original anti-war flyer from the march on washington 1969

i was reading some of the threads online about what it was like to be back in the 60's. that is an impossible question to answer for those of us who were there as we all had totally different experiences. my "60's" though consisted of spending a lot of my free time helping in any way possible to end the war. i started going on "peace marches" when i was 14. it wasn't a family thing. my mom was anti-war but never was very political. my dad, like lots of fathers who had been in WWII, was pro-war as he compared it to his time in the pacific fighting the japanese. he didn't stop to think that WWII involved our country being invaded. as far as i knew the vietnamese had never sought to take over america, but there was no arguing with him. a lot of us who were anti-war back then and tried to do something about it can't understand why this generation isn't rising up in protest the way we did. granted the world is a very different place today. for one...the music of today is so different. back then the biggest musical stars (BEATLES/DYLAN/CSNY/JOAN BAEZ etc) were a HUGE anti-war force both from the songs put out and played on the radio, to their presence at anti-war rallies. i don't see any of the pop or, for that matter, most of the rap stars getting people motivated in this direction. instead of partying 24/7 why aren't these musicians who cetainly can influence the way the next generation thinks OUT THERE? if nothing else why aren't they getting the vote rallied? it should be nelly/ outkast/ p.diddy etc. going from city to city trying to register the vote RIGHT NOW. the election is only months away.

in another little history lesson...here's something else that motivated the end of the war. in 1970 the draft was changed. until then if you were in high school/ college you were draft exempt. let me tell you how many people who would have dropped out in their sophmore years got educated during the 60's. and white middle class/upper middle class kids ALL went to college. so what happened to help end the war? well the "birthday draft" was instituted. how did it work? well they drew a lottery in the summer of 1970 and they pulled out birthdays one at a time. if your birthday was in the the top 125 birthdays and you were 19 you were going to vietnam. after that they took the 20 year olds. i remember sitting and praying that my brothers (3 of them) wouldn't be on that list. and we lucked out thank god. but my best friend didn't and his name is now up on that memorial wall in washington. d.c.... killed just one day before he was supposed to come home. and how did that help stop the fighting? well, all of a sudden unless you were george bush senior and could buy your kid an "out", the kids of upstanding middle class families were the ones going to fight. yes sir..after that happened it was a whole other ball of wax. people who hadn't been protesting before saw that their child was going to possibly be killed and things changed much faster after that.

but your generation is going to go to war if this thing escalates and if it follows the pattern of vietnam it WILL. which brings up another point...what are you doing? sitting at home on a computer and talking about it might be a start. but doing it is another matter. it takes time and effort, and in my mind it takes someone of the younger generation to be the leader cause no one under the age of 25 is going to give a damn what i think. it's up to ALL OF US to do something..

hoping to inspire someone, here's what i was handing out (or something like it) every saturday when i was a kid....



deezee

 

Hey deezee

I couldn't agree more with everything you said. The war is a bunch of bullshit and I don't understand why more people aren't doing something about it. Today was the first time I actually saw some people out protesting. There were about 30 people some with signs, some playing music, etc. and I was glad to see them out there, but it still kinda upset me to think that there weren't more than that. I mean, we need to get hundreds, no, thousands together to try to stop this "war on terrorism."

Anyway, thanks for the inspiring message and poster!

 

I absolutely agree that the young people have to be the ones to start up the protests! I am trying to start my own stuff around where I live but, it is a very hard thing these days. You need to find careful ways to get around with out a permit and it will probably end up that I will need to get one anyway. We are the future people. Lets make it count this time.

 

O' we need a Revolution... and badly. I'm afraid though if I handed stuff out I'd get shot in this armpit of a town... those crazy rednecks with their sawed-off shotguns.

 

the thing about the young generation is this- apathy. our 'educational' system has conditioned them to ignorance and apathy. and, as for music, all of that crap is pure corporate sponsered, so naturally, it isnt anti-war. besides, does britney spears or puff daddy really give a shit about war, when they are sitting in their million dollar yauhts? its obvious that my generation has intentionally been dumbed down in order to control them easier, but, i've gained a lot of hope this past year meeting many people like me, who are my same age. i think a revolution, or awakening, is brewing.


...did not recognize the extent to which the 1960's 'youth revolution' had terrified our ruling elite, or that they would try to prevent future upsurges of radical Utopianism by deliberately 'dumbing down' the educational system. what they have produced, the so-called 'generation x', must rank as not only the most ignorant but also the most paranoid and depressive kids ever to infest our republic. of course, the paranoia and depression result inevitably from the ignorance. these kids not only don't know anything; they don't even want to know. they only realize, vaguely, that somebody has fucked them out of something, but they don't have enough zest or bile to try to find out who fucked them and what they were fucked out of.

