eco-optimism

Ian Murray seamus2001 at home.com
Thu Aug 9 10:37:35 PDT 2001



> ((((((((
>
> CB: Shouldn't we boomers have a high standard of self-criticism ?
Sure there are a small minority of us who have remained loyal to the progressive cause. But I for one am extremely dissatisfied with the overall location of our polity and economy and culture compared to where one might expect us to be in the war on poverty, against racism, against U.S. militarism and imperialism etc when one considers where the young people's average attitudes and activities were in the 60's and 70's. It would seem that the Clintonians, the Bushites, the Bill Gateses, the stock marketeers , the silicon valleyers, are more representative of the mode for us now. For example, legal services for the indigent have been decimated compared to where they were in the early 70's and where they should be given the trend at that time. Affirmative action has been pretty much crushed compared to the early 70's. There was very little opposition to the wars on Panama, Yugoslavia and Iraq compared to the anti-war struggles against the Viet Nam and Central American wars. ======== Hey, let's not fall on the sword of our ambitions and hope here. A lot the wonderful agit dynamics of the sixties that diffused/dissipated can be explained by good people falling in love with other good people and having families and kids.


> Then as you point out below, look at our children. So many are
business majors, dot.com CEO's and execs, money-firsters, "capitulators to the money-culture", gangster rap enthusiasts, material girls and boys. Aren't we boomers responsible for them some ? We have raised a new generation that is to the right of our position in our youth. ===== Well the fall of the Berlin Wall really generated a huge shift of imaginary possibilities and attitudes. Hence youth fascination with sci-fi/technological possibilities rather than different ways of social relating; now we gotta show how inconsistent those possibilties are with the organization of capitalism.


> Of course, this is not a 100% thing in either the boomers or the
X'ers, but I am only giving an honest impression of the general trend, and it is not entirely based on the monopoly media picture, but from alternative media and direct contacts. I am not happy to conclude this ,as I must include myself in the failure. But we can only start to turn it around by facing how dismal things are. ===== "Imagination is more important than knowledge." [Einstein]

Ian



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