On 7/3/06, Carrol Cox <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Michael Perelman wrote:
>
> Does anyone else believe this? Of course, there was a confluence of different
> movements, some of which may have been encouraged by the success of the
anti-war
> movement. I know that Carrol disagrees with my earlier contention that the
draft was
> also an important factor. I think that the economic problems of the time
eroded
> middle class support. Anyway, I am unconvinced that you can make the case
for a
> single-factor explanation.
Agree with the last point. But all the multiple factors, including body
bags, were energized, given coherence, by the momentum established
within and by the Black Liberation Movement. For one thing of course, so
many of the leaders at all levels came to the anti-war movement after
first being energized by the black movement in the south.
The draft counts -- but I don't think you can give any evidence
whatsoever that _anyone_, at any time, became active in order to protect
himself from the draft. Anyone who thought that would have had to be an
utter ignoramus, unless he was a 15-year old or younger looking five
years into the future. You have to connect the draft in a different way
than personal concern of potential draftees to establish its importance
in the movement.
Kids weren't drafted into the Vietnam War in the rest of the world,
but almost all countries -- even Japan! -- experienced great social
movement upsurges in the long sixties (extending beyond the decade),
some nations, like France, at the higher level than in the United
States. (The Cultural Revolution in China, as well as other turmoils
in the Eastern Bloc, should be considered part of the sixties) The
long sixties was an international phenomenon (demographic effects of
baby boomers growing up, economic effects of the transition between
the post-WW2 boom and stagflation, political effects of decades of
anti-colonial struggles after WW2, etc.), the last ripples of which
were the Sandinista Revolution and the Iranian Revolution (by then,
youth counter-culture had given way to youth fired up by liberation
theology).
So were the 1930s, the 1910s, the 1870s, and the 1840s.
It looks to me that we may possibly be at the beginning of a similar
international wave, this time spearheaded by Latin Americans, if the
upsurge spreads in the Middle East. That's why we ought to pay
attention to Iran and Palestine.
--
Yoshie
<http://montages.blogspot.com/>
<http://mrzine.org>
<http://monthlyreview.org/>