 

I couldn't say it any better than that.

Sincerely,

Your Son

 

i thought bush called it "operation iraqi freedom". but on the news i hear "war in iraq", i wish they would make up their minds.
a lot of kids have been brainwashed to not give a damn. but i think it will only be a matter of time before theres a revloution. have you noticed how theres always people joining this site, people are getting informed and start caring.

 

i am sick of the american youths just sitting not do shit about their anti war feelings. why arent they doing anything? tomorrow after i am done with communitee service, me and some friends are going to hang up anti war sighs we made and printed off all over town. the time is NOW. we must start to speak out against the injustices of our government. if 50 or 60 small towns in Amerika had signs hung up tomorrow, who knows that might be the spark that ignites the revolution that needs to come. it is true the kids are brainwashed by tv and school, but i hardly watch tv and iv been out of school since may 5th. but i realized this long before i was kicked out. look what happened to the Dixie Chicks, they were pretty much shunned from Amerika when they spoke out against the war. and they had to apologize to the president!! why the fuck should someone have to apologize for exercising their right to freedom of speech. many journalists have been fired for speaking out about the horrors they saw in iraq, and this way of "scaring our youth" needs to be stopped. or atleast ignored. ever notice how much Scott Peterson is on tv but the non violent protestors who are beaten by police dont even make the bottom line on CNN?
the time is now, dont be scared anymore people

 

oh heres a site i think is full of shit, more propgaganda from the government to stop people from protesting becuz then we might prolong the war. not true in my opinion. the threat of communism isnt big over there like it was in vietnam.

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=1249

 

.

 

well start small. dont start with sit-ins. right now i am still designing more signs, i plan on having 3 or 4 different ones, and then me and a friend or whoever shares my passion for this will hang them up around town. i am going to be working on these till about 6 in the morning, when i gotta go to comunitee service. but after i am done designing them i will upload them to my geocities site and if you want you can print them out yourself.

 

sounds awesome blossom! Thanks! I'd do that.

 

Flyer's are good. Make sure to encourage votes!!!!! If Bush is re-elected, we may find that our government will be run by big corporation's in the future. My firend is a hacker and I have wrote several blurb's and he slips them into random email addresses. Don't know how many actually get read but it's a start.

 

rock on, sistahs and brothers, I like this thread!!

 

Aw i know..i really wanna do something, but i dont know anyone who would support me accept for my sister. all my "friends" would judge me and all. i feel so stupid because i dont do anything. i need some MORE ideas....the only thing is flyers...but i'm not sure what to write on them. I live in a really small town though... BUT we are going to be moving to a WAY bigger city at the end of summer...and maybe i can start over and get more support and start something big. Ah..HELP!

 

firstly this is a great thing happening in this thread, Im all for it! The powers to be would lead us into blindness, if we let them get their way with things. The mases are contolled by media- but with the computer age there is the ability to control our own media. This is wonderful for breaking the brainwashings of the masses by good ol uncle sam. "I get my news from hipforums" L.O.L.

Secondly, if you are old enough to vote register now if your not registered. Encourage everyone you know to register for the upcoming elections. The hippies are getting both youbnger and older- there are quie a few generations of hippies now, and we can pull our efforts together to change the world.
If everyone who smoked pot would vote now, we could possibly end prohibition, the war on drugs, and the iraqi war as well.

Why does america always have to fight someone, and even gets in fights with herself? (war on drugs) We are the classroom bully of the world, and only the voters can change that.
Joe Walsh for president- got any gum?

 

if you people are having problems thinking of what to put on flyers, check out http://www.hippy.com/php/article-251.html. Theres lots of good reason to "re-elect" George Bush. I am doing that myself, but I still need to mass print the flyers, and make a couple more different ones

 

WOW!!!

i am so excited that my posting that flyer got some of you doing something. that is absolutely fantastic.

here's another idea. it might be hard for some of you if you aren't particularly outgoing...but you can help to register people to vote. i couldn't believe when i went with a friend to register voters that a good half of the people online to see "fahrenheit 9/11" were not registered voters. a lot of them were in their 40's and 50's which shocked me as i assumed the great majority would be young voters. but anyone can volunteer to do it. i don't know that younger voters would listen to someone my age, but they might listen to you about why they should vote.

but anything that you guys try to do is better than nothing.i know it's hard in today's climate to go against the grain. no one ever said that standing up and fighting for what you believe in is always going to be easy....but in my mind, it makes you a hero.

deezee

 

amen to that man. And thank you for posting that flyer

 

I am going to make a sign and put it up because i too am sick of what is going on in this world, why does america have to bust into other countries, its not right and it defintily needs to be stopped. Too many young soldiers are dying for unjust causes.