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What has changed?

8/13/2016

7 Comments

 
by Gwendolyn M Plano
Picture1967
Fifty years ago, I was a dreamy-eyed teenager listening to Buffalo Springfield. Their hit, “For What It’s Worth,” by Stephen Stills spoke to my generation’s discontent and fear. The horrifying murders of President John F. Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. left us with a sense of impending doom. And complicating it further, the lingering war in Vietnam battered our dreams, as friends and brothers died on that embattled soil.
 
In November of 1969 there was a peace march, and many of us decided to participate. We naively thought that we could make a difference. With our babies in tow and with friends beside us, we accompanied the great unknown masses of doctors and lawyers and teachers, people of all ages and ethnicities. We walked and sang and prayed for peace, and we imagined someone would hear us.
 
But, when we watched the evening news, we discovered that not one national network mentioned the more than 250,000 people peacefully standing before our Capitol in Washington D.C., asking that we bring our troops home. The only coverage for that day was of an alley skirmish that had nothing to do with those of us who walked with hearts burdened by hope.    
 
Truthfully, we were not seen then, except in the extremes. The iconic photos of Woodstock defined us, just as the streets of Haight Ashbury became our collective home. My generation was the unshaven, the longhaired, the druggies, the seekers – and as such, we were irrelevant.
 
But, as much as we were not seen then, we are not seen now - with our grey hair and slower pace. Idealism once challenged, though, becomes a mighty force – especially with age. Experience has taught us to doubt and to question. We do not believe the words of those who brandish promises as easily as they point a finger, and we know that media creates its own truth.
 
Stephen Stills’ words are eerily as true today as they were five decades ago. I invite you to listen to the song, which begins: “There's something happening here; What it is ain't exactly clear; There's a man with a gun over there, Telling me I got to beware; There's battle lines being drawn, Nobody's right if everybody's wrong…”  

Fifty years…and I wonder, has anything changed?

7 Comments
John Fioravanti link
8/15/2016 08:35:40

I think I fell in love with that 50 year-old picture, Gwen! LOL! Yes... we were just kids then, full of idealism and determination to change that screwed-up world. To be fair, our generation actually did kick-start the anti-war movement that ended the Vietnam war in the early 70s. We also breathed life into the women's movement that had languished since voting rights were achieved at the end of WWI. But the civil violence... remains a problem largely due to the fact that we have failed to obliterate poverty in our very wealthy societies, injustice and discrimination. Those problems fuel the hatreds that spark the violence. Thanks for the thought-provoking post, my good friend!

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Gwen Plano link
8/15/2016 15:30:18

Thanks so much, John. It's amazing to think back, isn't it? Who knows, maybe we met in one of the crowds of idealistic youth -- hoping for change. :)

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Jan Sikes link
8/15/2016 19:15:05

LOVE this post, Gwen. Yes, it was my generation too and we certainly did believe we could make a difference. Sadly, we did not, but at least we did try. That era was so special in many ways, the least not being the amazing music that was created during that time. Thanks for sharing this great memory!

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Gwen Plano link
8/16/2016 05:06:54

Thank you, Jan. I so agree with you about the music, which is still a part of our lives. What a journey!

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mary gottschalk link
8/16/2016 08:01:54

Gwen I am a faithful reader, even if I don't often comment.

However, this one struck a chord ... the constant wondering if our generation actually made a difference. I think we did ... but not necessarily in the way we had hoped. In the 60's, those of us who rebelled had a large voice, but little power. Today, many of our classmates who played by the rules in the 1960's are rebelling now. Unfortunately, they have political power and can — and have for roughly a decade—bring our government to a grinding halt.

Your words from the song are so apt.

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Gwen Plano link
8/16/2016 13:42:17

Thank you very much, Mary. It's a curious time, isn't it. I escape into the woods (or chapel) to reconnect with what is important in life - so easily forgotten in the noise of political craziness.

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John W Howell link
9/1/2016 18:41:27

I remember these times as well. I was a worker by 1969 (and having broke my back a 4F deferment) with one child. I remember my nephew having to go off to Viet Nam and being shot three times before he could come home. The family finally got a congressman to step in and tell the Marine Corps enough is enough. The last bullet was to the head, but as we all said at the time "Thank God cause Bobby's head is so hard he probably wasn't hurt badly." It proved to be true and three purple hearts later he was allowed to come home.

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Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way. ―Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning


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