I'm not sure if any of you are familiar with William Ayers, the Weather Underground, and his relationship with President-elect Obama, but he just gave an interview in which he indicates he has no regrets for his radical past. "Frankly, I dont think we did enough, just as today I dont' think we've done enough to stop these wars," Bill Ayers remained silent during the election, but now he's speaking out saying the Republicans demonized him for his activities during the Vietnam War. Here's the video interview with him from today. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkRBTH-eFoM Here's a little article I posted about him. http://www.hippy.com/php/article-363.html I'm posting this up not because I advocate any sort of violence, but to show you how far some people will go when young Americans are dying every day for Imperial Fascism. Note: Bill never hurt anyone. Every bomb he planted was carefully placed to avoid any casualties. His target was the government, not people. Bill Ayers is now a Distinguished Professor at the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. All charges against him and his wife were dropped due to the government's ILLEGAL spying via COINTELPRO. So even though Bill was involved in bombing the Pentagon, the US Capitol building and NYC Police Headquarters, he had all charges dismissed!
I give Bill credit for standing up for his beliefs till this day! Many of us old hippies still believe our actions and motivations were right to protest the war. We were right then, as we are in the right now. Just keep it peaceful & non-violent!
Wow, very interesting. I'm going to have to do some more reading on the history of the time (Gen Y in da house.) I really liked when he told the reporter that it was unfair to everyone to use fear in politics and sensationalize something so innocent. This also makes me wonder if 20 years down the road, if people will see the DDoS attacks and black faxes that some Anons used as something serious. Wow, so much of this helps to explain the sociologic impact on today's youth from having parents who grew up during this and how they are finding their own way in standing up for what they believe in.
Yes, it's good to learn the lessons of history so we don't have to relive them. But you see Gen X never learned these lessons and that's why we got things like 9/11 (from fucking with the mid-east where we don't belong), the wars in Iraq & Afghanistan, etc. They went all patriotic or apathetic, and the few that did try to protest the wars were beat back, jailed, interrogated, put on Homeland Security lists, and are being spied upon till this very day. This is fascism, people. Homeland Security could become the SS overnight. The camps are already setup for us.
Sorry to go off-topic a bit but does anyone know if there is a list of these facilities. I have heard of them being built - are they only in America or around the world?
Gen X had a different legacy of events shaping them. They saw the entire hierarchal structure of businesses collapse so there was no more working like their parents taught them - you can't get hired as a mailboy and 40 years later retire as a VP of the same company. There is no more corporate ladder. They saw OJ get off, Clinton get impeached for getting a bj, their parents lose their jobs and futures, they were the first generation of latchkey kids from dual income families or broken families. Their psychology leans more towards "I'm in it for me" than "let's make it better for everyone." Right now, many people don't give a damn if insurgents are getting blown to bits - they are wondering if they'll have a job tomorrow or can afford gas to get to the job they do have. Many people see Gen X as being lazy and indifferent but only once you get into their heads do you realize that they are operating on survival mode. Gen Y gets even more interesting - do you know that Gen Y is prescribed more antidepressants than EVERY other age range put together? Gen Y seems to have the motto of "I can fix this - I may not sleep until I'm dead, but I can do it all."
I suppose his "friendship" with Pres-elect Obama has emboldened Ayers to speak out again (he has always maintained he has no regrets and would do it again). He had to remain silent during the election because there was no way his activities could be spun in a positive light given the Republican media campaign against him.
Yes, you've hit the nail on the head. Gen X was labeled the "Me generation" for good reason. My generation was the "We generation" big diff in attitude. Many Gen Xers experienced existential alienation from society and from their peers. Slackers, grunge music, nihilism, etc. This was probably an indirect result of the breakdown of the nuclear family as you implied. The net result - a malformed identity crisis for so many Gen Xers. Those that didn't become nihilistic became totally capitalistic, only concerned about satisfying their endless greed. So you can see how the We generation has such ideological problems with the Me generation. I really believe Gen Y is again a We generation thanks to the power of the Internet (which the We generation - hippies invented). Social networking was what helped organize us in the 1960s. We didn't have the Internet, but we had underground newspapers on every college campus to provide an alternative to the propaganda. These newspapers and endless fliers announced protests, reported on actions and spread the memes and kept us informed, exactly as these types of boards are doing for Anonymous today.
His book was released... get this... 9/10/2001... What bad timing for him. Kinda hard to sell a domestic "terrorist" book right after 9/11... Maybe sales will pickup now?
actually, the me generation were the self indulgent shits of the 70's and 80's. gen x are their neglected children.
I should point out that the Weathermen were an umbrella organization of ppl acting anonymously, and somewhat independently, but with common goals. They were an off-shoot of the more peaceful SDS, (students for a democratic society) which radicalized students on campuses across the country via teach-ins, sit-ins, media campaigns and large organized protests. I participated in some of their actions (SDS) although I was never a member.
