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I am Gwenn Liberty Seemel. My father wanted to name me Liberty Bell Seemel--after the great Philadelphian e-flat chimer--but made the compromise when...
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A Conversation with a Disappointed Man

October 21, 2011 8:05 am by Gwenn in News & Politics
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Over a month ago now, I happened to get into a conversation about the state of the world with someone I didn't know well. The other party in this exchange was a man of a certain age, someone who'd been active in the peace movement in the 1960s. He was lamenting the apathy that young people today show towards war and other injustices. He saw human nature as basically bad, and he was a great big bummer to talk with.


I did, however, learn one interesting thing from the conversation--not from the man but from talking with him. I learned that it's his fault.


His generation had the draft. Every young person coming up at that time knew that she-he would be profoundly and personally impacted by our government's dealings with other governments. By threatening their lives and the lives of their nearest and dearest, the draft insured that young people would be invested in the big picture.


And this man's generation took that away from all future generations.


I'm not mad at him or his generation for getting rid of this easy (and scary) way of inspiring social engagement. I'm mad at him and people like him for fundamentally altering the fabric of this country and then looking down on my generation for not being more like them.



a Vietnamese-American as Uncle Sam

Gwenn Seemel
Chú Xam (Vietnamese-American)
2008
acrylic on canvas and eyelet
36 x 24 inches
(Part of Apple Pie, a socially engaged series about the American identity.)



Then again, when I take a step back and when I consider the more recent events on Wall Street, I see that it's about more than having the draft or not having it. It's about the complexities of modern life.


Maybe I'm oversimplifying a time I didn't live through, but it seems to me that the world looked a whole lot more straightforward to the average person in the 60s. By that I mean that most people didn't have access to the kinds and quantities of information that we have access to today with our technologies.


In fact, when you look at it in that light, Occupy Wall Street is that much more impressive. Not only have the protestors managed to rally together even though their lives aren't being held hostage by the draft, but the very technology that too often numbs, distracts, and scatters us has been used to get the word out when mainstream media was, for some impossibly undemocratic reason, refusing to cover the protest.



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-----
Gwenn Seemel is a French-American artist who blogs bilingually.


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Debutopia
Debutopia 5 pts

I am on the cusp of turning fifty and I am enamoured with the young people I've met in the Occupation Movement. I was arrested over the weekend at Occupy Chicago and I met the most fascinating young people, who are highly engaged and principled. Here's the piece I wrote about a few of the people I met in my jail cell: http://debutopia.blogspot.com/2011/10/look-up-up-u...

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Kathy K
Kathy K 16 pts

Interesting angle on an argument I've heard before. Many people of my generation (30 and 40 somethings) feel that the 60s generation "ruined" things for us because they keep taking and taking and taking for themselves and leaving a mess for us (and our children) to clean up. But I can see their argument about not standing for "something", too. I do support Occupy Wall Street, but I am troubled by the lack of a specific goal or goals. It's not just enough to say you're against corporate greed, but what do you propose be done about it? Re-instate Glass-Stegall? A complete overhaul of the electoral process and campaign finance laws? Raise taxes on the rich?

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Debutopia
Debutopia 5 pts

Kathy K

It's interesting that you mentioned this, Kathy, because reinstating Glass-Steagall is one of the demands of Occupy Chicago. For a full listing of demands: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-10-16/news...

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emilysteers
emilysteers 7 pts

I understand your argument. As another socially-engaged woman in her 20s, I feel like the conscious of our our generation are getting pulled in a million directions-- and our inability to work for just ONE goal makes us look feeble compared to our older generations. Again, I fear I might be oversimplifying, but when I think about what people demonstrated for in the 1960s, it was almost for one thing at a time-- and, like you mentioned, it was a cause they had a personal investment it, whether it be the draft or civil rights or even feminism.

Now, I feel like (because of the "global community" technology has created) our generation is scoffed at for not taking in interest in 20+ injustices, and deemed ineffective because we can't fix them. The Baby Boomers say, "What about feminism/reproductive rights/global warming/ Arab Spring/ the Sudanese/ the Cambodians/ energy crisis/ Wall St./ GLBTQ rights/ any other thing that's at our attention because of Twitter? You Gen Y kids are selfish and apathetic because all of these things are not your first priority."

Can we just have one or two at a time, please?

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Conversation from Facebook

Terri Patillo
Terri Patillo

I'm sick of the so-called protesters. Maybe, they should take some personal responsibility for a change.

Lois Wickstrom
Lois Wickstrom

Polish Mama -- you want my creds? I do not own a car. I ride my bike or the bus everywhere. When I do eat out, I bring my own reusable box for the leftovers. I save my soap bar stubs and when I have enough, I make them into new bars. I grow my own veggies. I still have clothing in my closet from 30 years ago because it hasn't worn out yet. I hang my laundry to dry on the line outside. I make my own bread from whole wheat flour. I grow my own sprouts for my salads. I am not alone. Yes, some people have given up. Don't give up on them.

Polish Mama on the Prairie
Polish Mama on the Prairie

The OWS movement is no different than the French Revolution or what caused the Revolutionary War in the USA or the Solidarnosc movement in Poland. I support it. That being said, the majority of the '60's movement to me seems like it was just about being trendy, dropping acid and listening to some (most of it, anyway) awesome music, not about bettering the world. Sorry. I've met enough "hippies" in my life who shop at Walmart, buy Made in China, don't practice green living in any sense of the word, and who have basically have become "The Man" enough to feel dissappointment in that generation. Sorry, that's just my opinion. That movement held soooooo much potential and then...?

Elizabeth Jaeger
Elizabeth Jaeger

Although I want many of the same things that many of the people out there, I don't support the OWS movement because it is not organized well enough (my opinion based on my experience with OWS in NYC and no other states) and if you talk to the protesters, every single one of them has their own answer of what they want, or (and I am not kidding) there are MANY of them who reply with "I'm not sure, but I don't want the government taking my money anymore."

Lois Wickstrom
Lois Wickstrom

In the 60's we had a saying, "Suppose they gave a war, and nobody came." By eliminating the draft, we made that possible. But, the economic realities of today mean that many young people cannot get good jobs with health insurance. So, they sign up for military service in order to support their families and their future. They are gambling with their lives -- not because they support any particular war, but because they want to eat and be well. Occupy Wallstreet is a continuation of the 60's movement. I'm disappointed that we still haven't solved this fundamental problem. And I'm still puzzled why my fellow citizens, who want the same things for their families that I want for mine, don't support the movement.