John, your near-essay on affluent idealistic young people sounds like a
description of ( here he goes again) my Malibu kids, many of whom are
protesting the war right now.
And I could not agree with you more that a trip to the developing world is
great for the young and for anyone...In fact, I seem to sometimes be the
last of the JFK Liberals , although, Clinton echoed this theme...I am a very
strong supporter of the Peace Corps, Americorps and all the rest...( One of
my ex-students is doing a stint with Americorps right now)
In fact, some months back, ( you remember the date probably :) ) I publicly
disagreed with Mike on the subject of community service. It is a requirement
at my school, and I strongly support it. It is good for them...it broadens
their horizon. As much as I love my teen demons, they can be a bit spoiled
no surprise there) .
But nothing in your description of your friend in Africa, or any of the
other young idealists that we have all known and been ( ESPECIALLY
Mike....Did you ever meet Blackbird Willow???? She is the EPITOME of that
type, and Mike has always been supportive of her) can represent any support
for the likes of Rachel Corrie or John Walker Lindh.
They crossed the line into anger and violence, to the point of near-murder.
They, in fact, create a backlash that goes against the gentle spirits of
such young idealists.
Without realizing it, you are actually making the mistake that many
conservatives make. That anyone who goes against the "American Way" is the
same. No difference between the peaceful gentle pacifist Deadheads and the
frothing at the mouth violent Leftists?
Look back at the history of the 60's. The Right tried to make the case that
the apotheosis of the Hippie movement was... Charles Manson.
No, I share the hopes and dreams of the gentle young idealists. Sometimes
even their tactics. And if I may say, I think Mike does too.
And it is precisely because I do that I reject the hate and anger of the
Corries and Lindhs. The fate of neither one of them was a surprise.
L
> Yes, you were number "666", you beast.
>
> :-)
>
> Allow me to respond to what you have said...
>
> > > I think there is a similarity between Rachel Corrie and John Walker
> > > Lindh: Both were young people from affluent backgrounds,
> >
> > Yup. Only rich kids can afford to play at being oppressed.
>
> Absolutely! These kids (or "adults", as you pointedly called them
> later in your message) came from a level of comfort and idleness, and
> did not have to worry about getting a boring job like so many other
> folks. They wanted to 'fix the world', and their parents probably were
> proud of their enthiusiasm and gave them the money to go travel.
>
> Let's face it: Most people, idealistic or not, do not get such
> opportunities. The option for them is to join the Peace Corps, which
> would not be acceptable to the Corries and Lindhs because they expect
> you to WORK. ;-)
>
> I don't want to mention any names, but I know a person who had joined
> the Peace Corps and had gone to Kenya for more than 10 years. He left
> the USA with the knowledge that the USA and capitalism is bad, and
> that the legacy of the Western World left a terrible wound in the
> 'African Psyche'. He was a hard worker, and was going to help any way
> he could!
>
> He married a Kenyan woman, and now lives near LA. He has told me a lot
> about his experiences. The corruption and pettiness was more than he
> could bear. His anger about it is palpable. They could not even
> install a pipe to get clean water to a village: After paying all the
> outrageous bribes, any efforts were always upset and derailed by
> neighboring villages. People were stopping other people from getting
> ahead, if necessary by death and destruction. The end of it all is
> that nobody is ahead.
>
> These are hard times, Mike, but I still think that we need not be so
> harsh on youthful idealism. A trip to the Third World often does
> wonders to put things into perpective, by the way. I have always
> recommended that more people travel...
>
> When I was younger after graduating UCLA I went on my own to the USSR.
> The Soviet Tourist Agency had package deals, and visitors like myself
> had friendly tourist guides (in Iraq, they are called "minders", I
> think). I was easily able to give these folks the slip and I went out
> on my own, using their extensive subway system. An obvious foreigner,
> I met people and was invited back to their homes. (This was completely
> safe! Sadly, I also accepted similar invitations in North Africa, and
> am lucky now to still be alive...) I saw the standard of living in the
> USSR: It was comparable to a USA family on welfare. Maybe even not as
> good as. At that time, there was also no freedom of speech like we
> have here, though by then Gorbachev was already working on it.
>
> Later after leaving the USSR I ended up in Britain and visited
> relatives. Some of them are quite left wing... correction, ALL of them
> are left wing! They wanted my impressions of the USSR, and I told
> them. No, no, they disagreed. They insisted that the standard of
> living in the USSR was high. High? Compared to what? Pakistan, maybe.
> They also concluded that I had not seen the 'Real USSR', or something
> like that. All of these opinions from people who had never been more
> than 100 miles in any direction! Never even been to France.
>
> Anyway, my point is that these folks had their idealism, their
> opinions, but lacked any resources to travel and see the world. So,
> they are more likely to be stuck that way.
>
>
> John
>
>
>
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Received on 2003-03-28 22:23:29