passion is not there among the youth for an intellectual commitment. And most of the parents are as jaded as their children.
If nothing else, look at the popular culture. Where is there a Dlyan? a Baez? The Byrds? An Aretha? For God’s sake, Barry McGuirre’s ‘Eve of Distruction’ was in the top 20 despite a good portion of rock and roll stations refusing to play it. When was the last time an ‘anti-war in Iraq’ song charted?
George Carlin, Mort Saul, Dick Gregory (all ‘A’ list comedians at the time) all made the war and other social issues the essense of their comedy and this was in the early '60s not late. Today, any comedian who needs a cheap laugh does an Arab joke. I don’t even think Bob Hope resorted to oriental jokes in his routines.
So far the only person I have heard of in popular culture who took a stand contrary to the dominant mind set of the ruling class was Bill Mahar (sp) who had the gall to suggest that perhaps some people in the Middle East might consider what the highjackers on 9-11 did as heroic, and he lost his job. During the “Tet Offensive” in Viet Nam, a number of entertainers suggested similar things.
Yes, I know the Smothers Brothers lost their jobs, but they had defenders of their stance. Who had the guts to stand with Mahar?
No, the similarities aren’t there in my mind. When Janet’s boob got more interest than the numbers of dead coming out of a war that we had no business starting, we’re not even close to being polarized.
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