May 4, 1970 Four Dead in Ohio, song by Neil Young. Here is the background history of the song. It could have been me. song by Holly Near. In retrospect, my mother didn’t let me go to the big protest for a war moratorium in DC in October, 1969, but I doubt that it was our government that she was afraid of
The Owners were not amused. I read an extensive article some years ago which fingered a Fibbie informant-agent provocateur for firing his concealed pistol to start things off on that day. I've intuited-organized my perceptions enough over the years to have known the ensuing years as mostly a series of interludes. Before being chosen for excising on Facebook nearly 3 years ago now, I had issued little written glimmers that the summer of '68 was coming around again soon enough. We (most of us) toil away whistling in the dark, desperately hanging on to the illusion that "everything is going to work out fine" even as those dark forces that never sleep too/also whistle, atonally, as they go about fulfilling the latest chapters of their business model. It's classic 70s chapter was titled "The Powell Memorandum" or 'Doctrine' if you will. It got Lewis Powell his Supreme court seat.
"Ohio" was THE outrage anthem I grew up with. For five decades, Kent State was a cornerstone of how my worldview was shaped. One thing that I never looked into, however, was the level of violence employed by those who turned demonstrations of first amendment rights into riots that threatened the physical safety of others.
I am no longer inclined to be content with romanticized narratives. Watching the events of the last five years unfold has convinced me that taking the easy path of groupthink is not helping to make the world a better place.
It's not so much the revelation of Neil Young's hypocritical and intellectually bankrupt demonization of open and honest inquiry into political malfeasance that has led me to question his cultural influence, it's more the way that the dissidents of yesteryear have revealed the convenient malleability of their value structure, en masse.
What was presented as an advocacy of honesty, integrity and non-violent assertion of human rights, is increasingly appearing to have largely been thoughtless contrarianism and self-serving agitation.
There is an important role to be played by protest movements, but it is a mistake to regard their violent excesses as irrelevant to their legitimacy.
Politics is a dirty game wherein no player has clean hands.
Thank you, Diane, for piecing these together! I served on the national student strike coordinating committee along with two others from the independent caucus of SDS at Stony Brook, who joined 9 others from around the country. The strike -- the largest student strike in US history -- was called the day BEFORE up at New Haven, at the large 2-day protest calling for freeing Bobby Seale and Erica Huggins of the Black Panther Party. I was commissioned to present the "call" and the 3 demands that the coord comm worked up, to Tom Hayden, who was at the microphone speaking to 20,000 protesters. (I mentioned this to Tom when I saw him -- he was incognito -- in Seattle 1999, 29 years later!) So we called the strike, and then the next day Kent State happened -- the national strike structure already being put into place. Much appreciated, Diane! Some days will remain sacred on my calendar as long as I live ....
Ironic that Neil Young became a totally brainwashed Cult of Covidiots member! I remember the Kent State tragedy vividly (was in high school at the time).
Thanks Diane for this trip down memory lane. I was a big fan of Neil Young’s music and of course appalled at what he did to Joe Rogan. Mass formation as you have been pointing out.
However, even in that idealistic era there was a lot of communist exploitation of protest movements. The real tragedy is that the brainwashing has stopped so many from seeing that one good definition of evil is the demonization and persecution of people who just want to mind their own business.
The Owners were not amused. I read an extensive article some years ago which fingered a Fibbie informant-agent provocateur for firing his concealed pistol to start things off on that day. I've intuited-organized my perceptions enough over the years to have known the ensuing years as mostly a series of interludes. Before being chosen for excising on Facebook nearly 3 years ago now, I had issued little written glimmers that the summer of '68 was coming around again soon enough. We (most of us) toil away whistling in the dark, desperately hanging on to the illusion that "everything is going to work out fine" even as those dark forces that never sleep too/also whistle, atonally, as they go about fulfilling the latest chapters of their business model. It's classic 70s chapter was titled "The Powell Memorandum" or 'Doctrine' if you will. It got Lewis Powell his Supreme court seat.
Ironic that Neil became the guy to call for censure of Malone on Rogain
"Ohio" was THE outrage anthem I grew up with. For five decades, Kent State was a cornerstone of how my worldview was shaped. One thing that I never looked into, however, was the level of violence employed by those who turned demonstrations of first amendment rights into riots that threatened the physical safety of others.
I am no longer inclined to be content with romanticized narratives. Watching the events of the last five years unfold has convinced me that taking the easy path of groupthink is not helping to make the world a better place.
It's not so much the revelation of Neil Young's hypocritical and intellectually bankrupt demonization of open and honest inquiry into political malfeasance that has led me to question his cultural influence, it's more the way that the dissidents of yesteryear have revealed the convenient malleability of their value structure, en masse.
What was presented as an advocacy of honesty, integrity and non-violent assertion of human rights, is increasingly appearing to have largely been thoughtless contrarianism and self-serving agitation.
There is an important role to be played by protest movements, but it is a mistake to regard their violent excesses as irrelevant to their legitimacy.
Politics is a dirty game wherein no player has clean hands.
Thank you, Diane, for piecing these together! I served on the national student strike coordinating committee along with two others from the independent caucus of SDS at Stony Brook, who joined 9 others from around the country. The strike -- the largest student strike in US history -- was called the day BEFORE up at New Haven, at the large 2-day protest calling for freeing Bobby Seale and Erica Huggins of the Black Panther Party. I was commissioned to present the "call" and the 3 demands that the coord comm worked up, to Tom Hayden, who was at the microphone speaking to 20,000 protesters. (I mentioned this to Tom when I saw him -- he was incognito -- in Seattle 1999, 29 years later!) So we called the strike, and then the next day Kent State happened -- the national strike structure already being put into place. Much appreciated, Diane! Some days will remain sacred on my calendar as long as I live ....
Ironic that Neil Young became a totally brainwashed Cult of Covidiots member! I remember the Kent State tragedy vividly (was in high school at the time).
Thanks Diane for this trip down memory lane. I was a big fan of Neil Young’s music and of course appalled at what he did to Joe Rogan. Mass formation as you have been pointing out.
However, even in that idealistic era there was a lot of communist exploitation of protest movements. The real tragedy is that the brainwashing has stopped so many from seeing that one good definition of evil is the demonization and persecution of people who just want to mind their own business.